z/VSE 6.1, CICS Transaction Server for z/VSE V2.1 and upcoming Live Virtual Class

During my absence z/VSE V 6.1 (ZP15-0281) and CICS Transaction Server for z/VSE V2.1 (ZP15-0494) were announced. In the meantime these products are already available since last week, but I still wanted to mention them because there's a Live Virtual Class tomorrow December1, 2015 at 17PM Brussels Time.

The content of this Live Virtual Class

This LVC session gives some information about the z/VSE 6.1 release content. z/VSE 6.1 comes with a new CICS TS version, the first new version since 16 years. The new CICS functions will be discussed. z/VSE 6.1 focuses also on security, networking, hardware exploitation and connectivity to Linux on z Systems and other platforms. Both TCP/IP stacks come with a new version or release. Their functionality is addressed, too.

You can find all the necessary information about it and the link to register over here.

Nevertheless let me also give you the highlights of these two products. Apparently it's a big year for z/VSE. z/VSE celebrated its 50th anniversary (that's actually 1965-2015) and there's a new CICS version for z/VSE for the first time in 16 years (that means since last century in 1999) !

IBM® z/VSE® V6.1 is designed to:

Exploit innovative IBM z13™ technology

• Configurable Crypto Express5S for data encryption and SSL acceleration.
• FICON® Express16S supporting a link rate of 16 Gbps.

Support enhanced IBM System Storage® options

• IBM System Storage TS7700 Virtualization Engine Release 3.3.
• IBM System Storage DS8870 Release 7.5 (ECKD™ and FCP-attached SCSI disks).
• IBM FlashSystem® V9000 for use with FCP-attached SCSI disks.

Introduce an architectural level set of IBM System z10®, or later

Deliver CICS® TS for z/VSE V2.1. CICS TS for z/VSE V2.1 can only be used with z/VSE V6.1, and replaces CICS TS for VSE/ESA V1.1.1. New functionality includes:

• Update and control capabilities to CICS resources for the CICS Explorer® system management tool.
• A new API to enable the transfer of large amounts of structured data between CICS applications to meet the needs of growing workloads.

Deliver IBM TCP/IP for z/VSE V2.1

• This new version replaces IBM TCP/IP for VSE/ESA V1.5F, and includes firewall functionality and other enhancements.

Deliver IBM IPv6/VSE V1.2

• This new release of IPv6/VSE provides firewall functionality, increased network availability, and other enhancements.

Add trigger functionality for the WebSphere® MQ Client for VSE

• The MQ Client Trigger Monitor adds trigger functionality for the WebSphere MQ Client for VSE to ease asynchronous message processing.

Some more useful information.
Those who are really into z/VSE know of course that I'm only their secondary blog source of information about z/VSE. For those who don't know it yet, I'll mention it again : Ingolf Salm does a far more extensive (ànd better) job at blogging about z/VSE than I do. So, go and have a look over there if you're into z/VSE.

IBM Announcement - Preview of IBM z/VSE V6.1

I'm catching up a bit on IBM announcements. As a matter of fact, this one was already announced last week : 'Preview: IBM z/VSE V6.1 - Get ready for the new z/VSE version! (ZP15-0149)'. I wasn't aware of this, but z/VSE is actually celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015. IBM z/VSE V6.1 will become available in Quarter 4 of 2015 and will run on a z10 or higher. Fast Service Upgrade (FSU) to z/VSE V6.1 will not be possible.

Some highlights from the announcement. IBM z/VSE® V6.1 is designed to:

Exploit innovative IBM z13technology

• Configurable Crypto Express5S for data encryption and SSL acceleration.
• FICON Express16S supporting a link rate of 16 Gbps.

Support enhanced IBM System Storage® options

• IBM System Storage TS7700 Virtualization Engine Release 3.2.
• IBM System Storage DS8870 Release 7.4 (ECKD™ and FCP-attached SCSI disks).
• IBM FlashSystem® V840 for use with FCP-attached SCSI disks.

Deliver CICS® TS for z/VSE V2.1
CICS TS for z/VSE V2.1 can only be used with z/VSE V6.1, and replaces CICS TS for VSE/ESA V1.1.1. New functionality includes:

• Update and control capabilities to CICS resources for the CICS Explorer® system management tool.
• New APIs to enable the transfer of large amounts of structured data between CICS applications to meet the needs of growing workloads.

