Sampling Techdocs - February-April 2012

It's been a while, but here I am again with another overview of interesting TechDocs documents I came across while browsing through the latest publications. If you're completely unfamiliar to Techdocs, here's an introduction to it. I've tried to group them a bit.

Let's start with XIV

• Presentation : Accelerate with ATS: Introducing IBM XIV Gen 3
  A good introduction to XIV Gen3 (audio included as well) with a technical update and some performance data included.

• Presentation : Accelerate with ATS: XIV Storage System Update
  This presentation gives an overview of XIV Gen 3 R3.1 with a focus on the new SSD caching functionalities.

• White paper : IBM® System Storage™ XIV™ Performance Whitepaper
  Nice performance white paper for XIV Gen 3. Not yet including SSD disks or SSD caching.

Here are some documents on Oracle and Oracle consolidation

• FAQ : Oracle certification metrics
  Where can I find the latest certification matrix for Oracle products ?

• Presentation : Oracle Technology List of Redbooks
  Nice list of RedBooks on Oracle consolidation. Examples : Experiences with Oracle Database 10g on Linux for zSeries, Experiences with Oracle 10gR2 Solutions on Linux for System z, but there are more. Do have a look ! And very similar to this, there's also a List of White Papers on Oracle.

• Technical Document : IBM Sizing Questionnaires for Oracle Database
  A couple of questionnaires that can help to document a (planned) customer environment.

But there's more

• FAQ : z/OS Statement of Direction FAQ
  This tells about the same as I did in a previous post, but it's a more official IBM document, which might come in handy.

• Presentations : z/OS Performance HOT Topics Presentation
  This is a share presentation from the Share Winter 2012 Conference in Atlanta. "This session at the Atlanta SHARE covered the latest performance and capacity planning information for System z and z/OS". There are of course a lot more Share presentations, but you know where to find those.

• Workshop materials : zEnterprise zManager Workshop
  I've mentioned this one before, but apparantly the materials have been updated : This is the material from one of the WildfireWorkshops on System z Unified Resource Manager. It's mainly the presentations of course (with or without the speaker notes). Topics covered are : Introduction&Overview, Platform Performance Management and usage scenarios.

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

Sampling Techdocs - November 2011-Janary 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sampling Techdocs - September-October 2011

Here I am again with my bi-monthly review of interesting TechDocs documents I came across while browsing through the latest publications.

• FAQ : Running Oracle Database 11gR2 on Linux® on IBM System z™ Servers
  This is a nice addition to the FAQ I referred to last time focusing on theOracle support for Oracle Database 11g Release 2 running on IBM System z. It also talks about upgrade paths, new features and planning for future patch set updates.
  
  
• Flash : DS8000 HyperPAV - Why is there IOSQ time with HyperPAVs
  Interesting flash on HyperPAV, why you can still have IOSQ time and how you can detect it from your RMF reports.
  
  
• Presentation : IBM z/OS + DS8800 Synergy
  This is a very recent prezsentation on System z and DS8800 synergy focusing on three key areas : Performance (zHPF, zWLM and DS8000 I/O priority Manager ...), Business Continuity (HyperPAV, HyperSwap improvements ...) and Management&Growth (1 TB EAVs, Quick Init for CKD Volumes, Dynamic Volume Expansion ...). And ... it comes with the replay of the presentation.
  

• Workshop materials : zEnterprise zManager Workshop
  This is the material from one of the Wildfire Workshops on System z Unified Resource Manager. It's mainly the presentations of course (with or without the speaker notes). Topics covered are : Introduction&Overview, Platform Performance Management and usage scenarios.
  

• FAQ : zHPF
  I think anything you want to know about the High Performance FICON feature is in there : functions, features, prereqs, monitoring . . .
  

• Presentation : TS1140 Tape Drive and Control Unit DFSMSdss Performance results
  This test shows performance results from a "DFSMSdss Full Volume Dump and Restore from disk, with the same amount of data per tape drive, to 3592 E06/C06 vs 3592 E07/C07". It also has a nice 1-page slide comparing the two controllers. The results ? Somewhat predictable ? Yes. The details ? Go and have have a look !
  

