Sampling Techdocs - Up to February 2014

Here I am again with an 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.

• Technical document : DS8000 Host Ports and Installation Sequence
  Here's a nice document on the "DS8000 host adapters installation sequence, port usage, naming conventions and best practices for host connection". Lots of practical tips.
  

• Presentation : DS8000 HyperPAV presentation and demonstration
  This is kind of a recap but it still contains some practical tips for people starting with HyperPAV. It's a "presentation that explains HyperPAV and compares HyperPAVs to Dynamic and Static PAVs. There is a demonstration that shows the performance benefits of changing from no PAVs, to Dynamic PAVs and ultimately HyperPAVs."

• Presentation : zEnterprise z/OS Usage of SMC-R RoCE
  "SMC-R and RoCE provide high throughput with low overhead communications. This paper is developed to detail the SMC-R and RoCE support in z/OS V2.1." This presentation talks about RDMA and SMC R, SMC R Configuration, Management Commands, CP Usage, Switch Ports, SMC R Details, OSA vs. HiperSockets vs. RoCE ... And I can assure you, not one detail is omitted here.

• White paper : Absolute Capping for zEnterprise LPARs
  Here's an interesting one : "Absolute Capping is a new control which was made available in 2013 supporting the zBC12 and zEC12 GA2 CPCs. It is enabled on zEnterprise via licensed internal code Version 2.12.1 at Driver Level 15 or higher.
  Absolute Capping is available to any LPAR but is of particular interest for non z/OS LPARs such as z/VM and Linux on z that cannot make use of z/OS Workload Manager capacity management functions.
  Unlike traditional LPAR Capping, this enhancement is designed to provide a physical capacity limit enforced as an absolute (versus relative) value that is not affected by changes to the virtual or physical configuration of the system. "

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

Sampling Techdocs - up to March 2013

It's been some months, but here I am again with an 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.

• Cheat Sheet : IBM drives to storage systems cheat sheet
  It doesn't always have to be a long document to come in handy. This one-pager shows the currently offered drive types for current IBM storage systems.

• Technical Document : DS8000 System Storage: Device Reserves with HyperPAVs
  "The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate what can occur when device reserves are used with HyperPAV enabled". Or, why you can still have IOSQ time.

• White paper : Move Secondary PPRC box to different location with as little impact as possible to primary volumes
  Well, the title says it all. Interesting read with extra material with scripts, JCLs ...

• Presentation : TS7700 Introduction Presentation
  This is nothing more than a very good introduction to the TS7700 family and its functions.

• Presentation : CICS Transaction Server V5 Technical Overview, Upgrading to CICS Transaction Server V5 and CICS - What's in it for the Application Programmer
  Here's a couple of Share presentations on CICS TS V5 starting off with a technical introduction. The second one describes the upgrade scenario from CICS TS V4.2 to CICS TS V5 and the last one asks the question : "In today's environment with many application servers available, why would an application programmer choose to develop applications for CICS? How does CICS benefit the application programmer?" Take a look at the presentation for the answers.

• Presentation : z/OS Workload Manager: What Are you Thinking?
  "This session will review many of the common definition mistakes seen by IBM. The session will provide recommendations for finding these mistakes and provide alternatives for better performance, or avoiding potential problems".

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

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 - January/March 2011

It's been a while since I've referred to some of the most interesting publications I regularly find on Techdocs. But, here we are once again with a selection.

• FAQ : What are the maximum distances for various FC speeds and cable media?
  Did you know that in the worst case with 8Gbps and 50 µm short-wave cables you can hardly bridge 50m. With 16 Gbps that becomes 35m.
  
  
• Technical document : Identifying the dynamic SQL statement which is causing a lock timeout in DB2 for z/OS
  I mentioned this document before but apparantly it's been updated. At the time it was set up for DB2 V8. It has been updated and it's also valid for newer releases.
  