Deliver TCP/IP for z/VSE V2.1

• This new version replaces TCP/IP for VSE/ESA and is designed to include firewall functionality.

Deliver IPv6/VSE V1.2

• This new release of IPv6/VSE will provide firewall functionality, increased network availability, and other enhancements.

Add trigger functionality for the WebSphere® MQ Client for VSE

• The MQ Client Trigger Monitor will add trigger functionality for the WebSphere MQ Client for VSE to ease asynchronous message processing.

Selected enhancements are also available with PTFs for z/VSE V5.1 and z/VSE V5.2.

Tapeless initial installation of z/VSE

If I'm not blogging that much about z/VSE, then there's a good reason for that. There's some one doing such a great job in this area I barely or rather I cannot add anything useful to it. I said this before, you have the retweet function in Twitter but there should be something like a reblog function too. I'd reblog quite a few of Ingolf's z/VSE Blog. If you haven't discovered this one yet, add it to your must follow blogs now.

This is how I came across this next Live Virtual Class or Webcast on z/VSE. It's on June 24, 2014 at 9AM Brussels time.

"This LVC provides an overview on how to perform tapeless initial installation of z/VSE - a feature introduced with z/VSE 5.2. It covers how to create a z/VSE installation disk in LPAR and under z/VM and how to perform initial installation from such a installation disk in both environments".

I'm mentioning this nonetheless because you should also take a look at the future Live Virtual Classes. There's a 'Z/VSE for beginners' planned at a later date, so be sure to stay tuned.

And while I'm at it, I would also like to mention another event : the 8th European GSE/IBM Technical University for z/VSE, z/VM and Linux on System z which is taking place in Dresden, Germany from October 20 until October 22, 2014. You can find more information over here.

Software withdrawal and support discontinuance: IBM System z platform selected products

It's always interesting to browse through the list of softwares that will no longer be supported. Here's a new IBM announcement with a whole list of products : 'Software withdrawal and support discontinuance: IBM System z platform selected products (ZP14-0024)'. Take a look at it, it might point out some softwares you're using.

Let me just indicate some of them that drew my attention.

IBM Smart Analytics Optimizer for DB2® for z/OS, V1.1 will no longer be supported after April 30, 2015. It'll be replaced by IBM DB2 Analytics Accelerator for z/OS, V4.1 (5697-DAB).

About operating systems : IBM z/VM 6.2 is an interesting one. There was already an End of Service date fixed on April 30, 2015. This has now been extended until December 31, 2016. IBM z/VSE 4.3.1 will be withdrawn from service on October 31, 2014. So, just a couple of months to go for this one.

Then there's IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS V3.4 (5655-G53). This one is End of Support on April 30, 2015 and it will be replaced by IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS V5.1 (5655-W32). The same goes for IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS V3.9 (5655-H31) that will be replaced by IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS V4.4 (5655-W67).

There are more of course. Just take a look for yourself.

Announcement : IBM z/VSE V5.1 - Additional enhancements available

z/VSE 5.1 has been generally available since November 11, 2011. Today some enhancements have been announced : 'IBM z/VSE V5.1 - Additional enhancements available (ZP13-0116)'.

Here's an overview :

• Support innovative IBM zEnterprise EC12 technology
  • Configurable Crypto Express4S
  • OSA-Express4S 1000BASE-T
• Support enhanced IBM System Storage options
  • IBM System Storage TS1140
  • IBM System Storage TS7700 Virtualization Engine Release 3.0
  • IBM System Storage DS8870
  • IBM Storwize V7000 Release 6.4
• Allow 64-bit Input/Output (I/O) processing for applications
• Extend the z/VSE connectivity and networking options in heterogeneous environments
• Provide IPv6/VSE V1.1 security enhancements

These enhancements will be made available with PTFs for z/VSE V5.1 with a GA of June 14, 2013.

I also see a couple of interesting Statements of Direction :

"IBM intends to add functionality that allows initial installation of z/VSE without requiring a physical tape. Clients who use a tape for initial installation only may no longer be forced to include a tape in the z/VSE configuration. With this ease of use function IBM will fulfill client requirements.

It is planned to reduce the AEWLC and MWLC list price of IPv6/VSE V1.1."

