tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26523369825762850782024-02-19T17:54:23.410+01:00Mainframe Watch BelgiumThis mainframe blog intends to write on IBM z Systems and high-end and midrange storage associated with it. My intention is to write all kinds of comments, hints and tips and thoughts about news in general, announcements, publications, interesting sites and user groups.Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.comBlogger829125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-78475498020702871592018-04-20T08:16:00.000+02:002018-04-20T08:16:47.036+02:00Hardware withdrawal: IBM z13, IBM z13s, IBM LinuxONE Emperor, IBM LinuxONE RockhopperAs we know from past announcements, the announcement of one system is accompanied by the End of Marketing announcement of the previous generation, in this case the z13 machines : 'Hardware withdrawal: IBM z13, IBM z13s, IBM LinuxONE Rockhopper, IBM LinuxONE Emperor - Some replacements available (<a href="https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_ca/3/877/ENUSZG18-0063/index.html&request_locale=en">ZG18-0063</a>)'<br />
<br />
Here's an overview of the WDFM (withdrawn from marketing) dates. All details and related feature codes are in the announcement itself.<br />
<br />
The last dates you can order the withdrawn products are one day before the effective withdrawal dates.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Effective June 30, 2019, for:</b></li>
<ul>
<li>IBM z13®</li>
<ul>
<li>All new build models</li>
<li>All hardware MES changes</li>
<li>All upgrades to the IBM z13 from the IBM zEnterprise® 196 (z196) or IBM zEnterprise EC12 (zEC12)</li>
</ul>
<li>IBM z13s™</li>
<ul>
<li>All new build models</li>
<li>All hardware MES changes</li>
<li>All upgrades to the IBM z13s from the IBM zEnterprise 114 (z114) or IBM zEnterprise BC12 (zBC12)</li>
</ul>
<li>IBM LinuxONE Rockhopper™</li>
<ul>
<li>All new build models</li>
<li>All hardware MES changes</li>
</ul>
<li>IBM LinuxONE Emperor™</li>
<ul>
<li>All new build models</li>
<li>All hardware MES changes</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<li><b>Effective June 30, 2020, for:</b></li>
<ul>
<li>Field installed features and all associated conversions that are delivered solely through a modification to the machine's Licensed Internal Code (LIC)</li>
</ul>
<li><b>Effective February 28, 2021, for:</b></li>
<ul>
<li>All the remaining billing feature codes that supported the OOCoD offerings</li>
</ul>
<li><b>Effective June 30, 2025, for:</b></li>
<ul>
<li>All the remaining feature codes that supported the CBU additional tests and replenishment offerings</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<div>
No real surprises compared to the previous annoucements. I just notice that OOCoD offerings can be ordered one year longer. This is only the OOCoD offerings, not CBU records. The only thing you can do is order additional tests on your CBU records as long as they last. So you can order a 5-year record in June 2020 and you can add additional tests to that record up to June 2025.</div>
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I've updated the overview I made the last time.<br />
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Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-49329483677643035322018-04-18T16:11:00.001+02:002018-04-18T16:11:53.884+02:00New member of the family : z14 ZR1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last week, April 10, 2018, IBM announced the new z14 Model ZR1 (<a href="http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_ca/4/877/ENUSZG18-0024/index.html&lang=en&request_locale=en">ZG18-0024</a>) and the Linux Rockhopper II (<a href="https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_ca/7/877/ENUSZG18-0027/index.html&request_locale=en">ZG18-0027</a>). Same box, different purpose. I'm mainly going to give you an introduction to the z14 ZR1. By the way, it becomes GA on May 31, 2018.<br />
<br />
As usual, I'll concentrate on the technical aspects of the announcement rather than focusing on the strategic importance of the platform. Lots of other sources will give you plenty of information about this. Take e.g. a look at this IBM <a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/announcement.html" target="_blank">page</a> covering z14 and its relation with Cloud, Security, Analytics and DevOps.<br />
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I've put the z13s and the z14 ZR1 next to each other here, so that you can immediately see one of the big differences between the two. The z14 ZR1 is now a standard 19'' 42U rack. So it easily complies to the standard datacenter rack requirements.<br />
<br />
The naming indicates that the z14 ZR1 is just another model of the z14, next to the already known models M01 up to M05. It also has the same driver level as the z14. This means this is already a stable level.<br />
<br />
But let's get to the content of the announcement. I'll give you the usual survey of the new system starting with some technical specifications and there are also some novelties worth mentioning. Of course the Software Pricing is always an interesting part too. I'll conclude with Physical Planning, Some Caveats, Operating Systems Support and a couple of references to already available documentation. Here's an overview of the z14 ZR1.<br />
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<br />
Also worth mentioning, there's no GA2 announcement for the two-frame z14 that was announced mid July 2017. This seems to be following for both later this year.<br />
<h3>
Technical specifications</h3>
The z14 ZR1 has machine type 3907. As I already mentioned : quite a different frame than its predecessors. it's air cooled and comes with top exit cabling, bottom exit cabling or even both if you would want that. Cabling means both power and I/O. There is only one model ZR1 as opposed to the two model (N10-N20) setup with the z13s.<br />
<br />
I propose we immediately take a look under the covers to 'uncover' some significant differences between the z14 ZR1 and recent previous models.<br />
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You can see that the front view, unlike former models, doesn't really resemble the rear view. That's because we have a different type of I/O drawer, the PCIe+ I/O drawer. Cards can only be inserted at the rear side of the box. Not so visible, but surely as important is the CPC drawer. Since lots of choices for the configuration of the z14 ZR1 start with the CPC drawer, we should tackle that one first.<br />
<h3>
CPC drawer </h3>
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<div>
The CPC drawer has up to 4 PU Single Chip Modules (SCM's). I deliberately say 'up to' four because the system does NOT come with all four SCM's directly installed. Here's a first choice you have to make. How many CP's will you need and, on top of that, how many other configurable PU's will you need. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You have a choice to make between four CPC drawer features that determine how many CP's, how many configurable PU's, how many PCIe+ I/O drawers and how much memory you will have at your disposal. Upgrades from one feature code (FC) to the other will be disruptive as the drawer has to be taken out to add another PU SCM. Here's an overview</div>
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<div>
When you choose FC0636 you only have 4CP's at your disposal, 1 PCIe+ I/O drawer, no extra configurable PU's and a maximum of 2TB of memory. At the other side of the spectrum with FC0639 you can have 6 CP's (which is still the maximum). You'll have 30 PU's at your disposal and can have up to four PCIe+ I/O drawers and up to 8TB of memory. So choose wisely when you order your z14 ZR1 since, once again, upgrades between the feature codes are disruptive.<br />
<br />
But when you take a closer look at the table above, you see that there's another feature code mentioned : FC0617. This has, as you can see, especially an impact on the number of I/O drawers.</div>
<h3>
FC0617</h3>
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<div>
Since we are using a standard 19'' rack, customer equipment can also be hosted in the space allocated through the 16U Reserved feature. Such as SAN switches, Network Switches, Rack mountable HMC and TKE, Storage devices . . .</div>
<div>
Choosing for this 16U reserved space means that you cannot have a third or fourth PCIe+ I/O drawer in your z14 ZR1. Furthermore, it's a choice that, for the moment, cannot be undone. Once the FC0617 is on your system, even if you don't use the space, you will not be able to use this space afterwards for additional I/O drawers. So, once again, choose wisely !<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
Of course not just anything goes into that space. It has to follow some requirements. The most important are :</div>
<div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Fit within 19” rail-to-rail width, and 28 1/4” (717 mm) front-to-rear depth.</li>
<li>Must employ front to rear airflow.</li>
<li>No more than 35 lbs. / 15.8 Kg) weight per EIA location. (e.g. a 4U drawer can weigh no more than 140 lbs. 65.5 Kg.)</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<h3>
Capacity settings</h3>
As I already mentioned, the system comes with only one model, but with four important feature codes which are also referred to as Max4, Max12, Max24 and Max30. This indicates the maximum of configurable PU's. So in the maximum configuration, we have 10 more PU's at our disposal as compared to the z13s. However the number of maximum traditional CPs remains at 6 also ranging from A01 to Z06 giving us <span style="font-weight: bold;">156 capacity settings.</span> The smallest model, the A01 has once again a higher capacity than its predecessor. On the zBC12 it was 50 mips, on the z13s it was 80 mips and the z14 ZR1 has a slight increase with 88 mips. It has now 11 MSUs but it keeps having the same zELC pricing. So the software price for the A01 remains the same as for the zBC12 A01 with its 6 MSUs or the z13s with its 10 MSUs. This may have an impact on people who are still running on a small zBC12 with less than 11 MSUs.<br />
<br />
One single processor, and as you know all specialty engines are full processors, goes from 1430 mips to about 1570 mips.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Upgrades </span>are also slightly different. Up to now we always saw upgrades from N-1 and N-2 generations, but this is no longer the case. You can only have in place upgrades from a z13s. From a zBC12 there's is a migration offering. This means, no longer an upgrade in place, but we kind of simulate an upgrade and a new z14 ZR1 machine is delivered instead. No parts are taken over from the old zBC12.<br />
<h3>
PCIe+ I/O drawer</h3>
As you can see the PCIe+ I/O drawer can only have cards on the rear of the system. This will also have to be taken into account during the physical planning when e.g. upgrading from a z13s.<br />
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You can have 16 cards per drawer and the number of drawers depends on your chosen feature code for the PU's. Here's an overview of which cards can be put into a PCIe+ I/O drawer.<br />
<br />
<b>Cards</b> that can be <b>carried forward</b> during an upgrade (only from z13s)<br />
<ul>
<li>FICON Express16S</li>
<li>FICON Express8S</li>
<li>OSA-Express5S<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></li>
<li>OSA-Express4S – all EXCEPT 1000Base-T</li>
<li>10GbE RoCE Express (FC 0411)</li>
<li>zEDC Express</li>
<li>Crypto Express5S</li>
<li>Coupling Express LR</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Cards</b> that come with a <b>'new build'</b><br />
<ul>
<li>FICON Express16S+ LX, SX</li>
<li>OSA-Express6S: 1 GbE (LX, SX), 10 GbE (LR, SR), and 1000BASE-T</li>
<li>10GbE RoCE Express2</li>
<li>zEDC Express</li>
<li>Crypto Express6S</li>
<li>zHyperLink Express</li>
<li>Coupling Express LR </li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul></ul>
</blockquote>
<h3>
Some caveats</h3>
<div>
What was still a statement of direction for the two frame z14 model in July last year, has already become reality on the z14 ZR1 : it no longer supports InfiniBand features. This means that replacements have to be in place. For the Infiniband 1x there are the new Coupling Express Long Reach I/O cards (FC0433). These are I/O cards that fit into the I/O drawer instead of the Infiniband fanouts on the CPC drawer. Unlike the z14 you cannot have both on the machine to make transition somewhat easier. This will be a challenge when going to z14 ZR1.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here's a list of some other features that are no longer available on the z14 ZR1 (also not through carry forward on an upgrade)</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>1000 BaseT OSA-Express4S</li>
