Red Alert : Potential data loss when executing data recovery in a DB2 10 (NFM) Data Sharing environment

Here's a new Red Alert:

PTF UK76697 (APAR PM51093) is required for DB2 10 for z/OS NFM (New Function Mode) customers executing data recovery in a Data Sharing environment

Description:

IBM has become aware of potential data loss when executing data recovery in a DB2 10 Data Sharing environment.

The problem is related to Fast Log Apply processing when LRSN values are used for log record sequencing and may result in some log records not being processed when duplicate LRSN values are encountered. This situation applies to the RECOVER and RESTORE SYSTEM utilities and LPL and GRECP recovery. The REORG utility and DB2 restart processing are not exposed to this issue.

Possible symptoms include ABEND04E RC00C90102 DSNIBHRE:0C22 accompanied by MSGDSNI012I PAGE LOGICALLY BROKEN or other consistency errors during log apply. Other abends or errors may be encountered following log apply processing, including errors reported by CHECK INDEX or CHECK DATA.

Customers may validate their data by using CHECK INDEX or CHECK DATA utilities and any issues should be reported to IBM Software Support to determine root cause.

Recommended Actions:

It is recommended that all DB2 10 for z/OS data sharing customers apply PTF UK76697 as soon as possible. Customers planning to migrate to DB2 10 NFM should ensure that UK76697 is applied before they do so. The corrective maintenance can be applied incrementally across members of a data sharing group. A group wide restart is not required.

Fast Log Apply processing may be disabled to prevent further exposure to this problem before UK76697 can be applied. The process for doing so is as follows, and should be repeated for each subsystem:

1. Edit macro DSN6SPRC in the SDSNMACS library.
2. Change &SPRMFLB SETC '10' to &SPRMFLB SETC '0'.
3. Run job DSNTIJUZ to reassemble and relink the new zparm.
4. Recycle DB2 to load the new zparm.

Refer to the cover letter for UK76697 for further details regarding this issue.

If you want to have an overview of all past Red Alerts, then take a look over here. You can also subscribe on that same page so you'll be notified of any future Red Alert.

CA Technologies Reference Guide for DB2 10 for z/OS is out

Yesterday I received the following mail :

"Now is the time to order your CA DB2 10 Reference Guide.

The cost of printing and shipping has gone up dramatically due to the size of the latest version of the guide, so you can order them, but they will cost about 15 Euro.

We will give away free guides to those who register here: http://www.ca.com/gb/lpg/forms/emea/fy12/uk/mf/91122_90307.aspx

First come, first serve. We have about 50 to give away for free, so reserve yours TODAY!!!

Good luck"

I don't think any further comment is needed on this one. Even if you can't get it for free, I'm sure it's worth every cent you have to pay for it. And if you wonder : what the h*** is he talking about, just follow the link. And if you're not convinced by now, know that some call it The Source of True Wisdom !

A new z/OS release every 2 years !

This morning I posted about a statement of direction about changing the pace of releases of z/OS. Well, since then, I've been receiving some more information about this.

There will indeed be a new release every 2 years from now on. So, the next release will be in the second half of 2013. Some other interesting bits of information :

• IBM intends to keep the N-2 compatibility so that customers can still migrate 1 or 2 releases forward. This means you might choose to only migrate every 4 years.
• In order to support this scheme, the support for currently available releases (z/OS 1.12 and z/OS 1.13) will be adjusted in order to allow clients to bridge to the new release cycle.
• z/OSMF releases should also be following the same release pattern.
• Selected features may become available in between releases through e.g. SPE's

Well, that's it for now. And you know the drill : as long as it's not officially announced, IBM might still change things. More info should become available within the next 60 days.

A new z/OS release every 2 year ?

I won't pretend to be the first to publish about this, because I just read it in Cheryl Watsons List which I received this morning. If you don't receive it yet, you can find the content over here.
So Jeff Magdall, z/OS program leader from IBM, held the MVS Program Opening and Keynote at Share yesterday. Don't go looking for the presentation, it's over here, but for the moment, there's just a title slide.