If you want to know more about this, there's a Live Virtual Class today at 5 p.m. Brussels Time. You can register over here.

IBM z/VSE V5.1 - Additional enhancements available

z/VSE V5.1 became generally available on November 25, 2011. You can find the announcement over here. Now enhancements have been made in order to add value to CICS Transaction Sever for VSE/ESA (CICS TS) V1.1., to further exploit innovative IBM zEnterprise technology and to extend the z/VSE connectivity options in heterogeneous environments : 'IBM z/VSE V5.1 - Additional enhancements available (ZP12-0084)'.

"z/VSE V5.1 enhancements include:

• Support for IBM CICS Explorer - "the new face of CICS Transaction Server for VSE/ESA".
• Fast Path to Linux on System (Linux Fast Path) in an LPAR environment.
• 64-bit input/output processing for applications.
• A z/VSE database connector to access various relational databases.
• IPv6/VSE V1.1 Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) support.
• VSE/POWER enhancement to ease job output handling.
• Support of IBM System Storage Tape Controller 3592 Model C07.

These enhancements will be made available with PTFs for z/VSE V5.1."

2011Q4 IBM mainframe announcements

A lot of interesting mainframe news was announced this week. I'm going to give you a brief overview of the announcements before I go into more details in some following posts. You shouldn't expect those to arrive before next week as I'm off to the IBM briefing center at Montpellier for the rest of the week - attending the Oracle on System z event.

The eye-catcher is of course Windows on zBX, but there's really much more. I'll start by giving you the titles of the announcements, the links and some brief information. Just to tease you for what's coming !


IBM DB2 Analytics Accelerator for z/OS , V2.1 enables a new class of business intelligence and data warehousing workloads for the IBM System z platform (ZP11-0546)
IDAA (yes, we needed another acronym) is the successor of ISAOpt (euh, IBM Smart Analytics Optimizer). It is based on Netezza technology and it should deliver an even far better performance. For the rest, it is implemented as transparantly as ISAOpt for DB2 for z/OS applications. What I find a bit annoying here is that it is not integrated into the zBX and therefore it is not managed by the Unified Resource Manager.


IBM z/VSE V5.1 - 64-bit virtual for future workloads (ZP11-0560)
z/VSE 5.1 is designed to

• "Provide 64-bit virtual addressing for workload growth or new applications.
• Introduce an architectural level set (ALS) that requires IBM System z9 or later.
• Exploit innovative IBM zEnterprise technology.
• Exploit enhanced IBM System Storage options.
• Offer new networking functions for more connectivity options.
• Provide Connector enhancements for high availability".

zEnterprise further extends hybrid computing with support for Microsoft Windows and other enhancements (ZG11-0275)
zHPF enhancements, APIs for the Unified Resource Manager, GDPS improvements and a lot more. But of course focus will mainly be on "Microsoft™ Windows™ on select IBM BladeCenter® HX5 (7873) blades installed in the zBX".


IBM z/VM V6.2 - Accelerate the journey to smarter computing with multi-system virtualization and virtual server mobility (ZP11-0499)
This had been a statement of direction for some time. Well, here it is now : "Multi-system virtualization clustering technology allowing up to four z/VM instances to be clustered in a Single System Image (SSI)". This also implies "Live Guest Relocation to move Linux™ virtual servers without disruption to the business, helping to avoid planned outages"


IBM Tivoli Storage Manager for z/OS Media V6.3 and IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Extended Edition for z/OS Media V6.3 enable FICON attached device access for IBM Tivoli Storage Manager V6.3 Server on AIX and Linux on System z (ZP11-0465)
I like this one as well. It took some time to deliver but it's finally there. Lots of customers were running TSM for z/OS and invested in FICON coupled tape or DASD solutions. But then it was announced that TSM V6 would no longer run on z/OS. So you had to convert to another platform that was not able to connect to your FICON attached equipment. So, this TSM for z/OS Media is the missing link between both. You can now migrate to V6 but you can still write your data via z/OS to your FICON attached equipment. The concept is also "designed to allow the tape volume and stored data that was previously inventoried by the Tivoli Storage Manager for z/OS V5.5 server remain accessible on the z/OS system by the Tivoli Storage Manager V6.3 server on AIX or Linux for System z without having to move the tape volume from the z/OS managed tape library".

