Mainframe Watch Belgium

Announcement : CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Value Unit Edition V5.1

2013-04-29T07:30:00.000+02:00

Last week IBM announced CICS TS VUE pricing : 'IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Value Unit Edition V5.1 offers a one-time-charge price metric for net new Java workloads (ZP13-0207)'.

We already have this type of pricing for DB2 for z/OS. It's not the simplest matter at hand and the best way to find out whether you qualify for this kind of pricing and whether it's financially interesting is to turn to your local IBM or BP representative. Belgian customers can surely turn to me for assistance in this matter.

What's it about ? Lots of softwares like e.g. z/OS, DB2 and CICS fall under MLC pricing and you pay for what's reported on your monthly SCRT report. Now, at a certain point in time, pricing for z/OS was reduced when people invested in New Workloads on System z. There were several pricing mechanisms that supported this but eventually we now still have zNALC pricing (New Application License Charge). As a rule of thumb you can say that z/OS costs about one tenth of the regular price in a zNALC LPAR.

Other initiatives followed to further encourage New Workload on System z. A couple of years ago DB2 for z/OS VUE (Value Unit Edition) was introduced. Instead of through MLC pricing, DB2 VUE was handled through IPLA pricing. IPLA pricing is perhaps still better known as OTC or One Time Cost pricing. It means you once buy a number of Value Units for that particular software. There are several exhibits and according to the applicable exhibit the Value Units represent a certain number of MSUs. You are then entitled to use that number of MSUs for this software. And that's it. No more monthly payments. Unless you're interested in support or a free upgrade path to future releases and versions. Then you can pay for Subscription & Support.

Well now, CICS TS VUE also follows this mechanism and it should be less expensive than the regular CICS TS pricing. But before you want to convert all your CICS TS licenses to CICS TS VUE you must know there are restrictions : it's for eligible workloads that are deployed in a qualified zNALC LPAR. "Eligible Workload is defined as net new Java workload that executes within the CICS TS VUE Java Virtual Machine (JVM) server environment, on condition that the workload is qualified and approved through the zNALC qualification process. The OTC price metric provides an alternative pricing model for new CICS Java applications and new CICS Java-based, service enablement workloads".
Further requirements are z/OS V1.13 and the minimum required level of Java is IBM 64-bit SDK for z/OS, Java Technology Edition, V7 SR1.

Announcement : IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS V5.1

2013-04-26T09:33:00.000+02:00

As I'm coming from the application side (not the dark side) I've never been an assembler techie. As a matter of fact I hardly ever got into contact with Assembler. Cobol has always been my language. I learnt it in 1988 on an IBM course. I clearly remember migrating to VS Cobol II in the mid nineties. I kind of grew out of it when I became a DBA but I still recall a project about 10 years ago where lots of data had to be consolidated and they were imported via flat files. Cool:Gen turned out not to handle that very well, so I just wrote some Cobol programs for it. So, if any one says anything nasty about "that old rubbish", they'd better not say it to me. And recently I solemnly handed over my Syntax Reference to my son. It's clear that still a lot of companies are not into Rational Developer for System z and still writing native Cobol. And it's apparantly also a misconception that young people need a flashy interface to get them interested.

But enough reminiscing, let's talk about the announcement of COBOL for z/OS V5.1 : 'IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS , V5.1 allows you to generate your applications for higher levels of the z/Architecture and higher levels of performance optimization (ZP13-0179)'.

At a glance
"Enterprise COBOL for z/OS , V5.1 exploits the capabilities of the z/Architecture while adding a number of new features and enhancements:

A new compiler option (ARCH) to exploit and tune your code to run on your choice of the z/Architecture levels of the z/OS platform.
The enhanced compiler option (OPTIMIZE) to select from multiple levels of increasing optimization for your code.
Improved capability to process large data items to the full AMODE(31) capability.
Improved capability for modernizing business-critical applications through XML enhancements that gives you control over the form of XML documents.
Support for the latest middleware including CICS, DB2, and IMS.
Improved capability for programming with UTF-8 Unicode.
New pseudo-assembly listings (output from LIST compiler option).
Interoperability with Java7 to help you incorporate web-based applications as part of your business processes.
New DWARF/Common Debug Architecture interface to provide a consistent format for information that can be used by debuggers and program analysis tools."