  
• Presentations : Introduction to ProtecTIER. Concepts of Data Deduplication and Introduction to ProtecTIER - TS7600 Architecture
  If you're revising your backup solutions and you're interested in D2D or D2D2T and you want state of the art deduplication, then you might want to take a look at these two presentations. They give a good overview of ProtecTIER, quite technical at times and there's also a roadmap included.
  

• Presentation : DS8000 PAV and FlashCopy with z/VSE
  There's more to life than just z/OS. Here's a nice presentation on the implementation of PAV on z/VSE. It explains PAV in general and then continues on how to implement it on z/VSE. Do take a good look at the restrictions, though.
  

• Presentation : DS8000 Advanced Functions and z/VM
  "This presentation discusses which DS8000 System z functions are exploited by z/VM. Functions discussed are Parallel Access Volumes (PAVs), FlashCopy, MIDAWs, zHPF, and Extended Address Volumes (EAVs)." Also interesting if you're running e.g. z/VSE as a guest on z/VM.
  

• Flash : IBM zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension Top of Rack Switch (TOR)
  This document starts with an overview of the zBX but goes into greater detail afterwards. It discusses the Bulk Power Heads on the z196, the connectivity for the Intranode Management Network (INMN) and the IntraEnsemble Data Network (IEDN), with some illustrations (always nice to get a visual) and it concludes with lots of reference materials.

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

Sampling Techdocs - October/November 2010

Here we are with some new documents from TechDocs I recently came across or found while browsing through the latest publications.

• Technical document : z/OS Version 1 Release 12 Installation Plan Checklist
  This is pretty straightforward : "z/OS 1.12 Installation Plan checklist is for installing and migrating to z/OS 1.12 from z/OS release 10 or release 11. To be used as a supplement to existing product publications." Still, it's a very valuable and thorough document. Look e.g. at the first check : "Ensure a System z server is available" ;-)
  
  
• White paper : z/OS V1.12 Management Facility Resource Requirements
  Some practical experiences on setting up and using z/OSMF
  
  
• White paper : IBM Handbook Using DS8000 Data Replication for Data Migration
  Starting with reasons to migrate, passing to various replication methods and ending with all kinds of migration scenarios (from easy to quite complicated) this is a very interesting document on data migration.
  

• White paper : DS8000 FlashCopy usage in DFSMSdss
  This White Paper shows some usage examples for FlashCopy in a z/OS environment using DFSMSdss. It contains lots of illustrations and examples. Definitely worth a look.
  

• Presentations : IBM® zEnterprise™ System Network Virtualization, Management, and Security (Parts 1 and 2 - Overview and Details)
  In fact I can be very short on this one : everything you always wanted to know about networking on the zEnterprise. Or as the abstract says : "Part 1 presents a high-level overview of the networking topics surrounding the new architecture. (...) Part 2 presents a more detailed view of the underlying architecture, its routing and security structures, and some of its software definitions. Part 2 is suitable for a technical audience that wants to understand more about the design, positioning, and implementation of the new architecture."

• White paper : Beginners Guide to Coding Java Batch Jobs
  This white paper introduces you to programming Java Batch applications, it explains the differences with COBOL batch and gives you a step by step example for coding a 'Hello World' Java Batch application.

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 : July - August 2009

Here we are again with some new and interesting reading material from TechDocs. I've mentioned the first two before, but hey, it was holiday season back then and they are really valuable documents.

• Presentation : z/OS System Initialization Logic (IPL)
  "This presentation describes general processing involved initializing z/OS System from the IPL process until the system is ready to start JES2 or JES3." The major steps described are : the hardware process of loading z/OS, the loading and initialization of the nucleus, the initialization of general system resources, Master Scheduler Initialization. All I can say about this one : veeeeerrrrrrryyyyyyy nice !
  
  
  
• Technical Document : OSA-ICC experiences. Usage guide for z/OS and z/VM
  This is a very nice document for any one who wants to install the OSA-Express Integrated Console Controller (OSA-ICC) support of the 1000BASE-T card. It really takes you by the hand through chapters like OSA-ICC definitions on HMC, OSA-ICC VTAM Definition on z/OS, Implementing an OSA-ICC connection for z/VM and Connect to TSO using PCOMM & OSA-ICC. If you're still a first time OSA-ICC installer, this is the document to start with.
  