<li>HCA2/3-O 12x InfiniBand Coupling Links</li>
<li>HCA2/3-O LR 1x InfiniBand Coupling Links</li>
<li>Crypto Express4S</li>
<li>FICON Express8 (SX and LX)</li>
<li>I/O Drawer (No previous I/O Drawers)</li>
<li>Flash Express Adapter (replaced by Virtual Flash Memory)</li>
<li>IBM zAware Firmware Appliance</li>
</ul>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul></ul>
</blockquote>
<h3>
Software pricing</h3>
My story is pretty straightforward here. Similar to what happened with the z13s we don't see a new pricing mechanism but, again, a reduction to the AEWLC pricing. As compared to the z13s, you will have a reduction of approximately 5%.<br />
<br />
This reduction does not apply to IPLA (OTC) softwares.<br />
<br />
As I already mentioned the A01 has an extra MSU but remains on zELC pricing. This means the price remains the same as on previous A01 models. Furthermore, I've done some calculations to be sure and if you're still running on a zBC12 B01 (59 mips - 7 MSU) up to an E01 (88 mips - 11 MSU), you <i>must</i> really have a look at your software pricing. The difference surely is more than just that 5% !<br />
<h3>
Operating Systems</h3>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">z/OS</span><br />
<ul>
<li>z/OS 2.3 Sept. 29, 2017 GA</li>
<li>z/OS 2.2 with PTFs</li>
<li>z/OS 2.1 with PTFs</li>
<li>z/OS 1.13 (compatibility only)</li>
<ul>
<li>IBM Software Support Services purchase</li>
<li>September 2016, EoS</li>
</ul>
</ul>
Be also aware that when you are on or getting to z/OS 2.3, you have to define all your LPARs with a minimum of 8GB of processor storage. <b></b><br />
<b><br />
</b> <span style="font-weight: bold;">z/VM</span><br />
<ul>
<li>z/VM V6.4 with PTFs</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">z/VSE</span><br />
<ul>
<li></li>
<li>z/VSE 6.2 Preview 4/11/17</li>
<li>z/VSE 6.1 with PTFs</li>
<li>z/VSE 5.2 with PTFs</li>
<ul>
<li>October 31, 2018 = EoS</li>
</ul>
<li>z/VSE 5.1</li>
<ul>
<li>June 30, 2016 = EoS, limited toleration</li>
</ul>
<li>Earlier releases cannot IPL</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Linux</span><span style="background-color: yellow;"></span><br />
<ul>
<li>RHEL 7.3 with service update</li>
<li>RHEL 6.9 with service update</li>
<li>SLES 12 SP2 with service update</li>
<li>SLES 11 SP4 with service update</li>
<li>Ubuntu 16.04 LTS</li>
<li>Ubuntu 17.10 (supported until Jul 2018)</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">KVM</span><br />
<ul>
<li>KVM hypervisor offered with the Linux distributions: SLES12 SP2 or higher, and Ubuntu 16.04 LTS or higher</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Physical planning</h3>
Since we have a different footprint ànd since we have to fit into the 'normal' datacenter standards, there are some attention points here. The dimensions and also the weight are different.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQa_wuXAH3yvowov1CTmuF9EEGAZABstwu7Y-6lIJlES6xaH4ZQ-FRfouQUU7FuSseDlWW3rIZ7UCWqjSTQ3El2_BkIOAzgff1UbevJKfLRP1y_8TaQGrmt722426dwviqbhINSS3dsU/s1600/z14+ZR1+006+dimensions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="528" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQa_wuXAH3yvowov1CTmuF9EEGAZABstwu7Y-6lIJlES6xaH4ZQ-FRfouQUU7FuSseDlWW3rIZ7UCWqjSTQ3El2_BkIOAzgff1UbevJKfLRP1y_8TaQGrmt722426dwviqbhINSS3dsU/s320/z14+ZR1+006+dimensions.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
You now only need one cutout in the rear and there's just single-phase power. Some more info on this<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Line cords are connected to internal PDUs</li>
<li>Two or four line cords per system</li>
<ul>
<li>2 cords for systems with 0 or 1 PCIe+ I/O drawers</li>
<li>4 cords for systems with 2 to 4 PCIe+ I/O drawers</li>
</ul>
<li>Clients will now be shipped a plug and cord for each power feature </li>
</ul>
<br />
<div>
And mind you, here's some features that are no longer available</div>
<div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>3-phase Power</li>
<li>Internal Battery Feature (IBF)</li>
<li>EPO Switch </li>
<li>HVDC Power </li>
<li>480v AC</li>
<li>AC only - No DC power.</li>
</ul>
<div>
And as usual I can only say, for the physical planning, the Installation Manual for Physical Planning is your best friend.</div>
</div>
</div>
<h3>
Documentation </h3>
You should find all manuals in the library section on Resource Link. But I have the impression that a lot are still missing for the moment. But the Installation Manual is already there.<br />
<br />
In the <b>Redbooks</b> section, for the moment I only find the <a href="http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg248550.html?Open" target="_blank">IBM z14 ZR1 Technical Introduction</a> but more should follow.<br />
<ul>
</ul>
<br />
As usual, I could only scratch the surface and touch upon the highlights of this new system.<br />
There's much more to discover about it. And along with this announcement, there was one particular announcement that, of course, caught our attention : the End Of Support Dates for the z13 and z13s/ But I'll cover this in another post.<br />
<br />
So I can only say : Stay Tuned !Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-62027709478398480432018-04-11T11:02:00.001+02:002018-04-11T11:02:29.181+02:00Introducing the new z14 ZR1Yesterday IBM announced the new member of the z14 family, the z14 ZR1. Here's an introductory video. But stay tuned, there's another blog post coming up with all the details about this new system.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F7jN5qKsXbc" width="480"></iframe><br />
Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-83938920908656531542018-03-16T08:00:00.001+01:002018-03-16T08:00:36.561+01:00HoGent visits montpellier - young people do appreciate the mainframeI came across this on LinkedIn, the new place to be :-), and I just couldn't resist posting this over here as well. Do have a look at it.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="295" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/E_OqdG_Klqk" width="480"></iframe><br />Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-5256627208241308662017-12-20T07:00:00.000+01:002017-12-20T07:01:09.812+01:00Happy Holidays and best wishes for Z018I don't know what this new year will bring us but I surely wish every one the best for 2018 : A Happy New Year and good health to you and your family.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" gesture="media" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5oOEzh55DjM?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
I know I haven't been blogging a lot this year and just picked out some highlights now and then. But still, thanks to all my readers for coming by at those moments, to all the people who referred to this blog via social media and to every one who gave me great support and feedback in 2017.Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-25824069166677745522017-12-19T07:57:00.001+01:002017-12-19T07:57:16.409+01:00IBM Z Benelux Study Tour 2018 - March 12 - 16Hans Deketele, IBM Z Platform Leader Benelux, just announced a new Benelux IBM Z Study Tour. In the past those study tours often coincided with a new announcement. No guarantee this means we will soon see the announcement of a z14s, of course :-)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_-lwBDLnIuAidS_ZFY99zhCSfJOJcBSxB5HzsGLSqtyHeIX0ASZysoJOWLXXjaQZWLUBjhkrIKR2zOaYj22GRG-Kq3Eweqmfrlj9g7ef-Uf0bgo9CmWNJW_7qFa3Yy8X2EDcFnL8nNs/s1600/IBM+Z+study+tour+2018.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="1534" height="43" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_-lwBDLnIuAidS_ZFY99zhCSfJOJcBSxB5HzsGLSqtyHeIX0ASZysoJOWLXXjaQZWLUBjhkrIKR2zOaYj22GRG-Kq3Eweqmfrlj9g7ef-Uf0bgo9CmWNJW_7qFa3Yy8X2EDcFnL8nNs/s400/IBM+Z+study+tour+2018.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Here's his invitation to the study tour<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dear IBM Customer, </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Following a longstanding tradition, we will again organize a Benelux IBM Z Study Tour to the USA in 2018. We will go to our briefing centers in Poughkeepsie (IBM Z & LinuxONE) & Yorktown Heights (IBM Research) from March 12 – 16. Mark your agenda!!! </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
During this Tour you will be updated on the latest information in the world of IBM Z and LinuxONE, along with the modern IT architectural views and insights on innovative technologies like quantum computing, IBM Watson and AI. You will be hosted by our best speakers, experts and executives. The program will cover main themes such as:<br />
<ul>
<li>What the future brings for the IBM Z platform and LinuxONE</li>
<li>How to incorporate Big Data with IBM Z ?</li>
<li>IT Security: the IT-theme of 2018</li>
<li>Cloud: what flavor to choose and how to implement?</li>
<li>A full day on IT Innovation in the IBM Research briefing center, the home of Quantum Computing, where you will visit the IBM Q computer itself, alongside with sessions on Blockchain, Cognitive, AI & Watson</li>
<li>And of course, the networking with colleagues, peers and IBM experts!</li>
</ul>
The tour starts on Monday morning March 12. We are arranging group flights from Amsterdam and Brussels Airport. Return flight will be on Friday March 16, arriving on Saturday morning. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Interested to join the Tour? Do let me know your interest so we can optimize the planning.</blockquote>
If you are interested in taking this tour, you can of course also contact me for further information.Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-75012274323563332582017-09-29T08:38:00.000+02:002017-09-29T08:38:04.207+02:00Make the most of your day with IBM ZJust a funny movie I came across via the LinkedIn <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/hans-deketele-2440366/">page</a> of Hans Deketele, z Systems & Power Platform Leader at IBM Benelux, and I just couldn't resist posting it.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UyulDEkP6FY" width="480"></iframe><br />Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-81645505088698820312017-09-26T15:30:00.000+02:002017-09-26T15:30:22.987+02:00z Systems Operating Systems EOS datesI was catching up on my reading and came across this nice overview of the End Of Service dates of all the Operating Systems. There are some footnotes which I haven't included. You can find them in the z14 Technical Introduction <a href="http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg248450.html?Open">Redbook</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrdD4vANrmeELNO2bBrTximZ0EtgscJZg3MusPD2BIptPI-hoMH8TKnevuKV6nIsjzZNwcVGhAzthMWO1YHWVmutBZ51Jxi_OfVpFCIzzeRkAbR_wMF68mH6z8eBoNbuz7xlPk8TuO9I/s1600/z14-OS-EOS+dates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="693" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrdD4vANrmeELNO2bBrTximZ0EtgscJZg3MusPD2BIptPI-hoMH8TKnevuKV6nIsjzZNwcVGhAzthMWO1YHWVmutBZ51Jxi_OfVpFCIzzeRkAbR_wMF68mH6z8eBoNbuz7xlPk8TuO9I/s400/z14-OS-EOS+dates.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
You can always find an overview in our zSystems Newsletter as well. You can find the latest issue over <a href="http://www.realdolmen.com/sites/default/files/flyers/hybrid%20cloud/IBM%20z%20Systems%20Newsletter%2026.pdf">here</a>.Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-43949802472468383992017-07-21T08:04:00.000+02:002017-07-21T08:04:31.815+02:00Mainframe Comparison Tool<a href="https://www.ibm.com/it-infrastructure/us-en/tools/z-systems-product-comparison/#">Here</a>'s a nice little page comparing the z14 with its predecessors. It's pretty straightforward, but it immediately gives you and idea of what to expect compared to your current machine.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg381uUQA0XHAEdWaZ5chsRhZXW1mzUI74EcANIHJqX-AgrAjjrwxySsqFRJ8M7hNHVK1hofuC6wnWwfPlvj06CMoKML_-R6ODQu_D2ejQuOWMeuSLXg7mXNIhB_hDCSMn31_nd7sOZQuQ/s1600/CompMainFrame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="1419" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg381uUQA0XHAEdWaZ5chsRhZXW1mzUI74EcANIHJqX-AgrAjjrwxySsqFRJ8M7hNHVK1hofuC6wnWwfPlvj06CMoKML_-R6ODQu_D2ejQuOWMeuSLXg7mXNIhB_hDCSMn31_nd7sOZQuQ/s400/CompMainFrame.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Click on image for larger version</span></div>
<br />
So let's say you have a z13 N30 and you're considering upgrading to a z14 M01 or perhaps even an M02. Well, just select the systems you want to compare and you immediately have to most important items : model id, memory, new functionalities like e.g. Java Garbage collection, security and crypto cards, connectivity, networking, coupling links etc. Strangely enough OSA cards are missing.<br />
<br />
By the way, you can also select the Business Class but I must warn you : no z14s there . . . yet !<br />