If I just pick out a couple of things : "the new compiler option (ARCH) is made available to you for selecting optimization and processor architecture levels". ARCH(6) e.g. limits you to instructions available on the z990 and z890. At the other side of the scale ARCH(10) produces code that uses instructions available on the zEC12 in z/Architecture mode. This adds e.g. the Transactional-execution facility.

Another interesting thing : you'll no longer have to use the 'NO89 DD' statement in the SCRT JCL to indicate where your Cobol compiler runs. Cobol V5.1 can now automatically be tracked by SMF89 records and will be supported by SCRT V21.2.0.

Some more facts. GA will be June 21, 2013.
And there's one software requirement I'd also like to mention. You'll need z/OS V1.13 or later.

Reminder : z10 End of Marketing on June 30. 2013

2013-04-17T08:35:00.000+02:00

I've written about this before (here and here). The End of Marketing (EOM) of the z10 was announced in July 2011. There were actually two dates : one for hardware upgrades and one for microcode upgrades. Hardware upgrades are already EOM since June 30, 2012. This concerns mainly features like connectivity cards, memory and extra books.

Now, as of June 30, 2013 field install features and conversions that are delivered solely through a modification to the machine's Licensed Internal Code (LIC) will no longer be possible either. So if you still want to add a specialty engine (within the same book) or you want to do a microcode only upgrade or even downgrade, then I can only say : now is the time. After June 30, this will no longer be possible.

If your company has no intentions of upgrading soon, you might want to take a look at your Capacity on Demand records. If you have e.g. a z10 BC A01 CBU machine with CBU records, then you should check out the expiration dates of these records. Say you have a CBU record that expires on June 30, 2015 with 2 tests left. You can e.g. extend it by three years until June 30, 2018. This automatically includes three extra tests which come at a certain price of course. But it might give you some extra breathing space. Anyway, after that it's finished.

New GSE Working Group in Belgium : GSE Young Professionals

2013-04-15T10:07:00.001+02:00

We have a new GSE Working Group and it's one I really like to put the spotlights on : 'GSE Young Professionals' !

Allthough it's rather obvious, I'll let them explain themselves what it's all about.

Young Professionals is a new group inside GSE (Guide Share Europe) founded for young ICT professionals and students.

The objectives of the Young Professionals User Group :

Creating a bridge between the students of the high schools/universities and the young professional s of the IT department of the (large) companies.

Sharing of experiences of the start of an IT career

Learning about the possibilities within an IT career

Exchanging information about the organization of the IT department within a company

Exchanging information about the different roles within an IT department

In short, bridging the gap between school and professional life.

If you want to get into contact with them or follow their activities via the social media, they have a group site on LinkedIn, a Facebook page and a Twitter account.

Their first meeting is an all-day event on May 23, 2013 at Hogeschool Gent. The location is no coincidence as Hogeschool Gent has the most elaborate mainframe track for students here in Belgium.The focus for this event is on the banking sector. Participation is free and you find the full agenda over here. You can also register over there.

If you're a young professional or still a student, be sure to attend this meeting. And for every one else : here's a team of young professionals who really deserve our support. Be sure to do so via the social media I just mentioned . . . and IRL of course !

Sampling Techdocs - up to March 2013

2013-04-05T14:00:00.000+02:00

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 !

Flash Alert : TS7700 Potential Performance Issue with R3.0 code and 3957 VEA/V06 models

2013-04-05T08:22:00.001+02:00

For those who are in this situation, you might have a look at this before upgrading to the R3.0 (8.30.x.x) release level. I'm taking over the info from the alert you can also find over here.

Abstract

TS7700 8.30.x.x levels may cause a performance degradation when installed on the TS7720 (3957-VEA) or the TS7740 (3957-V06) hardware model base.