  
• Technical Document : Restore Server Time Protocol configuration information across a Power on Reset
  One can now save an "STP configuration across PORs and power failures for a single server and a two server STP-only CTN". This 2-page document outlines "the prerequisites, set up required, and steps needed to enable this functionality".

• Flash : Withdrawal of z/OS Function Beginning with z/OS Release 5 Through Current z/OS Release
  "This flash lists those items IBM has announced intention for removal in a specific z/OS release. These items have already been announced in previous IBM z/OS announcement letters. This is a collection of those items being removed. Consideration should be given to this list when planning your migration to a z/OS release". The Flash has been updated for z/OS 1.11

• 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". It's the Word document you need. It contains chapters on Encryption Concepts, TKLM (Tivoli Key Lifecycle Management), DS8000 Disk Encryption, Tape encryption, Best Practices for Encrypting Storage Environments, IBM Guidelines and Requirements for Encrypting Storage Installations and IBM Guidelines and Requirements for Key Server Management.
  

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

Sampling Techdocs : April - June 2009

It's been a while, but here we are again with some new and interesting reading material from TechDocs.

• White Paper : IBM System Storage DS8000 with SSDs An In-Depth Look at SSD Performance in the DS8000 and An Assessment of SSD Performance in the IBM System Storage DS8000
  Two recent white papers on the use, best practices and performance of SSDs (Solid State Drives).
  
  
• Presentation (with notes) : IMS Data Sharing
  "IMS data sharing allows multiple IMS systems to share databases with full update capability from all systems. IMS data sharing may be used to improve availability, increase capacity, and simplify applications. This presentation provides potential users with an explanation of data sharing and information on implementing it."
  
  
• Technical Document : OSA-ICC experiences. Usage guide for z/OS and z/VM
  This is a very nice document for any one who wants to install the OSA-Express Integrated Console Controller (OSA-ICC) support of the 1000BASE-T card. It really takes you by the hand through chapters like OSA-ICC definitions on HMC, OSA-ICC VTAM Definition on z/OS, Implementing an OSA-ICC connection for z/VM and Connect to TSO using PCOMM & OSA-ICC.
  
  
• White Paper : Software Requirements for Running SAP on System z
  Thinking about a consolidation of SAP on System z ? Here's a short 10-page introduction on what is required to run System z as the database server and Linux on System z as the application server.
  
  
• Presentation : z/OS System Initialization Logic (IPL)
  We're closing with a verrrrry nice presentation from Riaz Ahmad : "This presentation describes general processing involved initializing z/OS System from the IPL process until the system is ready to start JES2 or JES3"
  

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 : June - September 2008

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

• Tool : Slot Calculator for TS3100, TS3200, TS3310, TS3400 and TS3500(3584)
  I've mentioned the Slot Calculator a couple of times before but now it also includes some other libraries. It already includes the Gen3 cartridges and the new HD tape frames (s24 and s54) too.
  
  
• White Paper : z/OS: Planning Considerations for HiperDispatch Mode
  One of the new functionalities introduced with the z10 EC : with HiperDispatch mode, the intention is to manage work across fewer logical processors. It's important to have some notice of this functionality because all LSPR benchmarks are performed with HiperDispatch mode on. This document describes the functionality, some processing benefits and WLM Policy considerations.
  
  
• Technical Document : Capacity Planning for zAAP and zIIP Specialty Engines
  zIIPs seem to be the talk of the town for the moment. I've just read some nice comments on the DB2-List and the IBM-Main List about zIIP eligibility, on which I hope to come back later. If you want to find out whether the zIIP is something for you, take a look at this and do check if all requirements for getting results are fulfilled at your site.
  
