datapower appliances operate a single digitally signed firmware containing a linux-based operating system and application stack. datapower's firmware runs on a flash storage device. ibm refreshes and enhances the datapower firmware image every 10–20 weeks. users cannot run 3rd party applications on datapower as they would need a traditional server and operating system. instead of a traditional filesystem, datapower runs with a collection of isolated virtual file systems called 'application domains.' as a result, datapower can appear to its client connections to be any type of network file system with any type of folders and links.