<br />Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-53765654514376216532017-07-18T08:35:00.001+02:002017-07-18T08:35:49.010+02:00IBM z14 - designed to help you build leadership in trusted digital experiences<h3>
General Introduction</h3>
<br />
Yesterday on July 17, 2017, IBM announced the new z14 “IBM z14, designed to help you build leadership in trusted digital experiences” (<a href="https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_ca/7/877/ENUSZG17-0017/index.html&lang=en&request_locale=en">ZG17-0017</a>). Allthough the strategy that lead to the technical choices is really important, I’ll mainly concentrate on the technical aspects. But still, I want to share this slide, from a presentation on z14, that really sums up what it’s all about.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNiLsSb82rK1W8C2yCyOVkKjP0Nda_2CgW7lumZex7OmCH5A2T-31qh-hnp8V5X3JIfnFiGbbt2rY2UkTxUl2ws8FQcm9dEHq87q9o4z9SsYt4u3A5iquKt5obw0APj5LeFHSLOZ13q-U/s1600/000+-+strategy.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="602" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNiLsSb82rK1W8C2yCyOVkKjP0Nda_2CgW7lumZex7OmCH5A2T-31qh-hnp8V5X3JIfnFiGbbt2rY2UkTxUl2ws8FQcm9dEHq87q9o4z9SsYt4u3A5iquKt5obw0APj5LeFHSLOZ13q-U/s400/000+-+strategy.bmp" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Click on image for larger version</span></div>
<br />
Whatever platform you are using for your business, its core will always be your data and the applications you build around them.But some platforms might be more suitable to serve that purpose than others. And we all know that the mainframe has always been that kind of platform. With the new announcement of the z14 we see today, lots of attention goes to the data.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>How can we protect our data ? </b>Think about data breaches or compliance regulations like GDPR. </li>
<li><b>How can we use it to create business advantages ? </b>Think about analytics and machine learning. </li>
<li><b>And how do we expand the reach of our business</b> by providing transparent access to application developers using APIs ? Think about how anyone can develop and deliver z/OS-based assets in minutes via RESTful APIs. It’s really not a coincidence that 80% of the world’s data and transactions reside on or pass through the mainframe.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgktra4yKcLCvcSC2DFtV04w4XQlCmYSi1azDyrDqehsd46wMLLEUPLysuex2LOZX_l43smgaxcLK3RvCksg_rinwiSgje9Od1Mo6V6ytqTMRFKk3pjhO8pIcr7Wjd80M_CCsLTWKpu_lA/s1600/001+-+general+image.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgktra4yKcLCvcSC2DFtV04w4XQlCmYSi1azDyrDqehsd46wMLLEUPLysuex2LOZX_l43smgaxcLK3RvCksg_rinwiSgje9Od1Mo6V6ytqTMRFKk3pjhO8pIcr7Wjd80M_CCsLTWKpu_lA/s1600/001+-+general+image.bmp" /></a></div>
<br />
On to the technical aspects. <br />
No suprises concerning the name : IBM z14. The model is 3906. Don’t ask why. The looks have pretty much stayed the same with a nice touch of blue added. And there’s the addition of thin covers. But more about that in the physical planning.<br />
There’s the usual growth but once again there’s a really big increase on the memory side. We go from a maximum of 10TB to a maximum of 32TB. This means we go from 2.5TB per drawer to 8TB per drawer. <br />
<h3>
Overview</h3>
Here's an overview of the most important new functions and/or improvements<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx79wvB2iI23KGL8uPtPi_SjPnUdLCf9fj6Mu3w-L46I7beaShib-QgeXhT0YyXYDOhrLBpid5jzbCIcePdUN41uJzNPhPKMFrTvlssZsA_-kHQS5TXxIbyQqF9eQz_NhRqsMeAf31l5A/s1600/002+-+general+overview.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="840" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx79wvB2iI23KGL8uPtPi_SjPnUdLCf9fj6Mu3w-L46I7beaShib-QgeXhT0YyXYDOhrLBpid5jzbCIcePdUN41uJzNPhPKMFrTvlssZsA_-kHQS5TXxIbyQqF9eQz_NhRqsMeAf31l5A/s400/002+-+general+overview.bmp" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Click on image for larger version</span></div>
<br />
Let's tackle some of the highlights now.<br />
<h3>
Models and sub-capacity settings</h3>
Similar to the z13 the new system has four regular models and one large sized model, but the naming is a bit different, or should I say, easier. No fooling around with numbers of engines and hexadecimal ingenuities. Just M01, M02, M03, M04 and the larger model M05. For the regular models, every drawer has 41 PUs and with the M05 each drawer has 49 PUs. <br />
<br />
There are 2 designated spares per system. We have 5 SAPs per book. So if we take e.g. the M01 with 41 PUs, we subtract the 5 SAPs and the 2 spare processors, that leaves us with 34 PUs. Each system also has 1 IFP. And so we reach 33 usable processors for the first drawer. Consequent drawers have an additional 36 processors. As usual processors can be defined as Central Processors (CPs), ICFs, IFLs, zIIPs and optionally as additional SAPs. Here’s the overview of the PU allocation on the IBM z14. The z14 continues to support a 2 to 1 ratio for the zIIPs. zAAP are already out of the picture since the z13.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jJL92O2vdJeLHPDVH40AK4C01UJsmTCz_92vvlIewE8GnpdMoK22g0xymTe2uXPrpwklYP2rjaHtVrrVhHt9CffxdtE-B5Ws93qMpwv0ON19BSzZqBSDAS6hxXdq4UYOxLaxLAKmV6E/s1600/003+-+models.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="629" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jJL92O2vdJeLHPDVH40AK4C01UJsmTCz_92vvlIewE8GnpdMoK22g0xymTe2uXPrpwklYP2rjaHtVrrVhHt9CffxdtE-B5Ws93qMpwv0ON19BSzZqBSDAS6hxXdq4UYOxLaxLAKmV6E/s400/003+-+models.bmp" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
A full processor (the 701 or a specialty engine) has a capacity of 1.832 mips as opposed to 1.695 on the z13. We have again three sub-capacity levels (4-, 5-, -6) now for up to 33 CPs.<br />
<h3>
Memory : up to 32TB</h3>
As I mentioned already, the amount of memory in the system has again hugely increased. For the z13 the system minimum was 64GB and went up to 2.5TB per book and up to 10 TB for the entire system. Which was already pretty impressive. Now we see the following picture :<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoZHcOAvaPVRa4QP9-gJKVn7letwmoMbiRYts8yUKRrJCYD4EiPcLUoGoD-tSVjyyfajUj4Dyy8RKZTtyUuCLEh2NOS_jKLSI5gWcOaMPCOx_J7tEWbx2CMhDUYe5jX79b5v_ZMlVMtZY/s1600/004+-+memory.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="612" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoZHcOAvaPVRa4QP9-gJKVn7letwmoMbiRYts8yUKRrJCYD4EiPcLUoGoD-tSVjyyfajUj4Dyy8RKZTtyUuCLEh2NOS_jKLSI5gWcOaMPCOx_J7tEWbx2CMhDUYe5jX79b5v_ZMlVMtZY/s400/004+-+memory.bmp" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
We start at a minimum of 256GB and go up to an amount of 8TB per drawer. An additional 192 GB of memory is reserved next to the customer purchased amount for the Hardware System Area (HSA). Next to that, more memory is in the box and is used for IBM Virtual Flash Memory (VFM) at which we will come back later on. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Processor design improvements</h3>
<b>Processor speed</b><br />
Last time we went down from 5.5GHz to 5.0GHz. Now we’re going up again to 5.2GHz. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBvstdd35JLttwvXu1TvHJK39_4oGWUDWhmvNvfM-XYLZ1LzslIpoQa6OijrwsT-wYbhPcClJ5SEESrLPA8twvyiB1x4Is5m9DtYkBDx_ICFj2ZAXUkFIVpCZG0rs1eUdSxvxTBYEeJhg/s1600/004+-+processor+speed.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="695" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBvstdd35JLttwvXu1TvHJK39_4oGWUDWhmvNvfM-XYLZ1LzslIpoQa6OijrwsT-wYbhPcClJ5SEESrLPA8twvyiB1x4Is5m9DtYkBDx_ICFj2ZAXUkFIVpCZG0rs1eUdSxvxTBYEeJhg/s400/004+-+processor+speed.bmp" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>CPC changes and cache</b><br />
The z13 also saw the introduction of drawers with Single Chip Modules instead of Multi Chip Modules in previous versions. The 8-core chip has now become a 10-core chip. For the techies I add an illustration of a fully populated z13 CPC drawer compared to a fully populated z14 CPC drawer.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmMC8Cd0F1C5JVTwiD_MDHtM4J2opRy0FQLEMvBISjuf5Uior6Cy_VBXiQ_Seq0a5B8aWXWE1Jmad0SGxN3rkhYNjhC8Hn0r80-1IBiZ-Vai9jymP1CbWcc6ltj8OEN8ye-IPA9MX5GQ/s1600/005+-+CPC+drawer.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="561" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmMC8Cd0F1C5JVTwiD_MDHtM4J2opRy0FQLEMvBISjuf5Uior6Cy_VBXiQ_Seq0a5B8aWXWE1Jmad0SGxN3rkhYNjhC8Hn0r80-1IBiZ-Vai9jymP1CbWcc6ltj8OEN8ye-IPA9MX5GQ/s400/005+-+CPC+drawer.bmp" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The main difference is that the two SC SCMs have been reduced to one per drawer on the z14. The on-core level 1 and level 2 caches have increased just as the on-chip level 3 cache. The level 4 cache has decreased a bit but this is countered by the fact that a single system controller means less latency.<br />
<br />
<b>Additional improvements</b><br />
<ul>
<li>New instructions in the single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) facility offer a boost for traditional workloads using decimal operations (i.e. COBOL 6.2, PL/I 5.2) and new application like analytics (i.e. Apache Spark for z/OS).</li>
<li>The z14 delivers next generation simultaneous multithreading (SMT). SMT on the z14 improves throughput up to 25 percent for an IFL or zIIP to benefit exploiters. SMT has been extended to support the dedicated I/O processors called System Assist Processors (SAPs).</li>
<li>The new Guarded Storage Facility (GSF) will deliver ‘as good as’ pause-less garbage collection to enable enterprise scale Java applications to run with fewer and shorter pauses for garbage collection. </li>
<li>The compression co-processor in each core has been improved to use fewer CPU cycles for compression and expansion and to support DB2 index compression. These features enable further improvements in DB2 memory usage, data transfer, and storage efficiency. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
Upgrades</h3>
<br />
And what are the upgrade scenarios ?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBLYB0iyARcTzdFBxNQyCfZnRwlk5l-Du_M4cr612tDZ7dWpQMSTK1_Au1PJZDfNDY8sqQNWKb0j33-_rG2Io70qGDyBWueaOHVQVPZwMZhoNWBnwCh-PL-lK3zAs4QVhwgI_LssHvz8/s1600/006+-+upgrades.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBLYB0iyARcTzdFBxNQyCfZnRwlk5l-Du_M4cr612tDZ7dWpQMSTK1_Au1PJZDfNDY8sqQNWKb0j33-_rG2Io70qGDyBWueaOHVQVPZwMZhoNWBnwCh-PL-lK3zAs4QVhwgI_LssHvz8/s1600/006+-+upgrades.bmp" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
You can upgrade from any air cooled zEC12 and z13 model to any z14 model. Upgrading from a water cooled model goes only to a z14 water cooled model.<br />
<br />
Another remark : Upgrading from a z14 model M01-M04 to a model M05 is not supported. The M05 is factory build only.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Pervasive encryption</h3>
<br />
This is an important one. In short, encryption should be pervasive, transparant and without performance nor application impact.<br />
Therefore the z14 brings pervasive encryption at all levels as indicated in the illustration below. It’s set up in order to defend and protect your critical assets with encryption but without compromising transactional throughput or response times. And it requires no application changes.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszveHDgKc9F-jOk4NnfFer6tG5hnLiB25LUHOzGQuTLKz6cISPiIeQeNycvQkPUxoMDq0c5Tp91bIk4M7pmGsJcGFHyn5g0t184As8K7c01whY8wIZ7iVeeCYKiXjxRL2NH8g-OoQL-k/s1600/007+-+Pervasive+Encryption.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="283" data-original-width="455" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszveHDgKc9F-jOk4NnfFer6tG5hnLiB25LUHOzGQuTLKz6cISPiIeQeNycvQkPUxoMDq0c5Tp91bIk4M7pmGsJcGFHyn5g0t184As8K7c01whY8wIZ7iVeeCYKiXjxRL2NH8g-OoQL-k/s400/007+-+Pervasive+Encryption.bmp" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
By encrypting as much of your data and transactional pipeline as possible, you can reduce potential data breach risks and financial losses - and comply with complex regulatory mandates like GDPR. The IBM z14 gives you a transparent approach to encrypt virtually all of in-flight and at-rest data.<br />
<br />
Further, pervasive encryption can dramatically simplify data protection and reduce the costs of regulatory compliance. Using simple policy controls, z14 pervasive computing streamlines data protection for mission critical DB2 for z/OS, IMS and virtual storage access method (VSAM) datasets.<br />
<br />
The Central Processor Assist for Cryptographic Function (<b>CPACF</b>), standard on every core, supports pervasive encryption and provides hardware acceleration for encryption operations. It does this 2-6X faster than the z13 for data in-flight and at-rest.<br />
And the new <b>Crypto Express6S</b> card gets a performance boost on z14. It gives on average a 1.5X to 2X performance increase over Crypto Express5S.<br />
Combined, these two enhancements perform encryption more efficiently on the z14 than on earlier IBM Z servers.<br />