Short takes

I'd scribbled down a couple of ideas for a post, but I think I'll just combine them in one of my 'Short Takes'. It's about IBM announcement links, my colleague at IDUG, a z/VSE Live Virtual Class, Raid 5 and 6 are doomed and a zEnterprise FAQ. Here we go.

• First of all you might have noticed that the IBM announcement page (Offering Information) has somehow undergone a facelift. Nothing that spectacular, but I also noticed that along with this, all my links in previous posts to IBM announcements are no longer valid. Apparently it's a 'ShowDoc.jsp' that has been replaced by 'ShowDoc.wss' in the link. Damn. Damn. Damn. So, any link to an announcement you click on will be invalid. Fortunately I always include the announcement number. But that's a small comfort. So I might be in for some massive updates. Furthermore, many links in the latest newsletter that was sent out last week will no longer work either.
  

• I'm proud to tell you that my colleague from RealDolmen Frederik Engelen will be presenting at the EMEA IDUG conference next November in Prague. Subject is 'A DBA's guide to using TSA' (Tivoli System Automation). He's presenting in room Stella on November 16 from 8.30 am to 9.30 am. Abstract of the presentation : "Tightly integrating DB2 with Tivoli System Automation software, IBM added automatic failover capabilities to the trusted HADR database clustering technology. After a quick refresh on HADR, this session will go more in-depth on the inner workings of TSA and its interaction with DB2 to provide you with what you need to know before introducing this in your environment" If you go and see him, give him my regards !

• I'm a bit too late with this one, but there was a Z/VSE Live Virtual Class today on 'z/VSE V4.3 Support of four-digit device addresses'. You can find all information about z/VSE Live Virtual Classes over here. And of course there will be a replay of this virutal class.

• Something completely different : check out this interesting blog post from The Storage Buddhist : '3 TB drives signal the end of RAID 5 / RAID 6'. This has everything to do with the growing size of drives, the growing time to rebuild disks and the conclusion is quite simple : " Either way, the days of RAID5 are just about over and the days of RAID6 are numbered also". Just take a look at it, it leaves me puzzled about this. It's really about making future choices.

• I've written about FAQs before and I think the zEnterprise FAQ is a very nice one. If some one's asking me a question about zEnterprise I always know the answer immediately. Hey, I'm a presales guy, it's my job. Just kidding. So, if you have a question about zEnterprise that's not directly up your alley, this FAQ is the place to go. Or you can ask me of course !
  

Preview of z/VSE V5.1

Last Tuesday we also saw the preview announcement of z/VSE V5.1 : 'Preview: IBM z/VSE V5.1 offers 64-bit virtual addressing for future workloads (ZP11-0151)'. It will effectively become available somewhere in the fourth quarter of 2011 and it will require a z9, z10 or z196 to run on.

The highlights straight out of the announcement :

• "64-bit virtual addressing for applications.
  • 64-bit virtual support vastly increases the virtual storage available in a single address space.
• IPv6/VSE V1.1 exploitation of 64-bit virtual support.
• Exploitation of innovative IBM zEnterprise 196 technology:
  • Static power save mode allows you to reduce the power consumption of IBM zEnterprise 196 when full performance is not required. z/VSE supports this feature for clients using MWLC pricing with the subcapacity pricing option.
  • z/VSE V5.1 is designed to provide 4096-bit RSA keys for use with configurable Crypto Express3 for enhanced security.
  • z/VSE V5.1 is designed to participate in a private intraensemble data network (IEDN) that connects all elements of a zEnterprise ensemble.
• Exploitation of IBM System Storage options:
  • Copy Export function of the TS7700 Virtualization Engine Series for disaster recovery purposes
  • IBM Storwize V7000 Midrange Disk System
  • IBM XIV Storage System
• Networking enhancements."

The above mentioned 'static power save mode' is actually a chapter on its own. The announcement seems to indicate that this is new in z/VSE 5.1, but, if I see this correctly, it's already implemented in current versions on z196 with SCRT reporting. Does this exist for z/OS too ? Yes. So any customer who wants to know more about this can take a look at the most recent SCRT User's guide. You can find a link to the one for version 19.2.0 over here. There's a chapter on it in Appendix B.