Content

MachineType/Model affected: TS7720 (3957-VEA), TS7740 (3957-V06).

It has been determined by IBM that TS7700 3.0 Release levels (8.30.x.x) may cause a performance degradation when installed on the TS7720 (3957-VEA) and the TS7740 (3957-V06) hardware model base. Customers considering an upgrade to the R3.0 (8.30.x.x) release level on these models, or installing a TS7720 expansion frame, 3952-F05 w/ FC 7332, are strongly advised to have a SCORE request submitted, allowing IBM to assess current performance requirements and to provide a recommended upgrade path. Environments that run performance-sensitive, or high-throughput workloads on VEA or V06 hardware platforms will require special consideration. Customers should contact their IBM sales team for assistance submitting the SCORE request so that the appropriate technical reviews can be completed.

This does not apply to customers with TS7720 (3957-VEB) and/or TS7740 (3957-V07), who may upgrade to R3.0 without restriction.

zEnterprise Newsletter

2013-04-04T07:00:00.000+02:00

I talked about Millennial Mainframer before. They have a blog, a Facebook page and a Twitter account. I'm not sure what their relationship is with this 'Eastern US Region zEnterprise Newsletter', but they're always the first to talk about the new issue.
Well, as far as I can see because the new issue is the sixth, but I only know it since last quarter. It appears every first of the quarter and this episode contains the following topics :

IBM EKMF (Enterprise Key Management Foundation)
zPCR
This is the sizing tool (also available for customers) for when you plan an upgrade to a new system.
Advanced Analytics - : ILOG CPLEX on z/OS and Linux on System z
PureSystems Update
This is mainly about the PureData Systems for Transactions, Analytics and Operational Analytics
WebSphere Compute Grid
About its role in batch modernization : "With support for batch jobs alongside online transactions, WebSphere Extended Deployment Compute Grid delivers a near real-time user experience while optimizing costs".
Some dates for 'Wildfire Education' and 'Education' in the States
Trivia Question !

You can read it over here. If you click on the 'Archive' button on the right hand side, you can also read the previous issue. It has a nice article on 'Why SAP on System z ?'. If you need some arguments, do take a look at it.

You can subscribe to it via a mail with zEnterprise Newsletter Mailing List as the subject to Hank Meetze (hmeetze@us.ibm.com).

As I always say, just check it out !

Announcement : General Price Action on System z Software

2013-04-03T07:00:00.000+02:00

Here's the annual EMEA announcement for the MLC software price changes. They become effective July 1, 2013 : 'General Price Action on System z, zSeries and S/390 Software Program Products (ZA13-1001)'. The same reason as always : "As a result of currency fluctuations over the past few years, the prices of some Program Products have become unaligned when compared between countries in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In order to better harmonize pricing structures across countries within EMEA and also versus US prices, IBM has decided to adjust prices accordingly."

There's a new element however. We do no longer talk about 'price changes'. "IBM is therefore announcing price decreases and increases in the Monthly License Charges for selected System z, zSeries, and S/390 Program Products and their features". A bit of a laconic explanation follows : "For each price point for which the price will be reduced, the applicable reduction will not exceed 2%. Likewise, for each price point for which the price will be increased, the price increase for the impacted MLC prices will not exceed 5%".

The following softwares are excluded : IMS V9 through V12 and CICS TS V3 and V4.

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

2013-04-02T11:46:00.000+02:00

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 Flash Express

2013-04-02T09:12:00.000+02:00

Intro

Flash Express was introduced together with the zEC12. It became GA in December 2012. Let me start by recapitulating part of what I wrote about it back then in August 2012.
Flash Express is used to deliver a new tier of memory, which is slower than real memory but which is a lot faster than external disk. So, Flash Express introduces Solid State Drive (SSD) technology to the zSeries family. The main application of internal Flash in the zEC12 is paging store for z/OS. The z/OS paging subsystem will work with a mix of internal Flash and External Disk. This leads to improved paging performance realized through a simplified configuration.