<br />
Here’s an overview of the possibilities with the new Crypto Express6 card<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzcW9n7tPX67srMmbiDkERbeoU5-EVfrdlLXkPAP0Gpb6Xed6vJSdCBN1zrz2TGshaS4Z9yVwDCnCmMIeRyLIsKR1YrjdepIPMBx45iH36_YcurEWTC4NzAk8vs1OIL7FfBd01iqGCOAQ/s1600/008+-+crypto.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="237" data-original-width="485" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzcW9n7tPX67srMmbiDkERbeoU5-EVfrdlLXkPAP0Gpb6Xed6vJSdCBN1zrz2TGshaS4Z9yVwDCnCmMIeRyLIsKR1YrjdepIPMBx45iH36_YcurEWTC4NzAk8vs1OIL7FfBd01iqGCOAQ/s400/008+-+crypto.bmp" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<h3>
New features : IBM Virtual Flash Memory</h3>
<br />
IBM Virtual Flash Memory (VFM) entirely replaces the Flash Express card and has the same use cases. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP_V7eP8YJUrne1yAb1IHCNTxf4PfFuL5_CeSDmZvjXfzb28eQsnUBThZUQq-Qd4EMYIR6jBiDXbRQULUM2tO_Vg4osxutG7jqpmUXnT31OlrnlzMUBOfGjYKxe3cIwARrsrsTv8sA8PQ/s1600/009+-+VFM.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP_V7eP8YJUrne1yAb1IHCNTxf4PfFuL5_CeSDmZvjXfzb28eQsnUBThZUQq-Qd4EMYIR6jBiDXbRQULUM2tO_Vg4osxutG7jqpmUXnT31OlrnlzMUBOfGjYKxe3cIwARrsrsTv8sA8PQ/s1600/009+-+VFM.bmp" /></a></div>
But . . . is more performant. Estimations give up to 10% end to end performance improvement and (yes) 1000X improvement in Read/Write latency. You might remember the picture that was often shown to illustrate the performance gain you had with Flash Express. Well, we go one step further up the ladder.<br />
<br />
As far as capacity, you can go from 1.5TB up to 6TB, which means 1.5TB per drawer. <br />
<br />
And you can compare VFM to HSA. It’s memory but it doesn’t take away any memory from the purchased user memory.<br />
<br />
For those who already have Flash Express : during the upgrade there’s a feature conversion for it towards VFM. Additonal advantage : it saves you the two PCIe I/O drawer slots and there’s less power consumption.<br />
<br />
And to be complete : the same will be happening with zEDC. Its functionality will also move to the CP in the next generation.<br />
<br />
<h3>
New features : Secure Service Containers</h3>
Apart from the name, I don’t think I should call this new. The first occurrence of this one was zAware introduced with the z12 back in 2012. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglJjfCV3-P7WK30jncJhWQvQbAmECOLEleGfG64kBfU7_Jzd-9k6KoEMN4MBVt1cttY5pITo0YuXwJji22Vv-uDeXAYwaZCgauRKjZPdwHwbhyHbwQ-xVJr1EH5uWD3hANjoDyw-Bgv_I/s1600/010+-+SSC.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="181" data-original-width="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglJjfCV3-P7WK30jncJhWQvQbAmECOLEleGfG64kBfU7_Jzd-9k6KoEMN4MBVt1cttY5pITo0YuXwJji22Vv-uDeXAYwaZCgauRKjZPdwHwbhyHbwQ-xVJr1EH5uWD3hANjoDyw-Bgv_I/s1600/010+-+SSC.bmp" /></a></div>
You could call zAware a container like solution avant la lettre. But then again, what to say about Coupling Facilities. Later on with the z13, zAware was renamed to zACI or z Appliance Container Infrastructure. So now, Secure Service Containers is the new name for it. Containers have by now ‘conquered’ the world and it illustrates once again that the mainfame is quite a modern platform. For those not familiar with it, here’s a definition of Docker containers.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Docker containers wrap up a piece of software in a complete filesystem that contains everything it needs to run: code, runtime, system tools, system libraries – anything you can install on a server. This guarantees that it will always run the same, regardless of the environment it is running in." </blockquote>
Software appliances are zAware, z/VSE Network Appliance and Operations Analytics for z Systems.<br />
<br />
As we already talked about Pervasive Encryption, the Secure aspect is definitely important here. Here’s a couple of characteristics in favour of Secure Service Containers<br />
<ul>
<li>Reduces tampering or malware risk by validating application code during appliance installation and runtime</li>
<li>Ensures confidentiality of data and code running within the appliance with automatic encryption – both at flight and at rest</li>
<li>Provides simplified mechanism for fast deployment and management of packaged solutions</li>
<li>Management provided via Remote APIs (RESTful) and web interfaces</li>
</ul>
<br />
You can find more information in Redbook SC28-6971 User's Guide. Not yet published at the moment this blog post was issued.<br />
<h3>
Connectivity</h3>
Here’s the new connectivity features<br />
<ul>
<li>FICON Express16S+ (FC/FCP/zHPF)</li>
<li>1 GbE OSA Express6S (LX or SX)</li>
<li>10 GbE OSA Express6S (LR or SR)</li>
<li>OSA Express6S 1000BASE-T</li>
<li>10GbE RoCE Express2 (new feature)</li>
<li>zHyperLink Express</li>
</ul>
Before I get to some of those, here’s a couple of graphs of what can be ordered on a new z14 and what can be carried forward. Everything that’s not mentioned like FICON Express8, Crypto Express4S and of course Flash Express cannot be ordered nor carried forward.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyJzWelw14rRuPKN06qnUpDmTVXaWwU8KhCGsKpJ289aA3W5uTMVUa2sbHNbH_HYPvZ65dw9DXGh-s54ZFbTBHcnWrv8UgmjfbEfIfGA5qxf-QMyNrDkXthWMItoaha764VPJ4KdTaZxM/s1600/011+-+Connectivity.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="538" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyJzWelw14rRuPKN06qnUpDmTVXaWwU8KhCGsKpJ289aA3W5uTMVUa2sbHNbH_HYPvZ65dw9DXGh-s54ZFbTBHcnWrv8UgmjfbEfIfGA5qxf-QMyNrDkXthWMItoaha764VPJ4KdTaZxM/s400/011+-+Connectivity.bmp" width="316" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>FICON Express16S+</b> should, in combination with zHPF, give a real performance boost for FICON as well as FCP performance.<br />
<br />
<b>zHyperlink Express</b> is entirely new.and starts off where zHPF ends. For the moment it only works with DS8880.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1jcFLlygg9ReFOEIRoOj8A-wduOnB9vg8M0TIWDrrI7mnGKf3ASrVDk-juXbOA7G3z1_5p-Xz0pGTEvrwgEYyq0x52S1nXxDVBmrZ2xZ9puUlWteUchFbHLG3clJanUMHVgtgLAXQC8M/s1600/012+-+zHyperlink.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="213" data-original-width="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1jcFLlygg9ReFOEIRoOj8A-wduOnB9vg8M0TIWDrrI7mnGKf3ASrVDk-juXbOA7G3z1_5p-Xz0pGTEvrwgEYyq0x52S1nXxDVBmrZ2xZ9puUlWteUchFbHLG3clJanUMHVgtgLAXQC8M/s1600/012+-+zHyperlink.bmp" /></a></div>
<br />
zHyperLink is a short distance mainframe attach link designed for up to 10x lower latency than High Performance FICON. zHyperLink will initially speed DB2 for z/OS transaction processing and later improve DB2 active Log throughput and VSAM applications.<br />
<br />
zHyperLink Express should give 7x faster read access and 10x faster writes of data.<br />
<br />
<b>Coupling Technology enhancements : Coupling Express LR </b><br />
These are new Ethernet based Coupling Links using 10GbE RoCE technology. As a matter of fact, as you can read in the Statements of Direction, the IBM z14 will be the last z Systems high-end server to support HCA3-O LR fanout for 1x IFB (#0170). Customers should begin to think about a migration strategy for moving from 1X PSIFB to Coupling Express LR.<br />
Another difference with its predecessor : this is a card taking up a slot in the PCIE I/O drawer. It’s the same adapter as RoCE Express2 but with Coupling Optics and firmware. The distance is 10 km unrepeated and up to 100 km with a qualified DWDM. The cabling utilizes the same 9u Single Mode fiber type as 1X IFB.<br />
It becomes also available on the z13/z13s systems but it will require an IML before the first Coupling Express LR may be utilized. So a planned outage is necessary on those machines. <br />
<h3>
Physical planning</h3>
For the physical planning, nothing much has changed. <br />
<ul>
<li>Floor space – No change unless ordering Thin Covers </li>
<li>Overhead I/O or Power – No change</li>
<li>Power – No change to typical power consumption </li>
<li>Environment – New ASHRAE A3 Classification (40C°/104F° maximum ambient temperature)</li>
<li>Customer Water – No change</li>
<li>Weight – Slight increase in weight depending on configuration </li>
<li>Airflow – No change</li>
<li>New Feature - Thin Covers : System depth for air cooled machines with thin covers is reduced by 14.7 inch or 37.33 cm and weight is reduced by 108 lbs or 49 kilo.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Operating systems support</h3>
<b>z/OS Support Plan :</b><br />
<ul>
<li>z/OS 2.3 Sept. 29, 2017 GA</li>
<li>z/OS 2.2 with PTFs</li>
<li>z/OS 2.1 with PTFs</li>
<li>z/OS 1.13 (compatibility only)</li>
<ul>
<li>IBM Software Support Services purchase</li>
<li>September 2016, EoS </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<b>z/VM Support Plan :</b><br />
<ul>
<li>z/VM 6.4 with PTFs</li>
<li>z/VM 6.3 with PTFs</li>
</ul>
<b>z/VSE Support Plan:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>z/VSE 6.2 Preview 4/11/17</li>
<li>z/VSE 6.1 with PTFs</li>
<li>z/VSE 5.2 with PTFs</li>
<ul>
<li>October 31, 2018 = EoS</li>
</ul>
<li>z/VSE 5.1</li>
<ul>
<li>June 30, 2016 = EoS, limited toleration</li>
</ul>
<li>Earlier releases can not IPL </li>
</ul>
<b>Linux for System z Support Plan </b>: Minimum Distributions<br />
<ul>
<li>SLES 12 SP2</li>
<li>SLES 11 SP4</li>
<li>RHEL 7.3</li>
<li>RHEL 6.8</li>
<li>Ubuntu 16.04</li>
</ul>
One remark from IBM : “IBM cannot legally discuss z14 exploitation prior to GA from distributors”<br />
<h3>
Software pricing</h3>
<b>MLC – AWLC pricing</b><br />
The software pricing is again pretty straightforward this time. It remains the same for MLC : AWLC. Still, there’s a benefit of on average 5%. How is it realized ? Quite simple, there’s a reduction on some softwares depending on the MSUs of the machine, as also happened with the z13. <br />
<br />
<b>NEW : Container Pricing</b><br />
IBM is introducing Container Pricing for IBM Z for qualified solutions running on IBM z13 and z14 servers. Container Pricing will provide simplified software pricing for qualified solutions.<br />
<br />
Container Pricing can scale from collocated solutions within existing LPARs, through to separate LPARs, up to multiple-LPAR solutions, without directly impacting the cost of unrelated workloads. <br />
Additionally, Container Pricing will simplify pricing and billing on the IBM Z platform, by superseding a number of existing price offerings and by fully automating the billing process.<br />
<br />
One example : the Payments Solution will provide a "per payment" pricing option for IBM Financial Transaction Manager for z/OS deployments. This new offering directly ties operational cost to business value by basing the price on the number of payments processed, rather than capacity used to process them.<br />
<br />
Container Pricing for IBM Z is planned to be available by year end 2017 and enabled in z/OS V2.2 and z/OS V2.3.<br />
<br />
<b>NEW : Sub-capacity pricing for z/VM and z/VM based programs</b><br />
Sub-capacity pricing for the z/VM V6 operating environment is available to clients running z/VM Version 6 Release 3 or higher. Software pricing at less than full machine capacity can provide more flexibility and improved cost of computing as a client manages the volatility and growth of new workloads.Through the implementation of sub-capacity pricing for select z/VM programs, clients can pay for z/VM programs based on defined workload requirements and not necessarily the full engine capacity of the machine.<br />
<br />
There are separate announcements for those new prcings at which I may come back later on. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Statements of Direction</h3>
<ul>
<li><b>Stabilization of z/VM V6.3 support:</b><br />
IBM z14 is planned to be the last z Systems server supported by z/VM V6.3 and the last z Systems server that will be supported when z/VM V6.3 is running as a guest (second level). z/VM V6.3 will continue to be supported until December 31, 2017, as announced in announcement letter # 915-025.</li>
<li><b>Future z/VM release guest support:</b><br />
z/VM V6.4 will be the last z/VM release supported as a guest of z/VM V6.2 or older releases.</li>
<li><b>Disk-only support for z/VM dumps:</b><br />
z/VM V6.4 will be the last z/VM release to support tape as a media option for stand-alone, hard abend, and snap dumps. Subsequent releases will support dumps to ECKD DASD or FCP SCSI disks only.</li>
<li><b>IBM z14 will be the last z Systems server to support FICON Express8S:</b><br />
IBM z14 will be last z Systems high-end server to support FICON Express8S (#0409 and #0410) channels. Enterprises should begin migrating from FICON Express8S channels to FICON Express16S+ channels (#0427 and #0428). FICON Express8S will not be supported on future high-end z Systems servers as carry forward on an upgrade.</li>
<li><b>IBM z14 will be the last z Systems server to support HCA3-O:</b><br />