There's one Statement of Direction : "IBM intends to provide CICS Explorer™ capabilities for CICS TS for VSE/ESA, to deliver additional value".

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 !

Recent z/VSE presentations

If you're interested in z/VSE and you want to stay tuned about new presentations, announcements or other interesting items, you might want to follow z/VSE on Twitter. That's how I came across these presentations. As it's very hard to follow everything you're interested in, you might as well carefully choose some sources that will give you this information. That's what I do with Tweetdeck and FeedDemon, two desktop applications. The first one gathers all the tweets (or a selection of tweets) I'm following, the other one collects all feeds of blogs I'm following. No more looking around at several places, it's all there without even having to start up your browser. But of course you all know that by know, or else, you should.

But back to our Topic. In October there was a Technical University in Boston and all z/VSE presentations are gathered at the Technical Conference page of the z/VSE documentation pages.

Some of the presentations :

	z/VSE Trends and Directions - incl. Software Pricing and zEnterprise System (1.8MB) - Klaus Goebel, IBM
	z/VSE Performance Update (1.2MB) Ingo Franzki, IBM
	z/VSE Tools Overview and Update (3.6MB) Ingo Franzki, IBM
	10 Years for the most successful partnership: z/VSE and Linux on System z (8.7MB) - Wilhelm Mild, IBM
	Linux on System z - the Enterprise hub (6.3MB) Wilhelm Mild, IBM
	z/VSE Applications accessing DB2 on Linux on System z (4.8MB) Wilhelm Mild, IBM
	Disaster Scenarios and Backup procedures for z/VSE, z/VM and Linux on System z (3.7MB) - Wilhelm Mild, IBM
	WebSphere MQ for z/VSE (2.8MB) Wilhelm Mild, IBM
	Workshop: Rational Developer for System z for z/VSE Development (1.6MB) Ingo Franzki,IBM and Wilhelm Mild, IBM

And if you page down a bit, there's also some presentations from an earlier Technical University at Berlin in May 2010.

As I always say : do check them out !

z/VSE 4.3 changes to installation and run-time support for CICS/VSE 2.3

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the announcement of z/VSE 4.3 which will become available November 26, 2010. Now, here's an interesting support page that caught my attention via the twitter account of IBM_CICS and IBMzVSE for those who want to prepare an installation of z/VSE 4.3. If you are running CICS/VSE V2.3 and DL/I you surely have to take a look at this page : 'z/VSE 4.3 changes to installation and run-time support for CICS/VSE 2.3'.

The core of the message :

"If you are currently running CICS/VSE V2.3 and DL/I, you will not be able to do so on z/VSE V4.3. The highest supported z/VSE version and release when running both of these products is z/VSE V4.2.

z/VSE V4.3 also no longer provides product installation support for CICS/VSE V2.3. However, providing that DL/I is not required, IBM will not prohibit you from using CICS/VSE V2.3 with z/VSE V4.3. You will be able to install CICS/VSE V2.3 from an extended base tape supplied with a z/VSE V4.2 or earlier system. Alternatively, the CICS/VSE V2.3 sublibraries will remain in place if a Fast Service Upgrade (FSU) is used to upgrade to z/VSE 4.3. All other z/VSE V4.3 changes will be transparent.

z/VSE-supplied support for a CICS coexistence environment will be removed. However, you will still be able to run CICS/VSE V2.3 and CICS Transaction Server for VSE/ESA (CICS TS) V1.1.1 together on z/VSE V4.3."

z/VSE V4.3 - More capacity for growth

There were already two preview announcements of z/VSE 4.3. The first one already in 2009, the second one was on July 22, 2010 along with lots of other announcements, as you undoubtedly know : 'Preview: IBM z/VSE Version 4 Release 3 offers more capacity and IBM zEnterprise exploitation (ZP10-0380)'. Last Tuesday we saw the 'real' announcement of z/VSE 4.3 : 'IBM z/VSE V4.3 - More capacity for growth (ZP10-0402)'.