  
• FAQ : Migration from an old version of COBOL to Enterprise COBOL on Z/OS
  I've programmed in COBOL for about 8 years and I can honestly say I still fluently 'speak' COBOL. So when a document like this one shows up, it definitely catches my attention. The question here is : "What is involved in COBOL Migration from an old version of COBOL to Enterprise COBOL on Z/OS?".
  
  
• Flash : Withdrawal of z/OS Function
• Technical Document : z/OS Positioning Software for the z10 EC Server
• Presentation : Open Systems Adapter (OSA) Feature Code History
  Three reference documents that contain lots of useful information. Everyone should check out the first two once in a while and certainly when you upgrade your operating system or your hardware model.
  
  
• Technical Document : IBM HyperSwap Technology - z/OS Systems
  I've mentioned other documents about this subject and discussed it in the (then) Dolmen System z Newsletter. This paper gives you an overview of the three variations : GDPS with HyperSwap (the full function), GDPS HyperSwap Manager and z/OS Basic HyperSwap. It describes their distinct functionalities, the prerequisites and it helps you decide which flavour is fit for your environment.
  
  
• Presentation : Monitoring and Managing z/VM and Linux for System z
  How to monitor the architecture, monitor the virtual Linux Performance, performance scenarios and possible solutions, Automated operations requirements, Automated operations scenarios . . .
  

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

Sampling Techdocs : April - May 2008

Here we go again for our bi-monthly selection of TechDocs documents :

• Presentation : Implementing TPC for Replication on z/OS and Basic HyperSwap
  We've already talked a few times about Basic HyperSwap. Well, here's an additional, interesting presentation on Basic HyperSwap with the emphasis on TPC-R and how to install and implement it. There's also a Trifold on 'Basic HyperSwap Availability Options'.
  


• Technical document : z/OS Positioning Software for the z10 EC Server
  This is such a useful document which is reworked for every new server generation. It describes software and operating system support for the z10. It provides information on the PSP buckets and how to use the Enhanced PSP Tool. Other topics : the change of Hardware memory granularity, new zArchitecture instructions, HiperDispatch, cryptography . . .
  


• Technical document : IMS Version 10 Installation and Migration Tips
  Well, just quoting the abstract gives you a good idea about its content : "This document contains planning information for installations migrating to IMS Version 10. It includes a list of prerequisite software and APARs. It describes considerations for compatibility with previous versions of IMS and for use with DB2 and CICS. Migration tasks are explained. Tips for migrating to IMS 10 from either IMS 9 or IMS 8 are provided. The document includes extensive references to other information on IMS Version 10".

• Flash : z/OS Availability: Blocked Workload Support
  Starting point of this item is a potential threat to application availability. The threat to availability occurs when an address space or enclave (of low importance) is CPU starved while holding a resource needed by other (high importance) transactions.
  The document highlights a new function on z/OS 1.9 called blocked workload support. It is intended to allow small amounts of CPU to be allocated to workloads which are CPU starved in order to prevent this availability problem. It will also be rolled back to z/OS 1.8 and z/OS 1.7.
  

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

Sampling Techdocs : February - March 2008

With the z10 announcement and the z/OS 1.10 preview in February, some documents have been reworked and there are of course new documents discussing the new functionalities of the z10. I already discussed one of them into more detail (Basic HyperSwap), but there's of course much more. Here's a selection :

• Presentation : A System Programmer Productivity Tool Bag
  This is such a useful document I just have to mention it from time to time. "It is designed to point to and describe various information to assist in planning, aid in finding pertinent information, tools which are available to make a systems programmer job a bit easier".


• Technical document : IBM System Storage DS8000 FlashCopy SE Implementation Considerations and Recommendations
  I know I mentioned this the previous time too, but it has been updated and and it gives a great description of how FlashCopy SE works, where you can use it and where it's better not to use it. Some examples : it is not recommended to use it when data changes more than 20% between two FlashCopies. Do not use it either when you are running update jobs on the same data just after the FlashCopy SE. These circumstances might have a negative influence on your performance.


