100
0
All posts
System z Technical Conference, San Antonio TX
Last week I was at the System z Tech Conference (again getting my zeds mixed up with my zees). :-) I presented 4 times, one of which was a repeat. What's especially nice is that I got 87 attendees for the "Memory Matters in 2008" presentation - spread across 2 sessions. This was despite the second time being the very last session of the conference... and 22 people still showed up to that! So... [More]
|
SCRT Version 14.1.0 is Announced
I previously mentioned the change in zNALC LPAR setup... You can (with APAR OA20314) now specify LICENCE=ZNALC. The SCRT co-requisite is Version 14.1.0. By the way, from when you submit your SCRT report at the beginning of August you have to use this new version (until a new one is mandated) in order to be eligible for Sub-Capacity Pricing. There are a number of other changes, some of which are... [More]
|
z/OS Performance Instrumentation Management Techniques wiki
I've just created a wiki to discuss primarily SMF. Mainly from the management perspective, rather than the contents of each individual record. This follows on from things I've mentioned in this blog before. If you'd like to contribute to it (and it is DESPERATELY in need of contributions right now) get a developerWorks screenname and send it to me here . Then I'll enable you to edit the wiki. You... [More]
|
Why Mainframe Folk Should Care About Web 2.0
I presented a set of (someone else's) foils on Web 2.0 to my team meeting last week. (Interestingly, being 6 months old they were already way out of date - what with Twitter and all.) Remember I'm in a mainframe crowd of effectively "gurus". :-) So why should they be interested in new-fangled webby stuff? So I got to thinking... Dear reader, why should you care about Web 2.0? The minimal answer is... [More]
|
Abstracts for System z Technical Conference, San Antonio, September 17-21
Here are my abstracts for the conference: Session B11: DB2 Data Sharing Performance for Beginners This presentation provides an introductory-level view of how to look at the DB2 Data Sharing performance numbersfrom both a z/OS / RMF and a DB2 perspective. Performance topics include: XCF, Coupling Facility, Data Sharing Structures, The application's perspective, and Structure Duplexing..... [More]
|
It Doesn't Take Much To Confuse Me
... with a Performance Consultant? :-) Seriously, here's something that made me go "hmm"... I started looking at the latest set of data from a customer... Their biggest-CPU WLM workload is called "BATCH" when they told me they were a CICS shop - and that CICS was their main CPU consumer during the day. But it turns out that the biggest service class within that workload contains exclusively CICS... [More]
|
UK GSE Conference 30-31 October - Memory Matters in 2008
One of the problems with having a presentation with a topical title is that you keep having to update the darned thing. :-) "Memory Matters in 2007" is a case in point. It's morphed over the years from two presentations: "Central Storage Performance" and "Expanded Storage Performance" (the latter of which eventually became obsolete) to a presentation that covered OS/390 real memory, DFSORT and DB2... [More]
|
Humble Pie Regarding DFSORT and SMF
(Also posted to MXG-L Listserver (MXG-L@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM) which I highly recommend as a place where mainframe performance people hang out.) I must confess I feel slightly foolish about this... :-) After having asked for input into my UKCMG BOF one of the themes that came out was better ways of doing what IFASMFDP does. (I already have this on my agenda - as you'll know if you follow my blog.)... [More]
|
Madness At Passport Control
I happened to be travelling through Heathrow Terminal 2 yesterday and the day before. Two incidents that made me scratch my head, both related to Passport Control... On the way out there are two Passport Control desks, just past Security. They are set a few feet apart and people can go either side of either of them. For once there was someone on duty, but only one officer. At the head of the queue... [More]
|
XCF Performance WSC White Paper
I'm reminded of this white paper on XCF Performance from Joan Kelley and Kathy Walsh. It's a good read and has been recently updated. It does also remind me that there are "D XCF" subcommands that give information that isn't in the RMF data (SMF 74 Subtype 2). We process these records in our consulting and I'm getting considerably more familiar the underlying data. (I also had a situation recently... [More]
|
Big Green
Now I know why, as previously reported here, there's a new power meter on the HMC. See this blog entry and the links from it for more details of the "Big Green" energy efficiency initiative. And this goes way beyond the "packets of grass seed" campaign of last year - which highlighted the already available energy-saving characteristics of the mainframe.
|
As Seen on Nürnberg U-Bahn
Here's a nice BSOD from a ticket machine on the Nürnberg U-Bahn. :-)
|
When Good Work Doesn't Go To zIIP / zAAP Heaven
Whenever I talk about zIIPs and zAAPs I'm reminded of Zip Zap miniature radio-controlled cars . But (to get past the censors I have to say) zIIPs and zAAPs are not toys. Here's an extract from a post on MXG-L that Bernie Pierce made. (I reproduce it with his kind permission.) If there is contention for the local lock, the cross memory local lock, the CMS lock or any other suspend lock, units of... [More]
|
DB2 Data Sharing Performance and Coupling Facility Enhancements for DB2 Version 8
Occasioned by some recent enhancements to MXG I thought it high time I talked about a couple of Coupling Facility commands that DB2 Version 8 can take advantage of: (And thanks to Barry Merrill for the MXG information and the sample data I'm using here.) MXG Version 25.04, May 7, 2007 provides support for these enhancements. Coupling Facility Level (CFLEVEL) 13 introduced the WARM and RFCOM... [More]
|
Serious Work of Drinking in München
Thanks to Margaret Koppes of the European Patent Office for this picture of me and Glenn Anderson hard at work at the "main tent session" :-) in München:
|