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

Sampling Techdocs : April/May 2011

You know by now I retrieve lots of information from Techdocs. And I have the impression that my harvest for the latest two months is really quite impressive. Just take a look below.

• White paper : z/OS: Planning Considerations for HiperDispatch Mode
  This paper describes planning considerations for z/OS environments using hiperdispatch. It has been updated to contain information on the benefits of hiperdispatch for the z10 and z196 processors. It also talks about the influence of hiperdispatch on WLM policies, zIIPs and zAAPs ...
  
  
• White paper : IBM HyperSwap Technology
  The document title mentions 'April 2010' but it has been recently updated. I've described the various HyperSwap options in a previous System z newsletter but here's the more elaborate version describing the 4 different HyperSwap options: z/OS Basic HyperSwap, TPC-R HyperSwap, GDPS/PPRC HyperSwap Manager and the full function GDPS/PPRC HyperSwap solution ànd giving you some advice which one might best suit your specific needs. You can also find a presentation summarizing the document over here.
  
  
• Presentation : Websphere advanced skills youtube videos
  Don't let the 'advanced' scare you off : this is a presentation with lots of links to youtube videos presenting a series of videos introducing the viewer to WebSphere Application Server and WAS on z/OS in particular but also giving an overview of the WebSphere Optimized Local Adapters (WOLA) function and an overview of IBM Modern Batch solutions, including WebSphere Compute Grid and integration with Tivoli Workload Scheduler.

• Presentation : IBM DS8800 Data Migration Scenarios
  Here's an interesting presentation when you want to do (complex) migrations towards DS8000. It outlines the various data migration options with the DS8000 data replication technology like TDMF, Global Copy, z/OS Global Mirror (aka XRC), HyperSwap, useful disk subsystem capabilities like NOCOPY and it also builds some sample scenarios.

• White paper : Best Practices Upgrading a Coupling Facility
  "Planning for an upgrade of a parallel sysplex to z196 or an upgrade which requires a POR? Need to install maintenance which requires a coupling facility to be reactivated? This paper documents the best practices for installing a new CF, doing a POR of a CEC with a coupling facility image on it and reactivating a coupling facility image".
  

• Referral page : WebSphere Application Server z/OS V8
  This page claims to provide "a location for documentation and presentations on WebSphere Application Server for z/OS Version 8. Bookmark this Techdoc and come back for updates and new material as it is produced and made available here". For the moment it provides a technical presentation introducing WAS z/OS V8 (with a reference to some more companion videos on Youtube) and a general PowerPoint introduction to WAS z/OS V8.
  

• White paper : Query Where No Query Has Gone Before
  An intriguing title for every Trekkie of course, this one. It's actually about the IBM Smart Analytics Optimizer, but what's interesting is that it describes the various steps for implementing this solution. The paper describes the following steps the team followed : identifying the data warehouses to accelerate, creating an accelerator project, defining the data marts, validating, deploying, and loading the data mart, determining if the query is eligible for acceleration, comparing query execution and refreshing the data mart.
  

• And to conclude I found quite some Oracle Documents this time :
  Running Oracle Database 11gR2 on Linux® on IBM System z™ Servers (FAQ),
  IBM Supported Platforms for Oracle Database,
  IBM Supported Platforms for Oracle E-Business Suite and
  Hints & Tips for Installing Oracle 11g Release 2 on Linux on IBM System z.
  It's no coincidence that you find a lot of information on Oracle on z right now since the Oracle support for Oracle Database 11g Release 2 running on IBM System z became available on 1Q 2011.
  

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

Sampling Techdocs : September - November 2009

Here we are again with some new and interesting reading material from TechDocs.

• Presentation : I'm not a dummy, but ...
  Interesting presentation on Websphere on z/OS for near-dummies like me. "In this presentation, the speaker will provide you with some more knowledge of WebSphere on z/OS. Key concepts, terminology and configurations will be discussed."
  This is just one of the many presentation from the Share Summer 2009 conference. If you want to see more, take a look at the Proceedings page at share.org.
  
  
• Presentation : DS8000 Data Replication Best Practices
  Nice presentation on DS8000 Copy Services Best Practices, Key concepts of Data Replication technology, Planning for Data replication (configuration, data collection, Bandwidth studies ...) and some case studies. The audio file is also present.
  