So, what's it about ? I'll quote Cheryl's list :

"Today at SHARE, Jeff Magdall, z/OS Program Leader from IBM, described an upcoming SOD (Statement of Direction) for z/OS. Starting with z/OS 1.13, z/OS releases will now be available every other year instead of every year. That means that the next release of z/OS will be the second half of 2013 (not September 2012, as expected). I think this is terrific news for our customers! IBM has found that only 5% of z/OS customers migrate every year, while the great majority of customers migrate every other year or so".

So what could the release scheme look like then ?

Release	Date Availability	Date WDFM	Date EOS
z/OS 1.12	Sept. 2010	Sept 2011	Sept 2013
z/OS 1.13	Sept. 2011	Sept 2013	Sept 2014
z/OS 1.14	Sept. 2013	Sept 2015	Sept 2016
z/OS 1.15	Sept. 2015	Sept 2017	Sept 2018

Mind you, this is pure speculative. I'm pretty sure about the availability dates and the WDFM dates. There might just as well be a new version coming up and the End of Support dates might be one year later too. I'm just guessing. Anyway, I guess for most of the customers nothing much will change, they just won't be skipping the odd or even releases any more. If, I say, if EOS dates should move up one year, perhaps some customers will have their releases longer supported or they might save some money by avoiding Lifecycle Extension Support on their current release.

As soon as anything official comes out, I'll definitely share all the details with you.

Red Alert : Possible data loss for EAV Users on releases z/OS 1.11, 1.12 and 1.13

Here's a new Red Alert:

Possible data loss for EAV Users on releases z/OS 1.11, 1.12 and 1.13 using DSS Logical Dump or HSM Migrate and Backup processing

Description:

DSS may skip some of the user's data set during dump processing and result in a failure when attempting to Restore, Recall or Recover these data sets. This failure will prevent any of the data set from being restored. The problem can occur when using EAV volumes with data sets in the EAS region (Extended Addressability Space - cylinder managed region) where the addresses of the data set extents are not in ascending cylinder order, ie. the CCCH address of a later extent is less than a previous extent.

Please see APAR OA38942 for additional information and actions to determine exposure.

Recommended Actions:
Apply ++APAR for OA38942

If you want to have an overview of all past Red Alerts, then take a look over here. You can also subscribe on that same page so you'll be notified of any future Red Alert.

Belgian GSE Working Group meetings

March seems to be a very busy month for the Belgian GSE Working groups. I got quite some invitations over the last couple of weeks, so I thought I might put them in the spotlight. I just hope I don't forget any. If so, please let me know.

Here we go :

• Joint VM and Linux on System z Working Group Meeting
  Where and when : Tuesday March 6, 2012 at the IBM Forum Brussels at 1.00 PM
  Topics : Linux on System z: What, Why, How, and When? (by Eric Michiels, IBM Belgium), zVM Linux servers, our bridge pillars between business and legacy (P&V customer case by Carlo Werbrouck) and Mainframe, VM and Linux - A perfect match? (by Guy Przytula).
  Registration over here.
  

• z/OS Working Group Meeting
  Where and when : Wednesday March 14, 2012 at RealDolmen Huizingen at 9.00 AM
  Topics : to be determined
  Registration over here.

• DB2 Working Group Meeting
  Where and when : Thursday March 15, 2012 at Colruyt Halle at 1.00 PM
  Topics : The meeting is entirely dedicated to migrating to DB2 10
  Registration over here.

• Architecture Working Group Meeting
  Where and when : Friday March 16, 2012 at KBC Leuven at 1.00 PM
  Topics : dedicated to Mobile Application Architecture with sessions on Mobile Applications, Mobile Payments and Mobile Commerce; Mobile network architectures - Another look on mobile application challenges; Quelle architecture pour les solutions mobiles?
  Registration over here.