Flash Express is implemented via NAND Flash SSDs (Solid State Drives) mounted in PCIe Flash Express feature cards.

They plug into PCIe I/O drawers in pairs. They are cabled together to form a Raid 10 Mirror for redundancy thus providing 1.6 TB of storage. A maximum of 4 pairs is allowed per system.

IBM Mainframe Insights blog series

I mentioned a series of articles on IBM zAware some time ago on the IBM Mainframe Insights blog. Well, now there's a similar series going on about Flash Express.It started with 'Flash Express' back in January giving you a general introduction to it. The second article was 'Getting Started with Flash Express on zEnterprise EC12'. It tells you how easy it is to define and configure Flash Express via a series of panels on the SE or HMC. The third article is 'Under the Covers of Flash Express - Implementation Highlights'. Topics covered are System overview, Virtualization, Redundant Components, Data protection, Data en key Encryption. I'm not sure whether more articles will follow but keep an eye on the Mainframe Insights Blog.

If you can access them, there are a couple of presentations that were given at Share that give you some more information ànd test results on Flash Express. There was also a presentation by jean-Paul Goemaere on our recent GSE z/OS Working Group meeting. You can find it over here.

Combining all this information, you'll be pretty well on your way to become a real Flash Express specialist.

An Ode to Movie Mainframes

2013-03-29T08:49:00.001+01:00

I saw this pass by yesterday via various tweets, so I thought I might as well share it with you here. Just enjoy it, it's fun !

And . . . Happy Easter !

DB2 for z/OS turns 30 in June

2013-03-28T07:30:00.000+01:00

With DB2 11 for z/OS on the horizon, it's a good moment to look back at the first 30 years of DB2. Of course all of you know already that DB2 for z/OS turns 30 on June 7, 2013. I looked it up because the date rang a bell with me. So, it shares its birthday with Damien Hirst, Anna Kournikova, Tom Jones and Prince. That's where I also knew the date from.

But I want to point you to a website and particularly to a publication on that site. The site is 'IBM DB2 Celebrates 30 Years of Superior Technology'. You can find it over here. The site has several tabs with customer stories, resources, IBM DB2 contact persons and a list of events on DB2. It's definitely worth a look.

But, the publication I want to tell you about is 'IBM DB2: The Past, Present and Future: 30 Years of Superior Innovation' that you can find on the right hand side of the Overview page. It's divided into 3 major parts. The first part is a history overview of DB2 by Don Haderle himself and Cynthia Saracco. The second part tells you about 'Planning for IBM DB2 10 for z/OS Upgrade' and the third part is a 'DB2 10 for z/OS Query Optimization Update'.
And there's also a part where people are asked what was their most important moment in DB2 history. You should read it too. That's where the anecdotes are. And I'm glad to see at least three fellow countrymen : Jan Tielemans, Kurt Struyf and Cristian Molaro. I mention them because I want to at least quote one anecdote and it comes from Cristian Molaro. I promise, just one. You'll recognize it, for sure.

Back when we migrated to DB2 Version 6, we DBAs suspected that users were quickly justifying a lot of small incidents by blaming the “new DB2 version.” When we moved to DB2 7, we announced the availability of the new version two weeks after the actual migration. Nobody reported a DB2-related issue in between. After the public notification, things suddenly, and suspiciously, started to fail because of the “new DB2 version.” This was one case where we had to deal more with human expectations than with DB2 itself.

Red Alert : PTF UK91435 required for DB2 10 for z/OS in a Data Sharing environment

2013-03-26T08:22:00.000+01:00

Here's a new Red Alert. I'm just taking over the content.

PTF UK91435 (APAR PM79520) is required for DB2 10 for z/OS customers in a Data Sharing environment

Description:

The subject PTF addresses a potential data loss in a DB2 10 Data Sharing environment.