• Presentations : WebSphere for z/OS - Version 6.1 Handouts for WBSR6 Wildfire Workshop
  I promised to try and pay some attention to products I'm less familiar with, so here are all the presentations and hands-on labs for the Wildfire Workshop on WebSphere Application Server for z/OS Version 6.1. The topics covered are an overview, Building the Deployment Manager, Standalone Servers and Federation, Data Resources (CICS and DB2), Clustering and Security Implications of Adding Servers, Comparison of HTTP Front-End options for WebSphere Application Server. This should provide a great introduction to the Websphere Application Server and I will surely work my way through it.
  
  
• Tool : Getting Started with zPCR (IBM's Processor Capacity Reference)
  Most people are already familiar with this tool or know at least what it does. It's a great capacity planning tool for System z and since one (or perhaps already two years) it has been made available to the customer. It now provides support for System z10.
  
  
• White Paper : z/OS: Planning Considerations for HiperDispatch Mode
  This was one of the new features that raised many questions when the z10 was introduced as it was not very clear what this was really about. Basically "z/OS workload management and dispatching have been enhanced to take advantage of the System z10 hardware design. A new mode of dispatching called HiperDispatch has been implemented to provide additional processing efficiencies. This White Paper describes planning considerations related to HiperDispatch".
  

As I always say : just check them out !

Sampling Techdocs : October - November

It's been a while since I had another look at Techdocs, so here we go again for October and November. You know it's just a sample of articles I personally find interesting. As you also know, there's much more over there.

• Presentation : z/OS Communications Server IPSec (IP Security)
  I made a round-up of the specialty engines in the Dolmen System z newsletter a couple of weeks ago and of course the zIIP assisted IPSEC functions were covered too. This is an "introduction to z/OS Communications Server TCP/IP IPSec support. IPSec services include IP filtering, key exchange, and support for manual and dynamic Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnels".
  

• Presentation : IMS Version 10 Database and DBRC Enhancements
  "IMS Version 10 adds many enhancements for users of IMS databases and DBRC. This presentation explains the new capabilities. These include the integration of FlashCopy into the image copy process, the exploitation of larger processors by Fast Path systems, the use of XQuery with IMS databases to find data within XML documents, (...) and other extensions to IMS".
  

• Presentation : IMS Version 10 Migration Planning
  I guess it's not so unusual to find more than one IMS document in Techdocs for the moment. And this is a nice and quite detailed presentation on migrating Version 8 or 9 systems to IMS version 10 covering Prerequisites and Coexistence, Installation and Migration Tasks, Migration Considerations, IMS Library . . .
  

• White Paper : Overview of IBM® TS1120 Tape Controller Support for TS3400 Tape Library
  Since the 3592 Tape Drives were introduced, no autoloader functions had been available. This is one good reason for using the relatively small TS3400 library with its 18 cartridges and its two TS1120 tape drives. The "white paper describes the use of the TS3400 Tape Library to provide functions similar to 3590 Autoloaders in the System z environment". It's very readable with lots of examples of the GUI interface too.
  

• Technote : z/OS Version 1 Release 9 Installation Plan Checklist
  A classic, I'd say, this installation checklist for people migrating to z/OS 1.9 from previous versions, but oh so useful.
  

• Presentation : Server Time Protocol Overview Presentation and Server Time Protocol Planning Considerations
  Server Time Protocol is available for about a year now. For those considering a migration, these two presentations are a very good starting point giving a thorough overview of (planning for) STP with some migration scenarios included.
  

As I always say : just check them out !

Sampling Techdocs : September

I had my last Sampling Techdocs at the beginning of July. Summer also slowed down the publishing pace on Techdocs but it now seems to catch up again. So here we go for another round of interesting documents (to me at least) that I found at Techdocs, covering the latest three months.