The highlights :

• "Exploitation of innovative IBM® zEnterprise 196 and z10™ technology:
  • Ability to dynamically add logical CPs without preplanning.
  • Large page (1 megabyte page) support for data spaces.
  • Fast Path to Linux® on System z® function in a z/VM® mode LPAR.
  • Use of Adjunct Processor-queue adapter-interruption facility for cryptographic operations.
  • Configurable Crypto Express3 for data encryption and SSL acceleration.
• Virtual storage constraint relief for CICS® TS workload growth and system consolidation.
• Four-digit device addresses for ease of use and infrastructure simplification in mixed IT environments consisting of z/VSE, z/VM, Linux on System z, and/or z/OS®.
• IPv6/VSE V1.1, which provides both an IPv6 and IPv4 solution.
• Networking, security, and auditability enhancements.
• DOS/VS RPG II support for CICS TS.
• DL/I VSE V1.12.
• Enhanced IBM System Storage® options:
  • IBM XIV® Storage System
  • IBM System Storage TS7680 ProtectTIER Deduplication Gateway for System z"

z/VSE 4.3 will be available on November 26, 2010.

It won't hurt to take a closer look at the details. The announcement e.g. also mentions that z/VSE 4.1 is End ofSupport on April 30, 2011. It also indicates which FSUs (Fast Service Upgrades) are possible. And : "CICS/VSE V2.3 will no longer be offered as part of the z/VSE V4.3 package. The CICS coexistence environment including DL/I DOS/VS V1.10 will be removed".

Short takes

Sometimes I'm making a couple of bookmarks thinking 'I'm going to blog on this'. But then I forget about it or there are other things to talk about. So here's an excellent opportunity to catch up on some of those and to mention some new, short messages.

• Doing this presales job for quite a few years now, I think my actual experience with DB2 is getting a bit rusty. Did you know there are 16 (yes 16) Explain Tables in DB2 for z/OS. Of course you did. Or, if you didn't, take a look at Willie Favero's blog post about it : 'Explaining the history of EXPLAIN tables' clarifying (pun intentionally avoided) it all to you.

• There was a z/VSE GSE meeting in Brussels at the end of last year with the two most renowned speakers (at least that I know of) on the subject : Klaus Goebel and Wilhem Mild. Here are there presentations :

  z/VSE in an Elevator - Dr. K. Goebel

  Modernization solutions with z/VSE - Dr. W. Mild

  What's new in z/VM and Linux - Dr. K Goebel

  Modern Application development environments for z/VSE - Dr. W. Mild

  z/VSE Pricing options - Dr. K Goebel

  SOA for z/VSE, Disaster Recovery Scenarios and tools - Dr. W. Mild

• On February 26, 2010 at 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM CST (7:00 PM Brussels Time there's a technical webinar on XIV. You can register over here. As a matter a fact it's already a second presentation on the topic. The page also mentions the first one which you can download from IBM's ftp site. It's this one : 20091118XIV_pt_1.wmv. If, just like me, you might have problems with the G2M3 codec in Windows Media Player, you can download it from the Citrix site.

• Here's one I've mentioned before : the z/OS Platform evaluation test team. They run the final verification tests on a z/OS release before it becomes GA. But more interesting : they gather their experiences and publish them. The publication usually comes a couple of months after the product goes GA. So late december they published 'z/OS V1R11.0 System z Platform Test Report for z/OS and Linux Virtual Servers'. which you can find on the Library tab of the site.

• IBM VM Developer Home Pages : I accidentally stumbled across these pages from some VM Developers. Just take a look at them, some are quite interesting. I just take a couple of quick picks. Bill Bitner has some presentations but he also has a variation on the 'You must be a mainframer if ...' list, with his 'If ... you're probably not on VM'. Tung-Sing Chong has an example of 'Cloning Linux Images in z/VM' with install/setup instructions. And I also liked Steve Wilkins' 'VM-Linux on System z Storage Technologies' presentation.
  

• I also already mentioned the 'Myth vs Truth' System z page before. Well, I have the impression they added some 'myths' (or is it 'truths') about the mainframe. They also incorporated some videos that have been around on Youtube for a while like 'The IBM System z can babysit your kids'. But do take a look at the Myth vs Truth site as well. I like the ending of those clips.
  
  

As I always say, just check them out !

Software withdrawal IBM System z Products

Here's one of the usual announcements on withdrawal of support for a number of System z softwares : 'Software withdrawal and service discontinuance: IBM System z selected products (ZP10-0034)'. You should really go through the list to see whether you have to take some actions.