The problem is related to lost spacemap updates in Data Sharing. Data modifications (insertions, mass deletions) may have been lost, and if so, will not be recoverable by standard recovery procedures. The modifications will remain recorded on the DB2 recovery log and can be recovered using tools such as the Log Analysis Tool. Rebuilding the index will make the Index consistent with the data but will not recover data that is missing nor attend to erroneously present data. The same is true of reorganizing the object. If in the interest of system availability indexes are rebuilt or the data is reorganized prior to determining if there is data loss, it is recommended that this action be followed with analysis and possible remedial action as outlined below.

Possible symptoms include: Incorrect output; ABEND04E RC00C90101, RC00C90102, RC00C90105, or RC00C902xx in various CSECTs; data/index inconsistencies reported by the CHECK INDEX utility; and, page regression reported by the DSN1LOGP utility.

Recommended Actions:

IBM recommends that all DB2 10 for z/OS Data Sharing customers apply PTF UK91435 as soon as possible.

Customers may validate their data by using CHECK INDEX or CHECK DATA utilities. Any issues uncovered should be reported to IBM Software Support to determine root cause. The data may not be recoverable by standard recovery procedures.

Refer to the cover letter for UK91435 for further details regarding this issue.

Fellow Bloggers

2013-03-25T11:00:00.002+01:00

Starting a blog is not that difficult. You have lots of ideas and you have the impression that no one is properly covering that domain you're particularly interested in. So you start off writing with a lot of enthusiasm. Still, I see that lots of blogs just fade away in time. And I guess that one of the greatest disappointments is the lack of response you get. Blogging is, whether you like it or not, more than other social media mostly one way traffic. That's why I've always tried to make some publicity for other bloggers who passed my way. Unfortunately, a lot of those I've mentioned in the past came ànd went due to some or other circumstances.

Still, I would like to mention a couple of new or existing blogs I visit regularly (or rather : I let Feeddemon do that for me). Here we go - in random order.

Accelerate with ATS
This developerWorks blog is from IBM Americas ATS (Advanced Technical Skills) and is mainly a platform for announcing their webcasts on storage hardware and software. Some topics that were covered : LTFS LE for Windows, XIV Technical update, TPC Performance Management, DS8870 Technical update ... The latest post is announcing a webcast on Understanding and Analyzing TS7700 Performance that takes place on April 18, 2013.

Inside Systems Support
This blog helps you optimize your experience of the Support Portal with posts like Customizing your view in IBM Support Portal, Benefits of Signing in to Support Portal, IBM Support Portal: An Overview, Looking for an item in IBM Support? Let our search engines help you!, Managing your product list in IBM Support Portal ... Definitely worth a look !

MVS program blog
This is a Share blog by Mary Anne Matyaz aka ZOSsygirl that's been around for about almost a year now. It's very to the point and covers, as the title already says, all kinds of MVS stuff. A couple of titles : Shedding light on the "Top 5 obscure z/OS tools you're not using" (about ao Parallel Sysplex Inject Error tool, Mark Zelden's IPLINFO Rexx, Lookat ...), The Very Best of z/OS 2.1, My zAware Quickstart Guide (very nice article) etc. etc.

Ingolf's z/VSE Blog
This blog only exists for about a month but seems to be a real asset for the z/VSE community. The intentions of Ingolf Salm are clear : "With this blog I want to provide information about the mainframe operating system z/VSE. That is news, hints & tips, any z/VSE topic you are interested in, where I am knowledgable. I hope you will find this blog valuable".Well, I do. I won't give you any titles because if you're into z/VSE you just have to go and take a look at it !

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

IBM Software Product Compatibility Reports

2013-03-22T14:11:00.000+01:00

You've surely noticed I haven't been that prolific over the past months. I guess it's just the story we see a lot these days. Do more with less (time). So I have other things up my alley than just mainframe. But, once a mainframe blogger, always a mainframe blogger, no ? So I've kept some links, I'd still like to share with you in the coming posts. I guess some stuff might be a bit outdated for those who follow everything closely. But if I only come to have a good look at them now, and get rid of the rubbish, perhaps it's the first time you see them too.

So, let's start with something useful. Here's a site that can give you a lot of information : Software Product Compatibility Reports. The name says it all.

