Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Holiday Reading : IBM Systems Magazine and Enterprise Tech Journal

You might think that we have a new magazine on the block. Well, not really z/Journal (previously Enterpise Systems Journal, previously Mainframe Journal) is now called Enterprise Tech Journal in order "to reflect the changing dynamic of today's hybrid data centers". So it will have a broader perspective on multi-platform technologies in the enterprise, but still remain mainframe-centric. The articles that drew my attention were mainly the technical ones like 'CICS Transaction Gateway V8.1 : What's new and why it matters' by Paul Crockett and a good overview of Temporal Tables in DB2 by Dan Luksetich.
You'll also find a very good introduction to z/VM Live Guest Relocation (LGR) by Mark Lorenc : "The LGR function (...) can be useful for a mainframe shop running Linux applications on z/VM that require non-stop availability". And there's a column by Marcel den Hartog on "How to put a smile on the CIO's face'. If that isn't worth a look . . .
You can download the digital version over here.

IBM Systems Magazine has amongst others some interesting articles on consolidation to the mainframe. Greg Lotko tells us about the IBM vision on consolidation in 'The Performance of Many, The Efficiency of One' (you just have to love this title, don't you). He also tells about some significant differences between a DIY environment and one with zBX and Unified Resource Manager.
The next article 'Mainframe vs. Distributed' tells you about how to make a correct TCO study comparing apples with apples and warning you about some pitfalls ranging from faultive chargeback mechanisms to including "the corporate jet in the mainframe costs!" Yes, it's really there !
Then two interesting examples of consolidating on Linux on z. One of them is IBM itself and the other is Shelter Insurance. Go and read them : I'm sure you'll like the down to earth approach of Shelter Insurance.
You can find the digital version over here.

As I always say, just check them out !

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