• White Paper : A Power Benchmarking Study on the IBM System z9: Applying Energy Efficiency Metrics to Performance
  "This paper will demonstrate the role of the IBM System z9 as an excellent platform for power efficiency and performance, discuss tools used for measuring z9 power, highlight a Java power benchmarking study on this platform, and analyze client server consolidation as an energy management strategy. The paper will conclude with next steps in power benchmarking for the IBM System z9".
  
  
• White Paper : IMS Disaster Recovery with GDPS
  This paper describes the role of GDPS at an IMS site. First there's a description of some concepts (Recovery Time / Point Objective, Synchronous and Asynchronous writes). Next GDPS is explained into more detail. Then there's a topic on dependent writes and consistency groups. You have to have consistent recovery points for restart and recovery of data. The next topic is on IMS Coupling Facility Structures. In IMS some CF structures are good candidates for duplexing, others are not. Furthermore there's info on testing, customer references and some interesting links to more information.
  
  
• Technote : IBM Tape Encryption for TS1120 and IBM Ultrium 4 Tape Drives
  Encryption is not really my forte, so I'm glad to have come across this document. It gives an overview of tape encryption, the Encryption Key Manager (EKM) and a detailed description of the Encryption - Decryption process. I think I'm finally getting to understand this matter.
  
  
• Technote : TPC Licenses Comparison SE - LE
  This document lists out the differences between TPC Limited Edition and Official TPC 3.3 licensed versions.
  
  
• Tool : WebSphere for z/OS Version 6 - Configuration Planning Spreadsheet
  "Anyone who has tried to configure a WebSphere Application Server for z/OS Version 6 runtime environment knows that one thing just can't be avoided -- the planning of short names, long names, JCL proc names, IDs, UIDs, GIDs and ports. Unless you do some up-front planning of all those things, you'll quickly get lost in the configuration panels. What this spreadsheet does is take the work out of doing that. By capturing a few key variables, this spreadsheet does all the rest -- it calculates and allocates TCP ports, UID and GID values; it constructs names based on root character strings ... in short, it makes things a whole lot easier".
  
  
• Summary : zSref_Channels: A Guide to ESCON and FICON Features for zSeries and System z9
  Nice reference charts of all ESCON and FICON feature codes on all zSeries and Systems z.
  
  
• White Paper : TS7700 Copy Export V10
  This white paper describes a new function on 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". Don't get confused : you still need a TS7700 at the recovery site to restore these tapes.
  

Surely there are many more articles like e.g. the ones on using the z9 CPACF Crypto Functions, a new version of the System Programmer Productivity Tool Bag, Moving Applications to WebSphere on z/OS and so on.

As I always say : just check them out !

Sampling Techdocs : June

I presented some Techdocs publications about a month ago, so here we go again with another load of interesting documents from last month.

• Flash : 'System z: CFLEVEL 15 Causes Coupling Facility CF Structure Size Growth'.
  A new level of CFCC (CFLEVEL 15) was made available in May, 2007. "This new CFCC level introduces new functionality which will require existing CF users to increase the size of their structures. This Flash provides the needed planning information". Take a look at this 2-page document warning for significant growth in the size of certain CF structures. You are strongly advised to use the CFSizer before installation.
  
  
• I already mentioned the TS3500 Slot Calculator last year. With the announcement of LTO4 support, there's a new version available.
  
  
• White Paper : 'Tivoli Workload Scheduler on z/OS: Using Negative Run Cycles'.
  This white Paper documents the use of Negative Run Cycles or in common English : you can prevent a scheduled job from running under specific conditions. E.g. you have a weekly 'end-of-the-week' job, but at the end of the month, you can schedule it not to run. There's a very good explanation of the feature and an example with lots of illustrations ;-)
  
  
• White Paper : 'SuSE® Linux® on System z® Getting Started Tutorial'
  You've installed Suse Linux on your System z, you're new to Linux and you want to give it a try. Then you can follow this tutorial with some exercises making you familiar with some common commands, accessing a graphical interface using the VNC server. . .
  