As you can see on the screenshot (click on it for a larger view) there's a lot of possiblities. You can check compatibility with operating systems, you can ask for prerequisites, you can even ask for End of Service dates.

Let's put it to the test with CICS TS 5.1. I click on the first report and if you follow with me yourself you'll see that you'll get a screen where you can give in your software. I just put CICS, press the search button and I get a list of CICS products. I select CICS Transaction Server and the system asks me for a version. I select '5.1' and click the 'submit' button. Result : you have to have z/OS 1.13 for it.

All the reports work a bit the same way. I also kind of like the End of Service Report. There you can create an entire list of softwares with their different versions. What's nice is that you can export that list. Every once in a while you can come back here and you just import your list and see if anything has changed. Here's an example. You can decide the beginning date yourself. Once again, click on it for a clear view.

Just go and try some of the other options. I've got this one bookmarked, for sure.

IBM Announcement - IBM zEnterprise enhancements

2013-03-12T13:09:00.000+01:00

This is a bit of a strange announcement : it's a collection of some System z enhancements : 'IBM zEnterprise enhancements (ZG13-0042)'. I'll give you the summary, so if anything interests you, then just check out the announcement for more details.

"Today's enhancements extend System z unique leadership attributes for improved integration, agility, and security. These include:
IBM® zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension (zBX) Model 003

Improved flexibility with top exit I/O and power cabling

IBM zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension (zBX) Model 002

Improved flexibility with the ability to dynamically add virtual storage to configurations for the IBM BladeCenter HX5 (7873)

IBM WebSphere DataPower Integration Appliance XI50 for zEnterprise ( DataPower XI50z) V5.0 firmware for zBX Model 003

Increased governance with improvements to help control insight into your service-oriented architecture (SOA)

Enhanced security by enforcement of security industry standards to Web 2.0 infrastructure and mobile applications

Enhanced processing power with extended memory support

IBM System z Advanced Workload Analysis Reporter ( IBM zAware)

Increased distance allowed between the IBM zAware host system and IBM zAware monitored clients

Renaming of feature codes to improve clarity of ordering

Available now are the following items announced for first quarter 2013 in the IBM zEnterprise EC12 announcement:

zBX Model 003 move from one IBM zEnterprise EC12 to another IBM zEnterprise EC12

DataPower Blade remove or move from one zBX to another zBX

z/OS® support for these zEC12 functions is planned to be available by March 31, 2013:

2 GB pages, with the z/OS V1R13 RSM Enablement Offering web deliverable and the PTF for APAR OA40967

Dynamic reconfiguration for Flash Express , with the z/OS V1R13 RSM Enablement Offering web deliverable and the PTF for APAR OA40968"

There's also a statement of direction that might be of interest to some people, but I just don't know how widely spread non-raised-floor System z servers are.

IBM plans to offer only Top Exit I/O Cabling and Top Exit with Power on future System z servers for non-raised-floor implementations. Bottom exit cabling (I/O and power) will no longer be offered or supported in non-raised-floor environments. Enterprises with non-raised-floor data centers should begin planning for top exit I/O cabling and top exit power cabling.

If I'm not mistaken that was already the case for the zEC12 but the z114 still offered both options. So, any successor to the z114 will only have top exit I/O and Power cabling.

DS8100-DS8300-DS8700 - DDM Firmware Issue – Possible Undetected Data Loss or Data Error

2013-03-12T07:26:00.001+01:00

Here's a flash alert which is issued for three DS8000 models : DS8100, DS8300 and DS8700. You can find it over here.

I'm taking over the most important parts. Go to the alert itself for more details.

Abstract

Certain disk drive modules (“DDMs”) shipped between April 2010 and January 2013, running DDM firmware levels F520, F522, or F527, may be exposed to a possible undetected data loss or data error during a proximal write. (The “proximal write” feature does a skip operation on the data transfer from DRAM to disk to improve performance.) This issue occurs when the starting logical Block Address (“LBA”) is a reassigned LBA. A firmware update designed to address this issue is now available.
Note: DS8800s and DS8870s are not exposed to this issue. DS8000 DDMs that use drive-level encryption are also not exposed to this issue.