And to finish things off, the dates for the Regional GSE Conference are Thursday April, 26 and Friday April, 27 2012. As last year, Thursday will be 'only' registration and evening dinner. Friday will have all the sessions. Theme of this years meeting is : 'Information Management and Big Data'.

Revised availability: IBM z/OS Management Facility V1.13 DASD Management task

When z/OS 1.13 (ZP11-0313) and z/OSMF 1.13 (ZP11-0303) were announced, IBM announced a DASD Management Task for z/OSMF to become available in the first quarter of 2012. It was intended to simplify disk storage management as follows :

"The new task is intended to allow you to perform storage group management tasks from within the application. It is designed to streamline the process of adding volumes to SMS pool storage groups, reducing several manually intensive steps involving multiple applications to a reduced number of steps using a single interface. The DASD Management task is planned to be made available in first quarter 2012 with the PTF for APAR PM40869".

It was to contain an Add Storage wizard.

"The Add Storage wizard can enable you to add storage to an SMS pool storage group more easily than before. It uses the new storage group attributes as policy, if defined within the storage group definition. The Add Storage wizard guides you through the following steps:

• Determining the amount of capacity to add based on the storage utilization goal and available capacity found in the assigned reserve storage pool
• Selecting the volumes to add from the reserve storage pool
• Updating the SCDS with the selected volumes
• Initializing the selected volumes to match the naming convention of the storage group
• Optionally, varying volumes online and activating the changes to the SCDS to make the new capacity available for SMS use"

This has now been postponed with the following announcement : 'Revised availability: IBM z/OS Management Facility V1.13 DASD Management task (ZP12-0036)'. The function "will not be available in first quarter 2012 with a PTF for APAR PM40869. IBM is assessing plans for delivering this capability at a later date".

We'll keep you posted !

Potential DS8100/DS8300/DS8700 FICON Host Adapter Loss of Access during certain zHPF workloads

Just saw this Storage Flash pass by : 'Potential DS8100/DS8300/DS8700 FICON Host Adapter Loss of Access during certain zHPF workloads'.

What's it about ?

"Customers running zHPF enabled on DS8100/DS8300 with Release 4.3 code bundle levels 64.30.78.0 and higher or DS8700 with Release 5.0 code bundle level 75.0.x.y may see global CRC checks or repeating host adapter error recovery leading to unavailable host adapter cards and potential loss of access. DS8700s on Release 5.1 bundle levels 75.1.x.y are not exposed. DS8800s are not exposed"

Check out all the details over here.

What to do for the moment ?

• "DS8700s running zHPF on Release 5.0 should upgrade to Release 5.1 or higher (Release 6.2 bundle 76.20.82.0 is recommended). HIPER APAR OA38777 will also be available by the end of February to prevent Media Manager from using zHPF for Multi-Track Read I/O for records with data lengths less than 128 bytes; the chains will be done with FICON I/O instead.
• DS8100/DS8300s running zHPF should not be moved to a Release 4.3 bundle without applying the HIPER APAR OA38777, unless zHPF is disabled until the HIPER APAR is applied. DS8100s/DS8300s already on Release 4.3 code (64.3x.xx.0) and planning to update software service levels prior to the HIPER APAR OA38777 availability should disable zHPF until the HIPER APAR is applied."

As already indicated above : DS8800 customers are not affected.

February Storage announcements

Last week there were also some storage announcements. The most important ones were about Gen 3 of XIV : 'IBM XIV Storage System Gen3 with software release 11.1 offers optional SSD caching (ZG12-0039)' and 'IBM XIV Storage System Gen3 Software Version 11.1.0 supports SSD caching and multi-system management enhancements, and IBM XIV Storage System Software Version 10.2.4.e offers cross-generation mirroring (ZP12-0046)'.

