Self tuning guitars and storage

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I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Technology Review has a great 6-minute video showing how the PowerTune system works in the ['self-tuning' guitar].

As with any self-tuning equipment, there are three essential parts.

1. Measurement. In the case of the guitar, small sensors identify the current note based on string tension.
2. Response. Based on the measurement, the self-tuning system either decides that there is no more to do, or to take specific action. In the case of this guitar, the action would be to loosen or tighten the string.
3. Action. The action taken that is expected to get closer to the desired result. In this case, tiny motorsinside the handle turn the thumbscrews to loosen or tighten the strings accordingly.

These are part of a "closed-loop design", as it is called in [Control Theory].After the action in step 3 is taken, goes back to step 1, takes a new measurement, and determines a new response. Thiscould mean that the string is tightened and loosened by ever smaller amounts until it is close enough to the desiredaccuracy, in this case an impressive two [cent].

On the server side, IBM has offered this for years. For example, for z/OS applications on System z mainframes, the[Workload Manager (WLM) offers a "goal mode"] that allows you to set desired results for your business applications, for example, how quickly they respond in processing transactions. WLM measures the response time of the transactions, determines anappropriate response if any, and takes action to shift processor cycles (MIPS) or RAM to help out the workloads with the highest priority, in some cases stealing cycles and RAM away from lesser priority tasks.

For storage, we have IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center. It can scan for file systems over 90 percent full, for example, determine an appropriate response based on policies, and take action to expand the file system to a larger size.This may involve dynamically expanding the LUN that the file system sits on, a feature available on IBM SAN VolumeController, DS8000 series, DS4000 series and N series disk systems.This is the kind of closed loop design that can help eliminate those pesky phone calls at 3am.

But why focus on just storage alone? Combining servers and storage into a higher-level closed loop design is accomplished with [IBM Tivoli Intelligent Orchestrator] and [IBM Tivoli Provisioning Manager]. In thiscombo, Orchestrator measures and responds, and can invoke Provisioning Manager workflows to take action. Workflows are like scripts on steroids. Unlike normal scripts which run on a single machine, workflows can communicate with multiple servers, storage and even networking gear to take the appropriate actions on each of those machines, like install updated software, carve a new LUN, or define a new SAN zone.

The products are well integrated with TotalStorage Productivity Center for the storage aspects.

technorati tags: PowerTune, self-tuning, guitar, closed loop, design, IBM, z/OS, WLM, goal mode, TotalStorage, Productivity Center, LUN, SAN Volume Controller, SVC, DS8000, DS4000, N series, disk, storage, Tivoli, Intelligent Orchestrator, TIO, Provisioning Manager, TPM, workflows, zone