Content

Fix / Mitigation Options

A Concurrent DDM Firmware update with firmware F529 using Install Corrective Service (ICS) CD for machines running Bundles 64.20.xx.xx or higher (8100/8300) and 76.20.xx.xx or higher (8700) is now available. Clients with DS8000s below these minimum bundles and deciding to update the DDM firmware need to either perform a code load to one of the bundles identified above and then apply ECA 866, or contact IBM to evaluate other options.

Identification Methods

DDM firmware levels can be queried by an IBM Service Support Representative (“SSR”) using the service panels, or by clients using CLI commands (see examples below).
An Info Alert is being released to notify SSRs of subsystems containing DDMs with F520, F522, or F527 firmware. An as required ECA [“Engineering Change Action"] 866 is also being released to provide SSRs with instructions describing how to update the DDM firmware for clients that request this update
If clients determine they have a system with the affected DDMs, IBM Service can be contacted to schedule the update.
Please contact IBM Service, or contact the DS8000 Quality team at the following Email address, DS8KQWT@US.IBM.COM or DS8000QWTeam/Tucson/IBM, for any questions or to request additional assistance.

Red Alert - System z Security Portal for Security and Integrity Fixes

2013-02-28T09:43:00.001+01:00

I'm not sure whether to call this a red alert. It's more a reminder that you should get starting to use the IBM System z Security Portal. Here's the link :

Reminder to access the System z Security Portal for Security and Integrity Fixes

It was also on the IBM-Main discussion group a couple of months ago when IBM contacted all z/OS customers either directly or through BP about a couple of security issues. As the Red Alert says : "IBM treats information about security and integrity fixes on z/OS as Confidential". Therefore no Red Alerts are issued about security issues but they are fenced off behind the Security Portal. There's a whole process to obtain access to his security portal. You can find all information over here.

In fact a manager should send a mail to your IBM representative or a BP representative who will then send it on to IBM confirming you're a z/OS customer. It must contain the names and ResourceLink IDs of the persons who should have access to the Security Portal. It must also contain the following phrases :

"By accessing this System z Security Portal and the security information in it you agree to the following:
(1) the information is provided "AS IS" without warranties of any kind, implied or otherwise,
(2) any use of the information is at the user's own risk,
(3) the information in this portal and database may change without notice,
(4) the information is IBM Confidential and may be used by you for internal purposes only and may not be disclosed to any third party without IBM's prior written consent, and
(5) in no event shall IBM be held liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of or in connection with the use of any of the information".

If you do not feel comfortable with this, do contact your local IBM representative who will surely give you more details about this. If you're not sure how the mail should look like, just send me a mail and I'll send you an example.

If you want to have an overview of all past Red Alerts, then take a look over here. You can also subscribe on that same page so you'll be notified of any future Red Alert.

Software withdrawal and support discontinuance: IBM System z selected products

2013-02-07T07:00:00.000+01:00

Last one for this week : 'Software withdrawal and support discontinuance: IBM System z selected products (ZP13-0022)'. There's a whole list of softwares for which support will no longer be provided. Dates range from July 26, 2013 up to September 30, 2014. Just take a look whether there are products involved that you are using.

I just want to point out a couple of them. There's e.g. z/VSE V4.3 (5609-ZV4) that will be withdrawn from service on September 30, 2013. Replacement is of course z/VSE V5.1 (5609-ZV5). Along with that is the replacement of z/VSE Central Functions V8.3 (5686-CF8) by z/VSE Central Functions V9.1 (5686-CF9)

Another one is IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS V4.1 (5655-S71) that will be replaced by IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS V4.2 (5655-S71). End of Service is on April 30, 2014.

IBM XIV Storage System Model 214

2013-02-06T07:00:00.000+01:00

You must have noticed there weren't a lot of announcements lately. Well, usually that only means that one of those big announcement days is imminent. So, yesterday, next to the previews of z/OS 2.1 and z/VM 6.3 there were also some storage announcements. Two of them were about XIV.