In short for XIV Gen 3.1 there are the following new features :

• SSD Caching. Should increases read performance considerably
• XIV Mobile (monitor) Dashboard for iPhone
• Cross-generation mirroring between all XIV models
• Management UI Enhancements

The most important feature of XIV Gen 3.1 is of course the introduction of SSD read cache. You know how each XIV module contains its own disks, cache, CPU and possibly interface components. To each module you can now add 400GB of SSD cache. That means that for e.g. 6 modules you can have 400GB x 6 = 2.4TB of read cache. This should give your read performance an extra boost. The Storage Buddhist compares it to NetApp Flash Cache and I guess that's a pretty good comparison since Flash Cache is also meant to boost read performance.

Next to the XIV announcement Tony Pearson also mentions some other ones on his Inside System Storage blog. I'm not sure why, but I can't find any 'real' announcement about it. IBM Tape storage policy normally offers reading N-2 generations and writing N-1 generations. The reading part is now extended to N-3. I'm not going to sum up all possibilities. Just look at the picture below. The red box should no longer be grayed out but for the moment I have no real details about how it should be filled in.
Just click on the image for a larger version.

I already mentioned two fellow bloggers writing about these announcements. But I should add another one writing extensively about them. It's Anthony Vandewerdt on his Aussi Storage Blog with 'XIV Release 3.1 – SSD Read Cache is go!' and 'XIV Release 3.1 materials' including a video on the XIV iPhone App.

System z EOS announcements for DB2 and z/VM

I'm a bit late, I know, with last weeks announcements. But you know what they say : better late than never. I'll start off with the System z announcements and make another post on the storage announcements.

New End of Support (EOS) dates are announced for a range of products : 'Software withdrawal and support discontinuance: IBM System z selected products (ZP12-0021)'. I'm not going to list them all but next to some Websphere, Tivoli, IMS, TPC and other products there's first of all the End of Support date of DB2 for z/OS 9.1 on June 27, 2014. A bit more than 7 years after GA. If you're still on V8, don't forget that the EOS date is in a couple of months on April 30, 2012. You might very well consider skipping DB2 9 altogether and do a skip level migration to DB2 10.

By the way, I just added a Belgian GSE DB2 Working Group meeting to the agenda. It's at the Colruyt site in Halle on Thursday March 15, 2012 and the meeting is entirely dedicated to DB2 V10 migration experiences. Speakers are John Campbell (IBM Distinguished Engineer) and Michael Dewert (IBM Germany).

Next to that, there's also the announcement of the EOS date for z/VM 6.1 on April 30, 2013. As you know, that's almost half a year earlier that the EOS date for z/VM 5.4 which is on September 30, 2013. z/VM 6.1 is to be replaced by z/VM 6.2.

Workshop : Tuned for the Task - Linux on System z

You know I'm still quite happy with the name of my blog. It's not always that simple to pick a good name. I opted for the term 'mainframe' at a moment when the word seemed to have quite a negative connotation and wasn't even used by IBM at that moment. Time has proven me right I guess. But I also added Belgium for a reason. It was my intention to mention only events when our Belgian customers could attend them. Much has changed of course, since we saw, or see, more and more webcasts taking over real life events. But they still happen of course.

So here's one at the IBM Research and Development Center in Boeblingen. Yes, it's a good 5 hour drive from Brussels, but I think it's worth your while. It's a free two day workshop taking place on Tuesday March 13 and Wednesday March 14, 2012. You can find all information over here where you can also register for the event.

"In this two-day technical-oriented workshop on March 13th and 14th in the IBM Boeblingen Development Laboratory you have the chance to speak directly with IBM developers and experts about the technical capabilities of Linux on the IBM System z server systems. You will get first-hand information, and you can exchange your experiences with other customers".

Here's a sort summary of the agenda :

• What's New for Linux on System z
• Linux on System z Performance Update SLES11 SP2
• Storage Options for Linux on System z and Comparison DS8K, XIV and Storwize V7000
• Linux on System z Networking
• Live Demo: Integrating x86 workload into Linux on System z environments
• Live Demo: Debugging with Linux on System z with Valgrind
• Linux Health Checker

You only have to make your own travel and accomodation arrangements. If you're planning to go and want more information or some help in planning, do contact me, I'll be glad to help you with it.