  
• Presentation : 'WSC Experiences with IPSec on the zIIP Processor'.
  If you're interested in this topic, then this is a very nice presentation explaining what IPSEC is, what workload is eligible for the zIIP, how it's done, how you can measure it, how to size, the RMF reports . . .
  
  
• Presentation : 'IBM System Storage & System z Synergy'.
  Nice presentation on the interaction between z/OS and several storage components treating topics like methods to reduce the number of UCBs, eliminating backup windows, business continuity (TS7700 multi-site solutions) and lots more.
  
  

This is just a selection of some documents that drew my attention. If you have other interests, there's a lot more at Techdocs.

Sampling Techdocs

I hadn't found the time recently to see if there was anything worthwile in Techdocs. So I finally got to browse through last month's content and came up with some interesting documents. I'll just sum them up, so you can pick up what you like.
It might not be such a bad idea to keep doing this on a monthly basis.

• Presentation : 'SNA Basics for the new SNA System Programmer on z/OS'. This one's a very nice, no nonsense, introduction to SNA : "The expected audience is people new to SNA or those who are coming back to SNA after an absence and need a refresher on some of the basic elements".
• White Paper : '3745 Migration Paths: IBM Communication Controller for Linux on System z9 and zSeries (CCL) or Enterprise Extender (EE)?'. Though IBM has no plans to end support for the 3745 before 2010, it might not be such a bad idea to have a look at its successors and the differences between the two solutions.
• Presentation : 'Overview of Communication Controller for Linux (CCL)'. This one rounds up the first three documents about SNA, 3745 and how to replace them.
• Presentation : 'DB2 for z/OS – What’s tape got to do with it?'. I find this an intriguing title and so is the contents of this document : "Should I be sending my DB2 archive logs and/or image copies to tape? Do you have or have heard of tape virtualization, maybe VTS, or own a new spiffy IBM TS7700? How large are tapes these days and how can I control my allocations? What happens if I lose a tape or the tape controller? Have you heard that tape is really disk, but tape also? What does this all mean? By the way, how does DB2 deal with the new tape technology and what are best practices when dealing with this new tape technology?"
• White paper : 'Capacity Planning for zIIP-Assisted IPSec'. The z9 EC GA3 and z9 BC GA2 announcement previewed moving IPSec processing from general-purpose processors to the zIIP. This document elaborates on this preview with a functional description, software requirements, capacity planning and some performance results from the IBM research labs.
• FAQ : 'Which TS7700 Virtualization Engine functions became available in which Code Releases and which LM code is co-reqed?'. Not much more than a list, but you never know it might come in handy !

If you want to get more info on one of these topics, you can use the search function in Techdocs.

A Practical Introduction to Web Services, SOA and ESB on z/OS

On Techdocs, I found this really interesting Introduction to Web Services, SOA and ESB on z/OS. It's a series of 5 presentations that were originally presented at a Wildfire class. The starting point is the picture you see here.


click on image to enlarge

You might say the blue boxes are the objectives of the presentations and they are worked out one by one, giving a good global overview of what SOA is about and how the mainframe fits in. The presentations all have the speaker's notes included.

The titles :

• ­ Unit 0 : Kickoff
• ­ Unit 1 : Introduction and overview
• ­ Unit 2 : Web Services Support
• ­ Unit 3 : ESB
• ­ Unit 4 : Business Process
• ­ Unit 5 : Governance and Wrapup

Techdocs : Flashcopy & PPRC

It's been a while since I mentioned any interesting reading material from Techdocs. But now there's some nice presentations on Flashcopy and PPRC. The first one is "Flashcopy in a zSeries environment" describing how FlashCopy works, its different functions, and how to invoke those functions using DFSMSdss, TSO, or ICKDSF. Very related to the previous one is "Flashcopy for Open Environments". Another nice presentation is "PPRC Overview" discussing Metro/Mirror, Global Copy, Global Mirror, and Metro/Global Mirror. There's specific attention on how each of these maintains consistency. There's also advice on how to choose the best solution for each specific situation.