IBM z14 will be last z Systems high-end server to support HCA3-O LR fanout for 1x IFB (#0170) and HCA3-O fanout for 12x IFB (#0171). Enterprises should begin migrating from HCA3-O channels to ICA SR and/or Coupling Express Long Range.</li>
<li><b>IBM z14 will be the last z Systems server to support zEDC:</b><br />
IBM z14 will be the last z Systems high-end server to support zEDC (#0420). In the future, z Systems high end server zEDC functionality will move from the zEDC adapter to the Central Processor (CP).</li>
<li><b>OSA-Express6S 1000BASE-T adapters:</b><br />
OSA-Express6S 1000BASE-T adapters (#0426) will be the last generation of OSA 1000BASE-T adapters to support connections operating at 100 Mb/second link speed. Future OSA-Express 1000BASE-T adapter generations will support operation only at 1000 Mb/second (1Gb/s) link speed.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
Documentation</h3>
<br />
There are some new and updated Redbooks available. They should all be grouped on a special page dedicated to z14 which is normally over <a href="http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks.nsf/pages/z14?Open">here</a>. Here's a short overview of a couple of them..<br />
<ul>
<li>New – IBM z14 Technical Introduction, SG24-8450-00</li>
<li>New – IBM z14 Technical Guide, SG24-8451-00</li>
<li>New – IBM z14 Configuration Setup, SG24-8460-00</li>
<li>Updated – IBM z Systems Connectivity Handbook, SG24-5444-17</li>
<li>Updated – IBM z Systems Functional Matrix, REDP-5157-02</li>
</ul>
Of course you can also find all manuals in the Library section of Resource Link.<br />
<h3>
Key dates</h3>
<br />
Here's just a small selection of items and key dates.<br />
<br />
July 17, 2017<br />
<ul>
<li>Announcement day</li>
<li>First Day Orders for GA Systems</li>
<li>Resource Link support (e.g. Manuals available in Library section)</li>
</ul>
<br />
September 13, 2017<br />
<ul>
<li>Features and functions for the IBM z14 </li>
<li>GA for IBM z14 Models M01, M02, M03, M04 and M05 </li>
<li>Upgrades from zEC12 and z13 models</li>
</ul>
<br />
December 15, 2017<br />
<ul>
<li>z/VM Guest exploitation support for pause-less garbage collection</li>
<li>z/VM support for encrypted paging</li>
</ul>
<br />
December 31, 2017 : <br />
<ul>
<li>MES features for Models M01, M02, M03, M04, and M05</li>
<li>IBM HMC Mobile for z Systems and LinuxONE</li>
</ul>
Well, that's about it for the moment, I'm planning some follow up posts and we'll also publish our Realdolmen z Systems eZine in the coming days.Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-57701823598760176142017-07-10T11:07:00.000+02:002017-07-10T11:07:37.337+02:00Ready for something Big ? In the digital economy, trust is everything !Here we go again, IBM seems to be announcing something big, it's close to my vacation, so people who frequently read my blog know already enough. <a href="https://www.ibm.com/it-infrastructure/us-en/digital-trust/?cm_mmc=OSocial_Facebook-_-Systems_Systems+-+z+Systems+Servers-_-WW_WW-_-code+stream+gif&cm_mmca1=000020YJ&cm_mmca2=10005793&">Here</a>'s the page announcing an event with a countdown counter.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYGyZ_c1v9AzFfB_CZ7GVz3faYyUKWpDTG5CSZQyPLnr5dCAgliKH-6iOQYj_nmXGD24-iHgYJDLaGoXLkWvSW6b6Yy6kxg3cC5OVTuhs4NWSw569c5gF4zrwfSiUTMxwOowVtqo1gdSE/s1600/countdown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="494" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYGyZ_c1v9AzFfB_CZ7GVz3faYyUKWpDTG5CSZQyPLnr5dCAgliKH-6iOQYj_nmXGD24-iHgYJDLaGoXLkWvSW6b6Yy6kxg3cC5OVTuhs4NWSw569c5gF4zrwfSiUTMxwOowVtqo1gdSE/s320/countdown.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
If I'm counting correcty, this event will take place at 11 p.m. in New York and that means at 5 a.m. here in Europe :-(<br />
<br />
Here's the accompanying text : "Join us on July 17, 2017 as we reveal technological breakthroughs that
will bring greater security, transparency and value to every interaction
and transaction". One other piece of information we're getting : "<span class="ibm-bold">300% performance advantage.</span><span class="ibm-light"> Trusted companies outperform others by nearly 3x</span>".<br />
<br />
There's an accompanying youtube video as well<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1mPEFvJeTKI?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
I'd say, stay tuned for more information !Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-69675071574019055762017-06-20T09:41:00.000+02:002017-06-20T09:41:50.460+02:00Red Alert : CICS TS for z/OS V5.3 - Unpredictable results when identical Unit Of Work ID (UOWID) passed to multiple CICS subsystemsYesterday, IBM issued a Red Alert on CICS V5.3. Here's the info. I'm just taking over the text from the <a href="http://www14.software.ibm.com/support/customercare/sas/f/redAlerts/20170619.html" target="_blank">Red Alert</a>.<br />
<h3>
Users Affected:</h3>
Users of CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V5.3 who are using any kind of subsystem that CICS connects to such as: <br />
<ul>
<li>DB2</li>
<li>IBM</li>
<li>WebSphere MQ</li>
<li>Coupling Facility Data Tables (CFDT)</li>
<li>Shared Temporary Storage Server</li>
<li>Named Counter Server</li>
<li>Vendors like Oracle</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Description: </h3>
Two or more CICS tasks obtain the same Unit Of Work ID (UOWID) and pass the ID to the respective subsystem. The subsystem may then experience unpredictable results because it thinks that it is being called out of sequence for just one unit of work. APAR PI82188 describes symptoms that have been observed, such as CICS DB2 applications abend or CICS CFDT records become locked due to two CICS tasks passing non-unique Unit Of Work IDs. However, this can affect any CICS subsystem, not just DB2 and CFDT. Please see APAR PI82188 for additional information.<br />
<h3>
Recommended Actions:</h3>
Apply PTF UI47871 for CICS TS for z/OS V5.3 APAR PI82188 as soon as possible to prevent unpredictable results. <br />
<br />
If you haven't signed up to the Red Alerts by now, you really should do it. Just go over <a href="https://www.ibm.com/systems/support/myview/subscription/css.wss/subscriptions?methodName=createNewSubscription&css_key=z000&OC=SWG90&DOCTYPE=REDALERTS&returnurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww14.software.ibm.com%2Fwebapp%2Fset2%2Fsas%2Ff%2FredAlerts%2Fhome.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-6177333691218033682017-03-20T09:28:00.001+01:002017-03-20T09:28:59.402+01:00IBM z Systems Study Tour Benelux 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEa7nHGRPzw8IjyV0LJ6I3XRlgfdSAgbvzWqKV-34vjZNAUGorJLlr8nmDPTmvJ_gNxGVr8pvC4VMloitNT_IcqCxAqdnzvX-NjH2AM0Ull1GCNZgEYGsjRIkRFLq9eBeLRLekCb0tyDU/s1600/IBM+z+Systems+Study+Tour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEa7nHGRPzw8IjyV0LJ6I3XRlgfdSAgbvzWqKV-34vjZNAUGorJLlr8nmDPTmvJ_gNxGVr8pvC4VMloitNT_IcqCxAqdnzvX-NjH2AM0Ull1GCNZgEYGsjRIkRFLq9eBeLRLekCb0tyDU/s400/IBM+z+Systems+Study+Tour.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
IBM Belgium is organizing another z Systems Study Tour to New York from May 15 until May 19, 2017. Should you have any questions, you can contact me or else Hans Deketele, who will no doubt make this once again a flawless organization (<a href="mailto:hans_deketele@be.ibm.com">hans_deketele@be.ibm.com</a>). Here's an extract from the invitation.<br />
<br />
"Dear IBM customer,<br />
Following a long-standing tradition, we have again organized a Benelux z Systems Study Tour and hereby, I have the pleasure to send you your invitation to join us during this year's z Systems Study Tour to New York City, USA taking place from May 15 to 19, 2017.<br />
During this Tour you will be updated on the latest information in the world of IBM z Systems and LinuxONE, along with modern IT architectural views and insights from our best speakers and experts. The program will cover main themes such as:<br />
<ul>
<li>Trends in Enterprise Architecture: how all IT platforms fit together in today's fast changing environments</li>
<li>z Systems roadmap: what the future brings ...</li>
<li>LinuxONE: Linux your way, Linux without risk and Linux without limits!</li>
<li>Cognitive Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Watson: capabilities and architectural considerations</li>
<li>Analytics, Blockchain, Cloud, Security & Digital Transformation</li>
<li>New EU regulations on Instant Payments and Data Privacy: the impact on IT</li>
<li>Quantum Computing explained: a sneak preview by IBM Research...</li>
<li>... and of course the intense networking with colleagues, peers and IBM experts"</li>
</ul>
Here's the first draft of the agenda <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmfu7N1cxkrd7H3C1IQeW4OGiGIODvihyphenhyphenu2ky3R0tq8j1cv5U8Bez17iYxda3qnJJ6R7Cu-RdquOK0wbou-F3IhKa-0dlrEiKKlmkYAN6oVHkcbGB7g7OeGVKc_IfA8MPxsND8kl1WRY/s1600/Agenda+Study+Tour+2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmfu7N1cxkrd7H3C1IQeW4OGiGIODvihyphenhyphenu2ky3R0tq8j1cv5U8Bez17iYxda3qnJJ6R7Cu-RdquOK0wbou-F3IhKa-0dlrEiKKlmkYAN6oVHkcbGB7g7OeGVKc_IfA8MPxsND8kl1WRY/s640/Agenda+Study+Tour+2017.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Click on picture for larger version</span></div>
<ul></ul>
Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-59145811945414797642016-12-07T07:30:00.000+01:002016-12-07T07:30:27.120+01:00Upcoming events, webcasts and live virtual classesIt's almost the end of the year but here are still some upcoming events that might be of interest to you<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 130%; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">(GSE) Meetings in Belgium</span><br />
<br />
<b>Tuesday December 13, 2016 - DB2 zOS working group meeting</b><br />
<b>At De Voorzorg Antwerpen - Kiel</b><br />
<b><a href="http://gsebelux.com/node/249" target="_blank">Information and registration</a> </b><br />
This time the main focus is on Backup&Recovery with three customer testimonials. <br />
<b>Agenda : </b><br />
13:00 – 13:30 : Registration<br />
13:30 - 14:30 : “Recent Changes in DB2 for z/OS Logging” by Steve Thomas – CA <br />
14:30 - 15:30 : “Recovery Tales from Experience” by Ken McDonald – BMC<br />
15:30 – 16:00 : coffee break<br />
16:00 - 16:20 : “Backup & Recovery@Colruyt” by Steven Goedertier - Colruyt Group<br />
16:20 – 16:40 : “Backup & Recovery@Euroclear” by Mattia Michelazzo - Euroclear<br />
16:40 – 17:00 : “Backup & Recovery@NVSM” by Stijn Vanden Bosch - NVSM<br />
17:00 – 17:30 : Panel discussion on Backup & Recovery<br />
17:30 - 19:00 : Networking & Drinks sponsored by CA Technologies<br />
<br />
<b>Thursday , December 15, CICS GSE Event : Are you ready for the future</b><br />
<b>At the IBM Forum Diegem</b><br />
<b><a href="http://gsebelux.com/node/155" target="_blank">Information and registration</a> </b><br />
Agenda : <br />
12:30-13:20Hr Welcome and Coffee <br />
13:20-13:30Hr Introduction by Chairman Dirk De Schutter <br />
13.30-14:15Hr Session 1 : New CICS functionalities in CICS TS 5.4 (Michael Jones)<br />
14:15-15:00Hr Session 2 : New Direction in Session Management (Paul Carruthers)<br />
15:00-15:15Hr Coffee Break<br />
15:15-16:30Hr Session 3 : Application Discovery - aka EZSource (Agnes Ten Brink)<br />
16:30-17:15Hr Session 4 : Java & Liberty (Michaël Jones - IBM Hursley Labs)<br />
17:15-18:00Hr Networking and drinks.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure about the GSE z/OS Working Group meeting. It should take place at our own Realdolmen HQ in Huizingen on Wednesday December 14, 2016, but so far I haven't seen any invitation or agenda. <br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Accelerate with Storage : Webcast on DS8000</b></span></i><br />
<b>Accelerate with IBM Storage: DS8000 Technical Update, December 13th 2016 at 5P.M. Brussels time</b><br />
<b><a href="https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/accelerate/entry/Accelerate_with_IBM_Storage_DS8000_Technical_Update_December_13th_2016?lang=en" target="_blank">Information and registration</a> </b><br />
"Join this webinar to hear the technical details of the latest updates to the DS8000 family. A new generation of High Performance Flash provides better performance and lower operating costs. Greater synergies between DS8000 and z Systems as well as enhancements to Encryption, Copy Services management, and the user interfaces will be covered as well as a performance update."<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>z/VSE Live Virtual Class</b></span><br />
<strong><strong>CSI TCP/IP for VSE Update</strong> </strong><br />
<strong>Tuesday January 17, 2017 at 5 P.M. Brussels Time</strong><br />
<a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zvse/education/#jan17" target="_blank">Information and registration</a> <br />
This session will review recent changes, maintenance, and new features in the CSI TCP/IP for VSE product..