And, as I always say, do check it out !

Fellow Bloggers : Mainframe Analytics

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across a mainframe blog I hadn't seen before : Mainframe Analytics. Hey, a new mainframe blog, I mean, really new, because the first post was only written at the beginning of this year and it had this intriguing title 'What is a mainframe ?'. Now, finally, I was going to find out what a mainframe really was. Just kidding. Next in line 'Why do mainframes matter ?'. Hey, could we have a new advocate for the mainframe.

Well, as it turns out, yes and no. The writer of this blog is Reg Harbeck, which you may perhaps know from another blog I mentioned before : the CA Technologies' Exec I/O Mainframe blog. Come to think of it, most of the posts lately were by Marcel den Hartog and no longer by Reg Harbeck. Turns out Reg has left CA Technologies to start his own company. But, and we have an expression for this in Dutch, which I can only literally translate into (no doubt, bad) English : 'Blood crawls where it cannot go'. Meaning, if you have it in you, you won't be able to deny your own nature. So Reg, changed companies but not his fondness for the mainframe.

Do have a look at his blog. He's really setting up a nice introductory series on the mainframe. Could be interesting for anyone who wants to know more about the mainframe or for people who want to explain the strong points of the mainframe to others.

Sampling Techdocs - November 2011-Janary 2012

Here I am again with another review of interesting TechDocs documents I came across while browsing through the latest publications. If you're completely unfamiliar to Techdocs, here's an introduction to it.

• Presentation : z/OS Version 1 Release 13 Technical Update
  A couple of documents on z/OS starting with a presentation on z/OS 1.13 and z/OSMF. The audio of the presentation is also included.
  
  
• Technical Document : z/OS Version 1 Release 13 Installation Plan Checklist
  "z/OS 1.13 Installation Plan checklist is for installing and migrating to z/OS 1.13 from z/OS release 11 or release 12. To be used as a supplement to existing product publications."

• Flash : Withdrawal of z/OS Function Beginning with z/OS Release 5 Through Current z/OS Release
  This is a classic of time but it doesn't hurt to take a look at it once in a while. It also includes some functions planned to be withdrawn in future releases.
  

• White paper : IBM System Storage DS8800 and DS8700 Performance with Easy Tier 3rd Generation
  Easy Tier 3rd generation "further expands Easy Tier to manage hybrid storage pools with up to three tiers including Solid State Drives (SSDs), Enterprise Disks, and Nearline Disks". But the paper is not only for people using hybrid pools : "Auto Rebalance has also been extended to include management of homogenous pools containing only a single tier of storage". Easy Tier 3 is available from DS8000 LIC Release 6.2.
  

• Workshop material : WAS z/OS V8 Wildfire Workshop Material
  WebSphere Application Server for z/OS Version 8 was made available in 2011. It has many new features and functions associated with it, including updated open standard application interface specification support. This is the handout material of a 5-unit wildfire workshop on it. Units are 'Introduction and Overview', 'Administrative Model', 'The Split JVM Model', 'Accessing z/OS Data', 'WebSphere Optimized Local Adapters' and Hands-on lab instructions.
  

• Technical Document : Using z/VM FBA Emulation in a Second-Level ID
  Starting point : "z/VM can access SCSI disks through the services of an I/O layer known as FBA Emulation, introduced with z/VM 5.1. FBA Emulation was added to z/VM to remove one of the \barriers to entry" for Linux on System z: ECKD DASD. With FBA Emulation, a site with no traditional mainframe installation can install and run z/VM and Linux guests without having to invest in mainframe DASD".
  "The z/VM FBA Emulation feature allows z/VM systems to access and use SCSI-over-FCPdisks via a SAN fabric. FBA Emulation is straightforward to use at a first-level system but complexity arises at second-level. This article presents a review of using FBA Emulation and the alternatives for using these disks in a second-level ID".
  