I'm just picking out a few of them :

• IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for z/OS V8.2 is End of Support on April 30, 2011. It's replaced by IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for z/OS V8.3.
• CICS Transaction Gateway for z/OS 6.1 is also withdrawn from service April 30, 2011 and is replaced by CICS Transaction Gateway for z/OS 7.2.
• Print Services Facility for z/OS V4.1 is withdrawn on September 30, 2010 and V4.2 is withdrawn November 18, 2011. They are both replaced by Print Services Facility for z/OS V4.3.
• It's interesting to see that z/VSE v4.1.2 will be supported until September 30, 2010 instead of the previously announced April 30, 2010. This gives customers some more time to migrate to its successor z/VSE v4.2.
  

Redbook : z/VSE using DB2 on Linux for System z

People said I was a bit sharp some two years ago with my comments on the announcement of DB2 for VM and VSE V7R5 when I wrote : "I think this message is loud and clear : move away from DB2 server for VM/VSE towards "data servers with greater ease and better performance" (mainly pointing towards DB2 for zLinux) and just run a client version on VM/VSE to preserve your previous investments on the platform. Correct me if I'm wrong !". Maybe it was because I had seen people trying this and few were successful at the time. One of the main reasons, in my opinion, was that the specialty engines, i.c. the IFL, were not up to the task. I'm also convinced that this has really changed since the announcement of the z10 with its faster engines. And I've also seen better results since.

For any one who wants to try this (again), here's a wonderful redbook documenting exactly what to do : 'z/VSE using DB2 on Linux for System z'. It's still a draft for the moment, so I hope it doesn't disappear in a couple of days like the z/OS Implementation Reddraft I wrote about a couple of posts ago.

It's really a very thorough document guiding you through every phase of the installation and migration process. It starts with a planning chapter with some hardware considerations, talking about whether to use FICON attached ECKD disks or FCP attached SCSI disks, networking considerations . . .
It goes on with the installation of DB2 (with lots of print screens of the installation proces), how to setup DB2 for Linux on System z as an application server, how to setup a federated database with EBCDIC sort sequence for z/VSE and z/VM . . .
The following chapter describes the migration process not only for the data but also for database access packages. Also what has to be considered for applications and how do you go to production.
The last chapter discusses the monitoring of every aspect of this solution : Linux, performance, networking, z/VSE . . .

So, as I always say, just check it out !

Preview announcement : z/VSE 4.3

I'm concluding my tour of last weeks announcements with the preview announcement of z/VSE 4.3 : 'Preview: IBM z/VSE Version 4 Release 3 - More capacity for future growth (ZA09-0028)'. This is really a preview as the planned availability for the fourth quarter of 2010 is still one year away. Here's a summary of the new functionalities from the IBM z/VSE page :

• "Virtual storage constraint relief:
  Allows customers with growing (CICS) workloads and/or those who want to consolidate their z/VSE systems to satisfy their increased needs of limited 24-bit storage.
• Ease of use through four digit device addresses:
  Provides more flexibility and infrastructure simplification in mixed IT environments consisting of z/VSE, z/VM, Linux on System z and/or z/OS.
• Exploitation of innovative IBM System z10 technology:
  • Dynamically add logical CPs without preplanning; allows increasing the capacity of the z/VSE system dependent on workload needs.
  • Large page (1 megabytes page) support for data spaces to even better exploit large processor storage.
  • FICON Express8 for faster data access.
• Enhanced Storage Options.
• Networking, security and auditability enhancements.
• DOS/VS RPG II support for CICS Transaction Server for VSE/ESA (CICS TS). Support will also be made available on z/VSE V4.2."
  

If you want more information, the announcement letter is elaborating on every above aspect. As was also already announced in an earlier statement of direction, z/VSE V4.3 will no longer offer CICS/VSE V2.3 as part of the z/VSE V4.3 base. And there's one new "statement of general direction (...) z/VSE intends to provide an IPv6 solution that will enable z/VSE to participate in an IPv6 network".

z/VSE documentation

I was looking for a VSE customer presentation of some time ago and I was amazed to see how many recent presentations I found on the z/VSE Documentation page. Just go to the presentations tab and you'll find a wealth of different presentations over there. Theyre divided into categories :

• IBM Technical conference presentations
• WAVV presentations
• Presentations from other conferences
• Presentations from z/VSE Live Virtual Classes

and there's also an archive that's going way back to the year 2000. But there's more. Any one who says VM or VSE often also says zLinux. You might want to check out the 'Linux for S/390 - It's Cool Part 1 and Part 2' presentations from 2000. These presentations themselves are very cool. You might call them old news, but if you want to see the very basics of zLinux, it's the place to be. They explain things which every one takes for granted now or . . . doesn't even remember any more.