<br />
<br />
Just one quick addition that might be interesting for planning your agenda in 2017. For Europe the <b>IBM z Systems Technical University</b> seems to be planned in October instead of the usual time frame in May or June. Have a look over <a href="https://www-304.ibm.com/services/learning/ites.wss/zz-en?pageType=page&c=a0002173" target="_blank">here</a>. Just go to the end of the list and click on 'Show More'.Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-37702185048817342016-12-06T09:55:00.001+01:002016-12-06T09:55:06.022+01:00Software withdrawal and statements of direction: IBM z Systems platform selected productsHere's an annoucement with a list of softwares IBM has withdrawn or will withdraw from marketing in the near future : "Software withdrawal and statements of direction: IBM z Systems platform selected products - Some replacements available (<a href="http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_ca/9/877/ENUSZP16-0639/index.html&lang=en&request_locale=en" target="_blank">ZP16-0639</a>)". This is about withdrawal from marketing, not about ending the support.<br />
<br />
I just make a random pick of some of the softwares, but check the list, if you intend to order extra software in the future. Just to be sure you can still order it.<br />
<br />
IBM DB2 Query Management Facility™ for z/OS
11.2.1 will be WDFM on April 10, 2017 and will be replaced by
IBM DB2 Query Management Facility for z/OS, V12.1.0.<br />
<br />
IBM Enterprise COBOL Developer Trial, Value Unit Edition and the Enterprise Edition for z/OS Version 5 are WDFM on September 11, 2017 and replaced by their Version 6 successors.<br />
<br />
IBM z/VM V6R3 was WDFM last month on November 7, 2016. It is being replaced by z/VM V6R4.<br />
<br />
For the entire list, please check out the announcement itself.<br />
<br />
Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-1177150551537069802016-12-02T14:00:00.000+01:002016-12-02T14:00:17.015+01:00New : SCRT support - now using Service Request PMR process like other software programsThis morning I received a mail from the SCRT team about a change in the support. And I think it's worth mentioning here as well.<br />
<br />
"IBM is pleased to announce a major change in the way SCRT is supported. Effective immediately: Support for the SCRT program is now using the standard IBM PMR service request process for reporting problems. PMR support for SCRT has been requested by many customers over the years. Please see the information below on the PMR process if you are unfamiliar."<br />
<br />
Mind you, the PMR service is for technical problems.<br />
<br />
"<b>PMR service request process for technical problems with SCRT</b><br />
<br />
To open a service request, you must navigate to <a href="http://www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest">http://www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest</a> and sign in. Once signed in, select "New service request", then you must select "I am having a problem with software" from the list of options.<br />
<br />
z/OS Customers:<br />
When asked to select a product / component, enter SCRT, Sub-capacity Reporting Tool, or 5752SCRT2. Any of these keywords will locate the Sub-Capacity Reporting Tool.<br />
<br />
z/VSE Customers:<br />
When asked to select a product / component, enter VSE.<br />
<br />
You must then provide any additional information necessary and submit the request.<br />
<br />
If you have already supplied IBM with diagnostic information in your note to the SCRT id, please open the service request and forward the service request number to <a href="mailto:dmalani@us.ibm.com">dmalani@us.ibm.com</a> and <a href="mailto:andrewsi@us.ibm.com">andrewsi@us.ibm.com</a>. The information you provided will be loaded into the service request on your behalf.<br />
<br />
For additional help opening a service request, please see: <a href="https://www-946.ibm.com/sr/help/index.html">https://www-946.ibm.com/sr/help/index.html</a>"Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-13253699370539017322016-12-01T14:56:00.001+01:002016-12-01T14:56:53.207+01:00A brief history of Software Pricing<h1 align="left" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: none; text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;">
</h1>
<br />
<h3 align="left" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: none; text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Toc465882604"></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc465882604;"><span lang="X-NONE">General Introduction</span></span></h3>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> It was about 13 years ago that they asked me if I was interested in doing the presales for mainframe business. I came from the ‘other’ side since I’d always been engaged in application development as a programmer, an analyst and a DB2 admin. So, at that moment I’d never seen any mainframe hardware whatsoever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we had an experienced mainframe sales person at the time who learned me everything there was to learn about ESCON, CHPIDs, OSA-Express cards, CECs etc. etc. And then there was this other part as well : if you wanted (and this hasn’t really changed) to work out a business case, you had to know something about software pricing too. </span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I still vividly remember my first steps in ‘Software Pricing’ on mainframe or should I rather say my first stumbles. I just looked up the word in a dictionary.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 35.45pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Stumble [stuhm buh l]</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 35.45pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">1. the act of stumbling (to strike the foot against something, as in walking or running, so as to stagger or fall)</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 35.45pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">2. a slip or blunder</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I can assure you, both meanings were very appropriate at the time. </span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Just one year later, our experienced sales person took on another opportunity and, just as that, I was no longer the rookie but I was the most experienced mainframe (pre)sales guy in the company. A new sales was appointed for mainframe and of course I was the one introducing him to all this magnificent stuff. Don’t worry, he pulled through with flying colours and we’re still working together.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Still, it’s a bit of a crazy story but we first met just a couple of hours before the official announcement of the z890 in April 2004 (yes, the 40<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the mainframe). There was a large IBM and BP event in Paris and he picked me up at my home for a 3-hour drive to Paris. Of course we started talking about the mainframe, comparing with the AS400 (now System i) he knew from his background. And, actually, we never stopped talking for the next three days. After each session new questions popped up and were, as good as possible, answered. Until finally we came to the subject of ‘software pricing’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What could I say ? The only thing there was to say : “Well, you know, here’s where it gets a bit complicated”. Talking about a euphemism.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And this remained a constant during the years to come. Talking to customers, the questions I most often heard about software pricing were : “Could you freshen up my memory about that, I’m a bit confused ?” usually followed by “Could you explain that once again, I don’t think I’m still following ?”</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I really would like to say, luckily things have gotten a lot less complicated over the years, but they haven’t. </span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, why am I telling you all this. On November 15, we hosted a meeting for the GSE Young professionals Working Group at our HQ. These are all young mainframers we desperately want to get or to keep aboard of the mainframe ship. And I thought it was a good opportunity to write them a 'short' article on the evolutions we’ve seen over the years in software pricing on the mainframe. </span></div>
<span style="color: #222432; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span> <br />
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;">
</div>
<br />
<h3 align="left" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: none; text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="X-NONE">General tendency</span></h3>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">To put things into perspective of what we are talking about. We, as a business partner, are often engaged into negotiations on the hardware price of a new system. Mainframe is expensive, remember ? But when the customer starts working out his business case, it’s always played on the software part. Usually software represents 70% or more of the cost when e.g. mapped out on a four year basis. So any decrease in software cost when going to a new generation of mainframe might already make up for the hardware cost.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And this is the general tendency we have seen over the past years. Or should I say : tendencies. On the one hand IBM has always put effort into making the mainframe a competitive platform as compared to other, distributed environments. For a moment now, we’re ignoring all the benefits you get from the platform as is, but we’re purely focusing on the price, let’s say, on the CFO part of the business. You can make it competitive by making sure that the customer is only paying for what he is really using. On the other hand, IBM has made sure that with every new generation of the mainframe, prices were more attractive on the new system. This meant investing in new hardware paid off in the long run with economically more interesting software prices.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And there’s one more tendency, that is predominantly directing software pricing : it is IBM’s intention that you will pay less for new workloads that you introduce to the mainframe rather than installing them on the ‘cheaper’ distributed systems. This is a key factor in remaining competitive with the distributed systems.</span></div>
<br />
<h3 align="left" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: none; text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Starting off with machine based pricing</span></h3>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When browsing through my (old) documentation, I keep lingering at a document from 2004, the year of the introduction of the z890 : ‘z890 and z800 Software Pricing P-Guide’. One of the first pages headlines ‘What is Sub-Capacity Pricing ?’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2004 sub-capacity pricing is a new term for a pricing mechanism that was introduced for the z900. I know I’m more than generalising throughout this summary in order to give you a clear view of the bigger picture.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Up to then, software pricing was machine based. This meant there was a flat monthly pricing amount according to the model of e.g. your z800 box. But that was always a problem. You don’t buy a mainframe every year and so customers made a three or four year projection of what they needed in the next years and bought their systems accordingly. So, the first years, they only used e.g. 60% of what they had bought but they still had to pay for the entire machine. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But before I continue with this I should give you some more terminology. Software pricing is/was mainly divided into two categories : MLC (Monthly License Charge) and OTC (One Time Charge) pricing. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">MLC pricing is a monthly charge you are paying in order to use IBM software. Examples of this is the operating system z/OS (OS/390 at the time) and lots of others like e.g. DB2, CICS, Cobol, IMS . . . <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MLC software is paid in terms of numbers of MSUs (Million Service Units). It’s a measurement of the amount of processing work a computer can perform in one hour. This stands in close relationship to the MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second).</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">OTC, now better known as IPLA (International Program License Agreement), stands for a One Time Charge. You actually buy the software and you can pay an additional Subscription & Support (S&S) fee that also gives you the right to implement future versions at no extra cost. Examples are the operating system z/VM and lots of ‘tools’ like TSM, DB2 Utilities . . .</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Enters Sub-capacity pricing</span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">With VWLC (Variable Workload License Charge) IBM introduced the sub-capacity pricing for MLC. This meant that you closely came to pay what you were really using at that moment. Let me elaborate a bit on this, since this hasn’t fundamentally changed since then.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In order to detect what you are actually using, you need a reporting tool. That is SCRT (Sub Capacity Reporting Tool). It registers your usage for an entire month based on SMF records. Some softwares like e.g. z/OS and DB2 generate their own SMF records for this. Others take on the same level as e.g. z/OS. Out of that it will, per software, determine where your peak is for that software during that particular month. Now, you may argue, one test in acceptance that goes completely out of the roof might cause an enormous peak and then I’m penalized for that one moment during that month. Well, IBM took care of that. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The SCRT report determines the peak on a 4 hour rolling average. This means that it always takes an average of the past four hours to determine the height of the workload, so extreme peaks are levelled out. This is illustrated on the graph below for two LPARs. And if you want to make sure, you’re not going above a certain level you can use a mechanism that is known as capping. You can indicate that a certain LPAR (or group of LPARs) must not go beyond a defined level.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In this illustration, partition A’s peak rolling four-hour average is shown to peak at 73 MSUs, during the month. Let’s take z/OS as an example. When it would be running solely in partition A it would have its sub-capacity charges based on that 73 MSU value, although the machine capacity is at 100MSU.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise, partition B’s peak rolling four-hour average is recorded at 52 MSUs. A product running solely in partition B would have its sub-capacity charges based on that 52 MSU value. But since z/OS is running in both LPARs, it will be charged at the combined peak for those LPARs i.e. 98 MSUs. Here we can also illustrate the capping mechanism again : if LPAR B is e.g. a test LPAR you might put up a capping of 45 MSUs and perhaps your combined peak might be lowered to 95 MSUs.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As you can see, the reporting and therefore also the billing is based on MSU’s. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The graph above, also shows you the pricing levels for the MSUs. It indicates that you pay a high price for the first MSU’s. This is an example for VWLC pricing when it was first introduced. The more MSUs you are reporting, the less you pay per MSU for the higher MSUs. As a matter of fact, there’s such a graph for every system and the steps for the smaller systems (z890, z114, zBC9 through z13s) tend to be much smaller. You have expensive 1-3 MSUs and from there on MSUs get less expensive in far smaller steps.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">IPLA softwares also have sub-capacity pricing although there are still some softwares that are machine based. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These softwares are usually related to the reporting of some MLC software. If you have a machine of 200 MSU and you report only 150 MSU for DB2, then it’s sufficient to have bought the equivalent of that 150 MSU for the DB2 Cloning Tools or for the DB2 Utilities. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">General price decreases – Technology dividend</span></h3>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, the stage is set for the following evolutions. The first action taken by IBM is a general one and I already mentioned it before. Customers want to be on a current system, but on the other hand they often postpone buying new systems since there’s no real reason for that. So, with the z990, IBM introduced what is now commonly referred to as the technology dividend. In fact it’s a very simple maneuver that stimulates every customer to at least make the calculation whether it’s beneficial for them to go to the next generation.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When I put ‘price decrease’ in the title, this is not entirely correct. For a specific generation, there’s a correlation between the number of MIPS on that machine and the number of MSUs. This used to be very static, not really changing over the generations. But for the last ten years, we started to call MSUs, software MSUs and the relation with MIPS became less evident. Let me just give you a small table and it will immediately be clear what we mean.