Linux Installation Planning

I told you about the zJournal Spotlights before. They're extra editions focusing on specific subjects like CICS, DB2, z/OS, WebSphere etc. You can subscribe to them over here.
Well I just received the 'Linux on System z Spotlight' and I must say it publishes two excellent articles anyone taking up an interest on zLinux should definitely read.
The first one is 'Linux Installation Planning' by Mark Post and it gives a splendid introduction to anyone planning to install his/her first linux on System z. The topics covered :

• First Things First
• Pick the Right Architecture
• Disk Storage Selection
• Application Selection
• Application Requirements
• File System Selection
• File System Layout
• Backup and Restore
• Network Requirements
• Ongoing System Support
• Management Tools
• Data for Installation

The second one is 'Linux on z/VM: Configure for Performance' by Barton Robinson. Starting point is that people may have experience on performance tuning for z/OS or z/VM, but many 'rules of thumb' just don't apply to Linux on System z performance. So you have to reevaluate some of those. The article focuses on three areas : memory, Linux configuration and z/VM configuration. Some topics covered :

• Configuring Storage
• Memory Considerations
• z/VM Storage Architecture Issues
• Network Storage Impact
• Minimizing Linux Storage
• Linux Swap Options
• How Many Virtual Processors?

As I always say : just check them out !