As I always say, just check it out !

Summary of announcements April 28, 2009

I'm off to the System z Technical Conference in Brussels next week, but I still want to give you an update on the announcements that were made last Tuesday. Most of them are related to the new announcement on Dynamic Infrastructure. You can still find the replay over here. But back to the announcements. Here are the ones that caught my eye for now :

IBM z/VSE Version 4 Release 2 - Additional enhancements available (ZP09-0104)
There are some additional enhancements to z/VSE 4.2 that was announced in August last year (ZP08-350). z/VSE now offers "Encryption Facility for z/VSE V1.2 as an optional, priced feature of VSE Central Functions V8" and some new optional products like IBM Rational COBOL Runtime for z/VSE V7.5 and IBM WebSphere MQ for z/VSE V3.0.

Getting Started Sub-capacity Pricing enhanced for select IBM WebSphere z/OS IPLA programs, making it easier than ever to start new projects on z/OS (ZP09-0193)
This is an improvement to the pricing mechanism that was already announced last year although I had not seen much of it since. Where you only had some profit when you did not pass the 10% utilization of the LPARs MSUs, this is raised to 50%. I'll come back later with more details for this one.

Tivoli Storage Productivity Center V4.1 comes with two announcements. As you can see TPC (Totalstorage Productivity Center) is succeeded by TSPC (Tivoli Storage Productivity Center). The first one is for TSPC (ZP09-0077) itself and the other is for TSPC for Replication (ZP09-0079) which is now again incorporated in the TSPC suite.

CICS Transaction Server for z/OS 4.1 (ZP09-0161) is now officially announced. The Beta Program is still open and it can be used until CICS TS comes available on June 26, 2009.

Last but not least, there are some enhancements on the z10 EC and the z10 BC : 'IBM System z enhancements, continuing to manage risk (ZG09-0244)'. In a nutshell :

• CBU enhancements : CBU tests can now be ordered in single quantities on the z10 instead of in sets of five
• You can now have up to 248GB of memory on the z10 BC instead of 128GB
• STP : there are "improvements by saving STP configurations across Power On Resets (PORs) and power outages".
• "System z now supports InfiniBand coupling link attachment between System z10 and System z9 general purpose servers".
• "Preplanning for your Storage Area Network (SAN): A new worldwide port name (WWPN) tool provides advance SAN preplanning so you are ready before your new IBM System z10 server arrives".

Here the Statements of Direction are interesting as well. I'll quote two of them :

• "ESCON channels will be phased out. It is IBM's intent for ESCON channels to be phased out. System z10 EC and System z10 BC will be the last servers to support greater than 240 ESCON channels.
• IBM intends to support optional water cooling on future high-end System z servers. This cooling technology will tap into building chilled water that typically exists within the data center for computer room air conditioning systems. External chillers or special water conditioning will typically not be required. Water cooling technology for high-end System z servers will be designed to deliver improved energy efficiency."

Well, that's it for now. I'm not sure you'll hear much of me next week. But, as I have been watching the Sarah Connor Chronicles this week, I can only say : "I'll be back !"

Webcast : a VSE perspective of the System z10 BC

I know it's a bit short notice but here's another interesting webcast : 'Smart, Cool, Affordable - A VSE Perspective of the IBM System z10 Business Class'.

"This webcast will provide an overview of the new z10 BC announced October 21, 2008 for z/VSE users. It will highlight why this server is the affordable choice that delivers more value than previous midrange servers and new technology that is the smart choice. IBM's new mainframe aims to assist midsize companies to jumpstart new application development efforts; consolidate IT servers; and give organizations a platform to build the mainframe as the foundation of their new enterprise data center".

Date : Thursday, December 4, 2008.
Time: 16.00 UK, 17.00 CET (Brussels)
Duration: 75 Minutes

You can register via the VSE website. The session will be recorded and a replay will be available on December 6, 2008 on the same site.