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">System</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Pricing</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">MIPS</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">MSU</span></b></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Z890</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">EWLC</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">200</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">32</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Z9 BC</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">EWLC</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">200</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">30</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Z10 BC</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">EWLC</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">200</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">25</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Z114</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">AEWLC</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">200</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">25</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">zBC12</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">AEWLC</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">200</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">25</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Z13s</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">AEWLC</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">200</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">25</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For the first three generations from z890 to z10 BC, for the same amount of processing power, less MSUs were needed to cover it. So, when you had to pay for 32MSUs on a z890, this went down to 25MSs on a z10BC. And I can assure you, for a mainframe customer, this was a huge benefit on their software cost, well worth the investment in the new hardware. This technology dividend was more or less every time a 5% decrease.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">From then on, we see that the correlation between MSUs and MIPS stayed the same. But with the z114 a new pricing was introduced. With AEWLC pricing you payed less per MSU as compared to the EWLC pricing on the z10 BC. Another technology dividend but implemented in a different way. And for the last two generations, we saw the same pricing mechanism, but an extra reduction was given per technology step. So, if you look up the official price for 3 MSU for z/OS, it hasn’t changed since the introduction of the z114. But, for the z13s you will have approximately a price reduction on it of about 10%.</span></div>
<br />
<h3 align="left" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: none; text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">General price decreases – New Workloads</span></h3>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The above are pricing decreases every customer could/can enjoy when moving on to the next technology. But, as I already said, IBM is particularly keen on getting new workloads on the mainframe and has gone into great effort doing so. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For those who are familiar with the terms, this started of with zOS.e and zNALC. zNALC is the best known of the two and is still in use nowadays. Let’s focus on that one. zNALC is a pricing mechanism for New Workloads that run on separate machines or in separate LPARs. The benefit is realized very simply : if you can prove that it’s a new workload on your mainframe, answering all the right criteria, your z/OS is only priced at a tenth of the normal pricing. This gives the customer a huge benefit on the software cost since z/OS is one of the most expensive softwares in MLC pricing.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The major drawback of this, is that it has to be a completely isolated workload in a separate environment. Well, now, that was always a bit the weak point of this solution. Say, you have all your data on the mainframe, as so many customers do, and you develop, let’s go modern, an app for your customers who can consult their accounts. What about all the other applications, running in another LPAR, that also have access to that information. This is often very difficult to integrate into your existing environment.</span></div>
<br />
<h3 align="left" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: none; text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">New Workloads – from separated to integrated</span></h3>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">That’s why, over the years, IBM has made a lot of efforts to give you the best of both worlds : a better pricing for new workloads, but integrated into the existing environment. One of those efforts was e.g. to bring out a new pricing option for certain softwares like e.g. CICS and DB2. It’s called the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Value Unit Edition</b> and it’s basically an equivalent of IPLA software for that product. You buy it once and you pay a Subscription and Support fee for the ‘maintenance’ and the upgrades of the product. This is something every customer has to investigate whether this is beneficial for them or not. The advantage of this, is that the workload remains integrated into your existing environment.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Another initiative that could have impact on your software cost was the introduction of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">specialty engines</b>. Here we can particularly focus on the zIIP. The zIIP (z Systems Integrated Information Processor) is an additional processor that is added to your system. Specific workloads are offloaded from z/OS to the zIIP. This can be specific DB2 workloads, Java, encryption or XML workloads (you can find a more extensive list over </span><span lang="NL-BE"><a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/hardware/features/ziip/"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">here</span></a></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">). Here’s the illustration that is often used to illustrate how the zIIP is working</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-5dQdTdPAlH4ywWiQykZXIe2BgqW7EbddUluRbpWEucfbp78pfrnpgHVB9faU6DyQ0UX905zSY6URRVq9CeHvTLfnTVx_HTPh_jARTzy3qCpNS4dCZ16fW8Ti1nLAFzhce4pTRFGWpo/s1600/imag003.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-5dQdTdPAlH4ywWiQykZXIe2BgqW7EbddUluRbpWEucfbp78pfrnpgHVB9faU6DyQ0UX905zSY6URRVq9CeHvTLfnTVx_HTPh_jARTzy3qCpNS4dCZ16fW8Ti1nLAFzhce4pTRFGWpo/s400/imag003.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As you can see, the workload on the general processor is reduced as part of it is now executed on the zIIP. There’s an important caveat to be made here : this will only have an influence on your software cost if this happens during your peak period of the month. If so, here’s another example of how the software cost can go down due to a hardware investment.</span></div>
<br />
<h3 align="left" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: none; text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">New workloads today</span></h3>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let’s finish off by having a look at the enhancements we recently saw in sub-capacity pricing. The first one was announced about two years ago, the third about two months ago. They have in common that they, again, focus on New Workloads like Mobile or Cloud.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: left; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Mobile Workload Pricing (MWP)</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br />
Used when IBM programs such as CICS, DB2, IMS, MQ, or WebSphere Application Server are processing mobile transactions from phones or tablets, </span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: left; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">z Systems Collocated Application Pricing (zCAP)</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br />
Used when net new instances of IBM programs such as CICS, DB2, IMS, MQ, or WebSphere Application Server are added in support of a new application not previously running on a mainframe server</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: left; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">z Systems Workload Pricing for Cloud (zWPC)</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <br />
Used when IBM programs such as CICS, DB2, IMS, MQ, or WebSphere Application Server are processing transactions from net new public cloud applications</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The three have in common that they may reduce the cost of growth for these target applications by potentially reducing the reported peak capacity values for sub-capacity charges. This remains a constant throughout : it must have an impact on year peak reporting, otherwise you’ll see no benefit for your software cost. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Integration of new workloads into your existing environment is one thing, distinguishing which of the workload is new (e.g. mobile “coming from phones or tablets”) is another thing. So, just in case you started to think that I exaggerated at the beginning and you think software pricing isn’t all that complicated, let me explain how Mobile Workload Pricing can influence your reported peak and how the workload is recognized as ‘mobile’ workload. This gives me the opportunity to illustrate all the mechanisms I talked about earlier.</span></div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Here’s an illustration on MWP</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtANCFTILtP2rET6bC4ak0SdQ3t5-wF1hxVR3ysBzYj7sWX3MiaBe2UM2zd3iogI3M-takoLdfKbw5t8phrAAZ_eGfuCZpOhFAKLulXQJE9tRHeJBWqs7_cuw1AqMKLrRl7mc-SoBMC2I/s1600/imag004.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtANCFTILtP2rET6bC4ak0SdQ3t5-wF1hxVR3ysBzYj7sWX3MiaBe2UM2zd3iogI3M-takoLdfKbw5t8phrAAZ_eGfuCZpOhFAKLulXQJE9tRHeJBWqs7_cuw1AqMKLrRl7mc-SoBMC2I/s400/imag004.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Click on image for larger version</span></div>
</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<ol>
<li><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let’s assume that we are talking about the 4hr rolling average peak for this LPAR. Normally your SCRT tool would report a peak 4hr rolling average of 1.500 MSU. That is, 1.500 for z/OS and 300 for CICS. Maybe this customer is using a zIIP which could already have an influence on the reported peak that would otherwise perhaps have been 1.800 MSUs.</span></li>
<li><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For CICS, as we already indicated, 300MSU is reported. That means that for z/OS you will pay for 1.500 MSUs and for CICS you will pay 300 MSUs. Other softwares like DB2 have their own reporting but let’s assume they have the same MSUs as z/OS.</span></li>
<li><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now you have to determine which part of CICS is used for Mobile Transactions and which part is not. This can be a particularly difficult one, since the same transaction might be executed many times, but it can originate from a mobile app or perhaps also from a plain and simple terminal. This is something a customer has to agree upon with IBM and it’s based upon e.g. specific fields of SMF records</span></li>
<li><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Based on that, you come to the conclusion that 200 out of the 300 MSUs that are reported by CICS actually have a mobile origin. <br />
Well, you get a reduction of 60% on that part of the CICS workload reducing that part of 200 MSUs to 80 MSUs. </span></li>
<li><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The good news is that for that LPAR, all the software in that LPAR, including z/OS and DB2 get the same reduction. This means that the reported 1.500 MSUs is lowered to 1.380 MSUs. </span></li>
<li><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The rest is BAU (Business As Usual), you can use this to determine the peak for that month. It is e.g. possible that at another moment your z/OS reports 1.400 MSUs at a moment that no mobile workload enters the system. This would mean that for that month your peak will be at 1.400 MSUs.</span></li>
</ol>
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</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Well, this little example concludes our short walk through Software Pricing history. I might just add one source of information. There’s a very elaborate IBM internet page that explains you utterly everything about software pricing you ever wanted or, perhaps, didn’t want to know. It’s all </span><span lang="NL-BE"><a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/resources/swprice/"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">there</span></a></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> for you.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">(This was also published in our Realdolmen z Systems newsletter) </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-40072346499161850752016-11-23T07:00:00.002+01:002016-11-23T07:00:20.984+01:00Red Alert - IMS V12, V13 or V14 - potential for IMS to write incorrect log dataYesterday, IBM issued a Red Alert on IMS. Here's the info. I'm just taking over the text from the <a href="http://www14.software.ibm.com/support/customercare/sas/f/redAlerts/20161122.html" target="_blank">Red Alert</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="ibm-container">
<h3>
Title:</h3>
<div class="ibm-container-body">
IMS V12, V13 or V14 - potential for IMS to write incorrect log data
and/or over-write 64-bit (key 7) common storage which might belong to
another address space.<br />
<br />
</div>
</div>
<div class="ibm-container">
<h3>
Users Affected:</h3>
<div class="ibm-container-body">
Users of IMS that are on V12 or later,<br />
<ul>
<li>who are using log buffers in above-the-bar storage (BUFSTOR=64), or</li>
<li>have callers who supply an above-the-bar log record to the IMS Logger, such as:</li>
<div align="left">
IMS 64-bit Fast Path buffer manager</div>
<div align="left">
Installation-written or vendor-written software</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div class="ibm-container">
<h3>
Description: </h3>
<div class="ibm-container-body">
The IMOVE macro (used by the IMS Logger) uses 32-bit instructions to
advance the addresses of the source and target destinations. If the
address being advanced is a 64-bit address which crosses a 4GB boundary,
then the updated address is incorrect since only the low-half of the
address is updated.<br />
<br />
The two areas of IMS that are exposed to this are the IMS Logger and the 64-bit Fast Path buffer manager.<br />
<br />
The IMS Logger is exposed to the problem if the storage allocated for
the log buffers crosses a 4GB boundary. If this is the case, a log
record will contain inaccurate data and an attempt will be made to
inadvertently write to another location in memory. If this location is
key 7, the data will be overwritten; if it is not, IMS will ABEND0C4.<br />
<br />
The 64-bit Fast Path buffer manager is exposed to the problem if its
BPND5 area crosses a 4GB boundary. To encounter the problem, not only
would the area have to cross a 4GB boundary, but log record data must
exist in the location where the boundary is crossed.<br />
<br />
</div>
</div>
<div class="ibm-container">
<h3>
Recommended Actions:</h3>
<div class="ibm-container-body">
<b>(1) Determine exposure from IMS Logger or 64-bit Fast Path buffer manager</b><br />
The IMS Support Center is shipping a diagnostic utility as a
++USERMOD which will determine the exposure of a given IMS system. This
can help a customer gauge the urgency for which they should take action,
if any. The utility runs as a stand-alone batch job and determines:<br />
<ol>
<li>If the log buffers are above the bar, and if the storage allocated for the log buffers crosses a 4GB boundary.</li>
<li>If the 64-bit Fast Path buffer manager is enabled, and if the
storage area which might contain a log record crosses a 4GB boundary</li>
</ol>
To download the utility, obtain it from:<br />
Site: testcase.software.ibm.com<br />
Directory: fromibm/im<br />
File name: IM97624A.trs<br />
<br />
The file contains ++USERMODs for IMS versions 12, 13, and 14.
Instructions for running the utility are in a ++HOLD card along with its
return codes.<br />
<br />
If a customer cannot (or does not wish to) run the utility,
instructions for determining the exposure via a series of /DIAGNOSE
commands are in the ++HOLD card. <br />
<br />
<b>(2) Determine exposure from other programs which invoke the ILOG macro:</b><br />
Installation-written or vendor-written programs can detect if they
pass log records which reside above the bar by searching for the flag
PRMLL64 which is set by the invoker of ILOG in the ILOG parameter list.<br />
<br />
<b>(3) Apply PTF if exposure is identified</b><br />
If an exposure is identified, the exposed IMS should be:<br />
<ol>
<li>Brought down cleanly (for example, with the /CHE FREEZE or /CHE DUMPQ commands)</li>
<br />
<li>Cold start IMS with the PTF applied for the appropriate version. The PTFs can be downloaded from ShopZ and are:</li>