Well that's it for now. And, as I always say : just check them out !

Try-before-you-buy edition of CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V4.2

I don't think I've seen something similar for CICS TS as offered in this new IBM announcement : 'IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Developer Trial V4.2 delivers a 'try-before-you-buy' edition of CICS Transaction Server for z/OS (ZP12-0014)'.

As a matter of fact, it's nothing more or less than a try-before-you-buy license for CICS TS V4.2. Why would you want to do that ?

"It has a zero-cost license charge and does not initiate any Single Version Charging (SVC) period.

CICS TS Developer Trial is designed for customers who want to assess the value that could be gained from a CICS TS upgrade, before making an upgrade decision. This enables the evaluation of the latest CICS TS capabilities, in a non-production environment, without the prerequisite time and resources commitments required for a full production migration project".

This looks like a nice offer to me. And, to me, it seems to take away the pressure about getting into production before the end of your SVC period.

Of course "there are a number of imposed restrictions, in performance and capacity, licensing terms, and a fixed expiry date, that make CICS TS Developer Trial suitable only for use in non-production environments".
About the fixed expiry date, it provides "at least 90 days operation from the date of fulfillment. New releases can be installed to extend this period. There is no limit to the number of times CICS TS Developer trial can be reordered, installed and used". So this should be pretty flexible, no ?

Planned availability : January 27, 2012.

Webcast Series on the lastest Omegamon Technology from IBM

This looks like quite an interesting webcast series on Omegamon. I quote from the announcement page which you can find over here :

"Whether you’re an existing OMEGAMON® user, or you’re considering it, these webcasts will give you valuable information about greater visibility into the way services and applications are being executed across the enterprise. You’ll also learn how this helps you use fewer System z® resources and tackle enterprise-wide problems before they become outages. This webcast series is taught by subject matter experts from IBM Software Group who will share the most significant updates to the OMEGAMON product suite"

I'm just giving you the dates and titles of the sessions. Take a look over here for registration and more details on the content.

• 2 February 2012, 11:00 am EST, 5:00 pm Brussels Time
  Get More From Your Mainframe with Proactive End-to-End Monitoring
  Speaker: Susan Rice, Tivoli Product Manager

• 9 February 2012, 11:00 am EST, 5:00 pm Brussels Time
  Reduce Costs Based on Faster Problem Solving with Redesigned OMEGAMON
  Speaker: Richard Burford, Tivoli OMEGAMON Development

• 16 February 2012, 11:00 am EST, 5:00 pm Brussels Time
  Tuning Tips Lower System z Costs with OMEGAMON Monitoring
  Speaker: Don Zeunert, OMEGAMON XE Performance and Tuning

• 23 February 2012, 11:00 am EST, 5:00 pm Brussels Time
  Good News for Maintenance Windows: Install and Configure OMEGAMON Faster
  Speaker: Cecile Day, Tivoli Monitoring z/OS Installation and Configuration Developer

• 8 March 2012, 11:00 am EST, 5:00 pm Brussels Time
  See Into the Heart of CICS and Resolve Problems Faster Across LPAR Boundaries
  Speaker: Mike Goodman, Software Product Manager, Tivoli Systems Management

• 15 March 2012, 11:00 am EST, 5:00 pm Brussels Time
  The Critical Role of Service Management in Moving to Cloud on System z
  Speaker: Mike Baskey, Integration Architect and Chief Architect Management Standards

• 22 March 2012, 11:00 am EST, 5:00 pm Brussels Time
  Shave Time Off Application and Service Delivery with Enhanced Event Management
  Speaker: James Moore, Product Manager, Tivoli Application Dependency Discovery Manager

This is an initiative from the IBM Systems Magazine.
As I always say, just check them out !