1.3 Why iSeries? Running IBM Workplace Services Express on the IBM Eserver iSeries offers a competitive advantage over other platforms. Some of those advantages are provided in the following list: In a typical Workplace Services Express environment, information has to be exchanged between the Workplace Services Express server and other servers, such as an HTTP server, a database server, and a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server. The IBM Eserver iSeries server already has a DB2® Universal DatabaseTM database manager, an HTTP server, and an LDAP server. Therefore it is possible to run a full Workplace Services Express environment on a single system, lowering the TCO of the deployment and improving performance. Installing Workplace Services Express on the IBM Eserver iSeries server offers a major advantage over other platforms by offering the Create IBM Workplace wizard, which is located in the IBM Web Administration for iSeries. This wizard gathers all necessary data and validates it before starting to configure a Workplace Services Express instance. After gathering the data, it configures a Workplace Services Express instance along with the required HTTP server, DB2 Universal Database databases, and LDAP directory. This wizard simplifies the configuration process and reduces the risk of configuration errors. For more information about installing and configuring Workplace Services Express on the iSeries server, see Chapter 4, "Installing and configuring Workplace Services Express" on page 71. Because IBM Workplace Services Express is based on WebSphere Portal, you can use it to provide a new front end to typical iSeries applications, through the use of such tools as the iSeries Access for Web portlet, IBM WebFacing Tool, and IBM WebSphere Host Access Transformation Services (HATS). To learn more about integrating Workplace Services Express with iSeries Access, see