  
• Presentation : IBM DS8000 Storage Allocation Overview Including Thin Provisioning
  This document talks about Storage Allocation concepts, storage allocation specific for DS8000 (incl. types of logical volumes, volume expansion, capacity utilization and planning ...) and of course also about Thin Provisioning.
  

• Presentation: z/OS System Management Facility (z/OSMF) & WSC User Experience
  As z/OSMF was introduced a couple of months ago, every one's anxious to find out whether it's really living up to its promises. Well, here's a presentation by Bette Brody giving a detailed overview, lots of installation, configuration and setup details and concluding with a WSC (Washington Systems Center) User Experience. Allthough the last one might have been a bit more extensive.
  

• FAQ : IBM System z: Oracle Product Availability and FAQ
  "This document describes in detail the levels of each Oracle solution that is available on IBM System z. The format is an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)." I know that some five years ago I really had to search about every where to find this kind of information. Now it's all nicely brought together in this one document.
  

• White Paper : IBM Encrypted Storage Overview and Customer Requirements
  "This document is intended to contain critical information that you will need to know in order to manage IBM encrypted storage and to comply with IBM requirements for using IBM encrypted storage." Look out : it's the word document you need, the .pdf is just a 'Notice regarding Storage Encryption'. Some Topics :Encryption Concepts, Security vs. Accessibility, Tivoli Key Lifecycle Manager (TKLM), DS8000 Disk Encryption, IBM Tape Encryption, Best Practices for Encrypting Storage Environments …

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

Sampling Techdocs : December 2008 - January 2009

Hello, here we go again for another round of interesting material from TechDocs.

• Technical Document : z/OS Positioning Software for the z10 EC and z10 BC Servers
  This is kind of a classic. It gives you lots of information on supported Operating Systems, migration, new functions like zHPF, PSP Buckets. It also indicates what's supported by which z/OS release plus a lot of other information.
  
  
• White Paper : IBM® Virtualization Engine TS7700 Series Best Practices - Cache Management in the TS7720 V1.1
  The disk-only Virtualization Engine (TS7720) was announced last year and here's a document that "details the monitoring of cache usage, messages and attentions presented as the cache approaches the full state, consequences of reaching the full state and the methods used for managing the amount of data stored in the cache".
  
  
• White Paper : Energy Management and Performance Analysis on the IBM System z10 BC
  "This paper will demonstrate the new IBM System z10 Business Class (z10 BC) as an excellent system for power efficiency and performance, discuss energy management strategies, highlight the Active Energy Manager tool, and provide an analysis of energy and performance on the IBM System z10 BC". It also talks about the Power Estimation Tool and the System Activity Display.
  
  
• White Paper : OSA-Express3 Multi-ports per CHPID Definitions
  Here's a useful document on how to define your OSA-Express3 cards.
  
  
• Technical Document : IBM Supported Platforms for Oracle Database
  This might save you some searching : System z is included. Or you may want to take a look over here too.
  
  
• FAQ : zHPF FAQ Frequently Asked Question
  The document first lines out the diference between ESCON and FICON, then explains MIDAW but the focus is of course on zHPF.
  
  
• FAQ : Virtualization Engine TS7700 Frequently Asked Question
  This document describes "Which TS7700 Virtualization Engine functions became available in which Code Releases and which LM code is co-reqed?"

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

Sampling Techdocs : Januari 2008 - December 2007

Here we go for another round of Techdocs documents. I don’t see that many interesting stuff to me in Januari, but that’s most likely because I tend to focus on operating systems, hardware, storage and some db2. If I’d have to make one good intention for 2008, I’ll try to get some more grip on the Websphere, Tivoli and Rational products. Don’t hold this against me if you haven’t seen much change by the end of the year. Or perhaps : just do !

• Technical Document : Guide for Upgrading z/VM from one version to another
  If you read it it’s plain and simple. What are the steps ? "Install the new z/VM operating system at 2nd level. Separate the userids on the current system which will be discarded, versus those that will be kept. Identify system configuration changes implemented on the current system. Merge userids into new system directory, merge changes from current system into new system. TEST NEW SYSTEM at 2nd Level. Shutdown current system, then IPL new system".