V12: UI42725 (APRA PI71688)<br />
V13: UI42726 (APAR PI71701)<br />
V14: UI42685 (APAR PI71702)<br />
A cold start is necessary to prevent the reading of potentially inaccurate log data.<br /><br />
<li>After all previously exposed IMS systems in a data sharing group are
successfully started with the PTF applied, if there is the possibility
of needing to run a database recovery before regularly scheduled image
copies will be taken, it is recommended that image copies be taken of
all appropriate databases. This eliminates the possibility of reading
potentially corrupt log data during a recovery.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<br />
If you haven't signed up to the Red Alerts by now, you really should do it. Just go over <a href="https://www.ibm.com/systems/support/myview/subscription/css.wss/subscriptions?methodName=createNewSubscription&css_key=z000&OC=SWG90&DOCTYPE=REDALERTS&returnurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww14.software.ibm.com%2Fwebapp%2Fset2%2Fsas%2Ff%2FredAlerts%2Fhome.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-42035591839066187392016-11-22T14:06:00.000+01:002016-11-22T14:06:02.723+01:00Realdolmen z Systems e-zine 25<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEF6BJwDmsfYeOlz0CqLS9o4PEkjs_wE9tfJIzcWvQaANaBdwXsvinI_wrzSDD3i7ipreIpTVcGrc1X971gkSXbBbMUxzwBtp0m4enDNhfAh7bESNCFwVHhbGsP0vHfLfkyJ8cT5Zl-KM/s1600/RD+-+e-zine+-+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEF6BJwDmsfYeOlz0CqLS9o4PEkjs_wE9tfJIzcWvQaANaBdwXsvinI_wrzSDD3i7ipreIpTVcGrc1X971gkSXbBbMUxzwBtp0m4enDNhfAh7bESNCFwVHhbGsP0vHfLfkyJ8cT5Zl-KM/s400/RD+-+e-zine+-+logo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
The 25th issue of our RealDolmen z Systems Newsletter was sent out today. You can download it over <a href="http://www.realdolmen.com/sites/default/files/flyers/hybrid%20cloud/IBM%20z%20Systems%20Newsletter%2025.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. Just like the last times, there's just an English version. No more Dutch or French versions. Since it's been a bit quiet over here on the blog lately, there's lots of new content in this issue. I think I'll post some of it over here as well.<br />
<br />
The content ? There is one major topic : software pricing. Usually we are hosting the GSE z/OS Working Group at our HQ, but on November 15, we were hosting the GSE Young professionals Working Group. And for that occasion, I thought I'd write 'A brief history of IBM Software prcing'. It's an introduction to the evolutions we saw in mainframe software pricing over the last 25 years. <br />
<br />
We also focus on some announcements, as usual there are some hints and tips and of course the usual table of EOS dates of the operating systems is also present again.<br />
<br />
One last note : if you're used to receiving our newsletter and you didn't this time, just send me a mail and I'll take care of it. Apparently we changed mailing systems and I just want to check everything went allright. <br />
<br />
Enjoy the reading !Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-17957024318922360482016-11-08T07:00:00.000+01:002016-11-08T07:00:26.034+01:00RealdolmenOnce in a while, I'm going off topic, but there's always a reason why. So today I would like to tell you a bit about our company :<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span lang="EN-GB">Realdolmen is one of the biggest independent ICT experts in Belgium. With around 1,250 highly trained employees, we provide services to over 1,000 customers in Benelux. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB">We strive to make ICT more personal, to make the most of your employees’ and your organisation’s potential in every collaboration we’re a part of. We do all this with the motto:<b> </b></span><b><span lang="AR-SA">‘</span><span lang="EN-GB">To get there, together</span><span lang="AR-SA">’</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">.</span></blockquote>
<span lang="EN-GB">But I especially want to elaborate a bit on our <b>rebranding</b>. You might already </span><span lang="EN-GB">have </span><span lang="EN-GB">seen we have a new logo<span lang="EN-GB"> </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMsdb592CfxBUeCYj6wHVZO9RLsva8ZIMjaqy1eJIEYAzCc0Vt6mBULQSIEahNfRZ4_Bt5K-0NCVFfklzuNoswG1RObtAxc5EmK9glbV2P6s3YZpfdwFxAGHaSYupcos9xPhrDumtyGs/s1600/logo_realdolmenjpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMsdb592CfxBUeCYj6wHVZO9RLsva8ZIMjaqy1eJIEYAzCc0Vt6mBULQSIEahNfRZ4_Bt5K-0NCVFfklzuNoswG1RObtAxc5EmK9glbV2P6s3YZpfdwFxAGHaSYupcos9xPhrDumtyGs/s320/logo_realdolmenjpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><span lang="EN-GB">But there's more than this. </span><span lang="EN-GB">It was inevitable: after helping numerous companies with their digital transformation in 2016, we also underwent a radical change <i>ourselves</i>. Our structure, our approach, our story: it all needed updating to better meet our customers’ needs.Here's a video explaining our strategy and why we went through this rebranding exercise.<br />
</span> <span lang="EN-GB"><br />
</span><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3fgHnFintzY?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
For this occasion, we also have a special edition of our simplICiTy magazine that you can download over <a href="http://www.realdolmen.com/simplicity-magazine" target="_blank">here</a>. A few of the topics discussed include: <br />
</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">The story behind the new logo and baseline</span></li>
<span lang="EN-GB">
<li>Why we – even though we’re still a technology business – are putting people at the centre of our approach</li>
<li>How we’ve updated our services to support our customers as much as possible at an operational, tactical and strategic level</li>
<li>The Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), smart machines, the hybrid cloud, big data: what trends and hypes do you as an organisation need to take into account?</li>
<li>What role can ICT play in your organisation’s digital transformation process?</li>
</span></ul>
<span lang="EN-GB">Well, let me know what you think of it ! </span>Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-241220816792118352016-11-07T09:46:00.001+01:002016-11-07T09:46:14.325+01:00Red Alert - Potential for loss of access to data on a volume due to erroneous 'End of File' written to the VTOC or VTOCIX on z/OS V2R2 DFSMSHere's the information for the second Red Alert. It was first published on November 2 (<a href="http://www14.software.ibm.com/support/customercare/sas/f/redAlerts/20161102.html" target="_blank">link</a>) with an update on November 4 (<a href="http://www14.software.ibm.com/support/customercare/sas/f/redAlerts/20161104.html" target="_blank">link</a>). I'm giving you the info from the updated version<br />
<br />
<div class="ibm-container">
<h2>
Abstract:</h2>
<div class="ibm-container-body">
Potential for loss of access to data on a volume due to erroneous 'End of File'
written to the VTOC on z/OS V2R2 DFSMS (HDZ2220)<br />
</div>
</div>
<div class="ibm-container">
<h2>
Users Affected:</h2>
<div class="ibm-container-body">
Systems running z/OS V2R2 with DFSMS Secondary Space Reduction (SSR) function
enabled (default)
<br />
</div>
</div>
<div class="ibm-container">
<h2>
Description: </h2>
<div class="ibm-container-body">
For systems with DFSMS Device Manager Secondary Space Reduction enabled, the
VTOC may be updated incorrectly if an AbendE37 occurs when no storage
space is available while trying to extend to secondary extents on a new volume. <br />
</div>
</div>
<div class="ibm-container">
<h2>
Recommended Actions:</h2>
<div class="ibm-container-body">
Disable z/OS SSR function of Device Manager until fix for APAR OA51499 is
available (instructions below).<br />
<b><span style="color: red;"> Please note: If recent PTF UA82730 is applied then you must remove this PE PTF
or apply ++APAR for OA51474 prior to disabling SSR.
Please see APAR OA51499 Local Fix for additional details.</span></b><br />
Disabling z/OS SSR:<br />
<ul>
<li>Issue z/OS Command F DEVMAN,DISABLE(SSR) for current IPL</li>
<pre> -or-
</pre>
<li>Update DEVSUPxx parmlib member to include DISABLE(SSR) and issue z/OS command
SET DEVSUP=(xx,yy) or SET DEVSUP=xx to all systems to persist across IPL's.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<br />
If you haven't signed up to the Red Alerts by now, you really should do it. Just go over <a href="https://www.ibm.com/systems/support/myview/subscription/css.wss/subscriptions?methodName=createNewSubscription&css_key=z000&OC=SWG90&DOCTYPE=REDALERTS&returnurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww14.software.ibm.com%2Fwebapp%2Fset2%2Fsas%2Ff%2FredAlerts%2Fhome.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-51843918725783324252016-11-07T09:41:00.001+01:002016-11-07T09:41:42.596+01:00Red Alert - z/OS V2R2 - Potential for z/OS V2R2 JES2 (HJE77A0) members unable to WARM startLast week there were two important recommendations for z/OS V2R2 users. Here's the info on the first one. I'm just taking over the text from the <a href="http://www14.software.ibm.com/support/customercare/sas/f/redAlerts/20161102.html" target="_blank">Red Alert</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="ibm-container">
<h2>
Abstract #1:</h2>
<div class="ibm-container-body">
Potential for z/OS V2R2 JES2 (HJE77A0) members unable to WARM start. </div>
</div>
<div class="ibm-container">
<h2>
Users Affected:</h2>
<div class="ibm-container-body">
Systems running z/OS V2R2 that have the JES2 Checkpoint residing on DASD -and- running in DUAL mode (CKPTDEF MODE=DUAL) </div>
</div>
<div class="ibm-container">
<h2>
Description: </h2>
<div class="ibm-container-body">
For systems that meet the above criteria, JES2 uses a change log to contain a summary of updates since the previous checkpoint cycle. JES2 may encounter I/O errors ($HASP291) and/or abends (S18A) when attempting to read in a large valid checkpoint change log. A checkpoint I/O reconfiguration will be triggered in this case, however potential overlays of JES2 private storage from the original error may result in unpredictable errors after exiting the reconfiguration. <br />
Any z/OS V2R2 JES2 member in the multi-access spool (MAS) will not be able to read the checkpoint containing a large valid change log without encountering abends. z/OS V2R1 JES2 members in the MAS will be able to read the checkpoint appropriately, but the z/OS V2R2 members will not be able to WARM start. If the entire MAS is comprised of z/OS V2R2 members, then no member will be able to process the checkpoint and this may result in a required COLD start.<br />
Please see APAR OA51558 for additional details.</div>
</div>
<div class="ibm-container">
<h2>
Recommended Actions:</h2>
<div class="ibm-container-body">
For users that meet the above criteria, checkpoint should be switched to DUPLEX mode (CKPTDEF MODE=DUPLEX) to avoid the situation. </div>
</div>
<br />
If you haven't signed up to the Red Alerts by now, you really should do it. Just go over <a href="https://www.ibm.com/systems/support/myview/subscription/css.wss/subscriptions?methodName=createNewSubscription&css_key=z000&OC=SWG90&DOCTYPE=REDALERTS&returnurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww14.software.ibm.com%2Fwebapp%2Fset2%2Fsas%2Ff%2FredAlerts%2Fhome.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-28907423237428745342016-10-27T07:00:00.000+02:002016-10-27T07:00:00.138+02:00Last call for MES upgrades on your z12 system(s)Let me freshen up your memory, just in case you wanted to have a MES upgrade on your z12 system(s) like disruptively adding memory, adding books or I/O cards, you have time till the end of the year. Or e.g. you plan on acquiring an IDAA next year, but if you stay on your zEC12 or zBC12, you will have to order the necessary 10GbE cards while it's still possible. Afterwards it will be a no go. This was announced half of February this year, shortly after the announcement of the z13s (<a href="http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?subtype=ca&infotype=an&appname=iSource&supplier=877&letternum=ENUSZG16-0021" target="_blank">ZG16-0021</a>).<br />
<br />
During 2017 'upgrades' that are delivered through a modification to the machine's Licensed Internal Code (LIC) will still be possible. E.g. adding additional CBU records or activating memory that's already in the machine. Here's an overview I made a couple of months ago<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhlqY5M5KrmmfGMEoJiaXd25EMmriYW8eQgaxDcMGfYcoKp1i67bjtDlnp3JLxmCEK4wJKw0JMfkYYJlktO4TInTPBpcfkP9RsQXYTTU9lH86N2_D2hs1353uapMdsdfq6d9xrWAx18TY/s1600/EndOfMarketing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhlqY5M5KrmmfGMEoJiaXd25EMmriYW8eQgaxDcMGfYcoKp1i67bjtDlnp3JLxmCEK4wJKw0JMfkYYJlktO4TInTPBpcfkP9RsQXYTTU9lH86N2_D2hs1353uapMdsdfq6d9xrWAx18TY/s400/EndOfMarketing.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Click on image for larger version</span></div>
Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-48093870282234100232016-10-26T12:31:00.000+02:002016-10-26T12:31:17.475+02:00Hardware withdrawal: IBM TS3500 Tape Library models L23 and L53 and select featuresDo you remember when the TS3500 base frames were first announced ? No ?<br />
I also had to look it up : the L23 and L53 were first announced in May 2006 and now their End of Marketing date was announced : 'Hardware withdrawal: IBM TS3500 Tape Library models L23 and L53 and select features - Some replacements available (<a href="http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_ca/9/877/ENUSZG16-0129/index.html&lang=en&request_locale=en" target="_blank">ZG16-0129</a>)'.<br />
<br />
Effective October 7, 2017 you will no longer be able to order the L23 (base frame for 3592) and L53 (base frame for LTO) frames. This seems like a logical evolution. We have a replacement in the meantime with the TS4500 L25 and TS4500 L55 frames.<br />
<br />
So I wonder who would still want to order a new TS3500 Tape Library for the moment, when the TS4500 is a valid replacement. But don't worry if you want to expand an existing TS3500 : since the D23 and D53 frames are not mentioned and no field installs are mentioned either, I assume that you can still order additional expansion frames on the TS3500 tape library.<br />
<br />
Here's some information on the TS4500 Tape library<br />
<ul>
<li>The IBM TS4500 Overview <a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/storage/tape/ts4500/" target="_blank">page</a> where you can find a demo, the Data Sheet and an <a href="http://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?subtype=ST&infotype=SA&htmlfid=TSJ03754USEN&attachment=TSJ03754USEN.PDF" target="_blank">Infographic</a> on 'Why TS4500 for z Systems'</li>
<li>The IBM Knowledge Center TS4500 documentation <a href="http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/STQRQ9/com.ibm.storage.ts4500.doc/ts4500_ichome.html" target="_blank">page</a></li>
</ul>
Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652336982576285078.post-92210396556997599612016-03-15T08:29:00.000+01:002016-03-15T08:29:36.028+01:00Potential exposure for undetected loss of data for z/OS users writing data to zEDC compressed data sets using QSAM<a href="http://www14.software.ibm.com/support/customercare/sas/f/redAlerts/20160314.html" target="_blank">Here</a>'s a new Red Alert. I'm taking over the content.<br />
<br />
<div class="ibm-container-body">
<b>Abstract:</b><br />
<div class="ibm-container-body">
Potential exposure for undetected loss of data for z/OS users writing data to zEDC compressed data sets using QSAM on releases z/OS 1.13, 2.1 & 2.2.<br />
<br />
<div class="ibm-container">
<b>Description</b><br />
<div class="ibm-container-body">
Data loss may occur when writing to a zEDC compressed data set using QSAM when CLOSE is issued and there exists a partial QSAM buffer that has not yet been written, and all allocated space in the data set is filled. In this case, the unwritten partial buffer may not be written after CLOSE processing obtains the new extent for the data set. <br />
<br />
The problem does not apply to BSAM or other access methods.<br />
<br />
Please see APAR OA50061 for additional information.</div>
<br />
<b>Recommended Actions </b><br />
++APAR for OA50061 should be applied for all environments with zEDC compressed data sets. This requires an IPL to activate.</div>
<br />
You can find the APAR information over <a href="https://www-304.ibm.com/support/entdocview.wss?uid=isg1OA50061" target="_blank">here</a> where you can find some more info :<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"During creation of a new extent during CLOSE processing, any<br />
user blocks that have not been compressed and written out to the<br />
zedc compressed dataset yet will not be written out.<br />
<br />
This does not apply to BSAM processing since all outstanding<br />
WRITE requests must be CHECK'd for completion before CLOSE is<br />
issued."</blockquote>
For the moment it also says : "++APAR will be available soon".<br />
<br />
If you haven't signed up to the Red Alerts by now, you really should do it. Just go over <a href="https://www.ibm.com/systems/support/myview/subscription/css.wss/subscriptions?methodName=createNewSubscription&css_key=z000&OC=SWG90&DOCTYPE=REDALERTS&returnurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww14.software.ibm.com%2Fwebapp%2Fset2%2Fsas%2Ff%2FredAlerts%2Fhome.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </div>
</div>
Marc Wambekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784570602513383192noreply@blogger.com0