Crypto-chip could limit IBM to US
Software OS upgrade overshadowed by licensing legislation.
IBM is set to extend its S/390 operating system, OS/390, in March, and will make changes to the hardware that runs it which could cause licensing problems outside the US.
The S/390 mainframe will now include a specialised chip which will come with the IBM S/390 Parallel Enterprise Server Generation 4.
However, the new hardware component is a proprietary cryptographic chip which begs questions about whether non-US users will be able to license it.
Version 2, release 5 of the S/390 OS will give additional security to banks and finance houses and will offer better performance with speed increases, claimed IBM.
This is standard in the US but others who want to use it outside the US, possibly including Canada, will have to license it separately, depending on the prevailing legislation about cryptography in their different countries.
That is likely to make users outside the US question whether they can afford IBM's new system. IBM was unable to say how much non-US users would have to pay for its crypto-chip.
The company said it wanted to extend what it called its 'rock solid' security model with other improvements to the operating system, such as digital certification and something it describes as the lightweight directory access protocol.
According to the company, it will now provide better TCP/IP services in OS/390 to allow Unix (including AIX), Web servers and other, so-called traditional applications to connect to ATM and Fast Ethernet services.
IBM will also bundle a high- speed Web access server with the fresh reiteration of OS/390. It is also extending its middleware to bridge the gap between its corporate customers' existing systems and the commercial e-commerce systems it is readying, according to IBM insiders.
Val Rahmani, former head of IBM's RS/6000 unit in Europe, has returned to head up its S/390 division. She left IBM's RS/6000 unit to spend time as a personal technological assistant to IBM chairman, Lou Gerstner.