• Presentation : Installation of OMEGAMON XE on z/VM and Linux PowerPoint Presentation
  More and more people are turning to z/VM for the first time because they start to implement Linux on the mainframe. I’m also sure more and more people will start to love this platform. This document shows how to install OMEGAMON XE on z/VM and Linux because there’s a need for monitoring these systems. It’s kind of a step by step instruction set and it also refers to some other resources on this topic.



• White Paper : DS8000 HyperPAV UCB and Alias Analysis Case Study
  HyperPAV has been around since 2006 but I must say it’s not the easiest of things to get to grips with. Here’s a white paper which starts off with a clear explanation on IO queueing, PAV and HyperPAV functionality. It explains the requirements, implementation and migration towards HyperPAV. The main part of the document is a case study explaining the analysis methodology from data collection to analysis output with lots of examples and graphs.
  
  
• Flash : IBM System Storage DS8000 FlashCopy SE Implementation Considerations and Recommendations
  Here’s another document on a long-awaited new functionality on the DS8000 box : Space Efficient FlashCopy. It allows for the first time the target capacity to be smaller than the full capacity of the source volumes. The 8 p. flash gives a good description of FlashCopy SE, where to use it, recommendations on how to implement and configure it and for some of those who already figured everything out for themselves some recommendations on how not to configure it.
  
  
• Technical Document : Installing Oracle 10g on SLES10 Linux on System z
  This document walks you through everything you need to know for this installation giving examples and screenshots of an actual installation. Topics are Overview, Base System Requirements, RPM Package Requirements, Memory Requirements, Kernel parameter activation, Userid and group accounts, Shell Limits, Security Issues, Profile settings, Installing the Oracle 10g binaries, Install of Patches and Instance Database build.
  
  
• White Paper : TS7700 Copy Export V1.1
  More new storage functions with the Copy Export Function on the Virtualization Engine. “For customers that do not require the recovery times that can be obtained in a Grid configuration, a new function called Copy Export is being introduced for the TS7700. With Copy Export, logical volumes written to a TS7700 can be removed from the TS7700 and taken to an offsite location to be used for disaster recovery”. This document gives a great overview of this function with all steps of the implementation, management and processing on both sides with examples of definitions, commands, error messages . . .

As I always say : just check them out !

IBM and Oracle initiatives

Last october, IBM and Oracle announced "a strategic initiative to collaborate on the sales and marketing of a series of enterprise business solutions with Oracle applications and technology for Linux on System z in order to target the business requirements of large and medium size enterprise customers and meet growing market demand."

On this IBM page the implications of the announcement are described as follows : "With today’s announcement, Oracle is extending the portfolio of products available on the IBM System z9 platform with a comprehensive set of both database and application solutions which Oracle intends to enable for Linux on System z. This could mean new opportunities for you to take advantage of the advanced functionality of Oracle applications on a premier Linux environment, benefiting from the core strengths of the IBM System z9 platform."

I'm not a specialist on Oracle applications but when I try to read between the lines, I have the impression that 'Oracle E-Business Suite 11.5.10.2' will be able to run on zLinux. "Will be" is the right phrase though, because up to now it's not possible.

There is however a nice redbook on this matter due to be published in February 2007. But ther's already a draft available : Experiences with Oracle 10gR2 Solutions on Linux for IBM System z. "This IBM Redbook describe experiences gained while installing and testing several Oracle solutions, such as:
- Single Instance of Oracle Database 10gR2,
- Including sharing ORACLE_HOME and Cloning Oracle databases,
- RAC Instance of Oracle Database 10gR2 using raw devices, block devices or OCFS2 files
- Oracle E-Business Suite 11.5.10.2 with a split configuration database on Linux on System z Oracle AS10g"

International zSeries Oracle SIG

I stumbled across this site when looking for information about Oracle on mainframe. What's definitely interesting about this site is the large amount of presentations from their conferences. The presentations of this
Special Interest Group can be found here.

On a different note I see that I'm tackling very different subjects next to each other. But hey, that's probably just the very nature of blogging itself. So I'll (and you will) have to live with that.