The first one was the hardware announcement of Model 214 (ZG13-0019) which is the third in line after the A14 and the 114 (Gen3). The second one announced the accompanying software version 11.2.0 (ZP13-0018) supporting the new model 214 and the current model 114.

There's not that many new items that were announced. The most important one is that we do not only have just 1Gb Ethernet ports any more. We can now have up to twelve 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) ports for connecting to iSCSI-attached hosts or twenty-two 1Gb Ethernet ports.

Some other highlights (although most of them are not actually new)

Up to 15 CPUs providing ninety physical cores (180 logical cores using Intel Hyper-Threading technology)
More energy-efficient hardware that can reduce power consumption by up to 16% compared to previous models
Up to 24 x 8Gb FC ports for host connectivity
Up to 6 TB of SSD cache by using 400 GB drives
Up to 243 TB of usable capacity
Up to 360 GB of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) cache

There are some key prerequisites although you'd perhaps better call them limitations.

Intermixing of port bandwidth between 10GbE and 1Gb within the same system is not supported (mutually exclusive)
Partially populated IBM XIV Storage Systems that are shipped from the factory with any of the raw capacity per drive options must continue to be populated with the same raw capacity per drive option.
Intermixing of any of these capacity points options in a single XIV Storage System frame is not allowed: 1 TB, 2 TB, or 3 TB.
If one module supports SSD caching, then all modules in the system must have SSD.

Planned availability : March 7, 2013.

Next to the XIV, there were also some announcements on ProtecTIER (ZP13-0007, ZP13-0009) and Real-Time Compression (ZP13-0017, ZG13-0018). And as of March 1, 2013 Licensed Machine Code (LMC) R6.2 of the DS8000 (DS8800 and DS8870) is withdrawn and replaced by LMC 6.3 (ZG13-0025).

The 500TB Question

2013-02-06T06:30:00.000+01:00

Just a teaser for my next post

IBM Announcement : z/OS 2.1

2013-02-05T09:49:00.000+01:00

Well, we already talked a couple of times about the new version of z/OS and of the new release schedule that comes with it. So today we see the pre-announcement : 'Preview: IBM z/OS Version 2 Release 1 and IBM z/OS Management Facility -- The foundation for Smarter Computing (ZP13-0013)'.

Some highlights :

Further optimize data placement with significant enhancements to policy-based storage tiering.
Provide a top-down perspective on performance and capacity planning efforts across zEnterprise ensembles with RMF™ support for new SMF records for the Linux™ on System z® , and for the Linux on System x® and AIX® operating systems running on zBX blades. RMF V2.1 also adds support for Windows™ Server running on zBX blades.
Extend existing batch runtime environment support for COBOL-based applications to interoperate with PL/I programs in addition to Java™ programs, all with shared DB2® with transactional integrity, and extended support to encompass DFSMStvs processing for VSAM record-level sharing data sets. These enhancements are intended to provide flexibility in application development and provide modern programming models to help you extend business applications.
Reduce batch run times by having DFSMShsm-migrated data sets allocated by batch jobs recalled in parallel, in order to reduce overall elapsed recall times.
Simplify I/O configuration tasks with improvements for z/OS FICON® Discovery and Auto Configuration (zDAC), which provides improved support for installations with less-complex I/O configurations.
Exploit available fonts, with fonts included as a new base element of z/OS to give you capabilities you need for print in a global marketplace.

Prerequisites

z/OS V2.1 is planned to run on IBM System z servers starting from System z9 up to the zEC12.
In addition, beginning with z/OS V2.1, IBM plans to support these and later IBM storage control units:

3990 Model 3 and 3990 Model 6
9393
2105
2107
2421, 2422, 2423, and 2424

Planned availability date is September 2013.

Do go and have a look at the announcement itself. It's quite extensive covering lots of details. And what's also interesting : there's a summary of all important web pages for z/OS. Oh well, why don't I just take them over here as well :

z/OS website

http://www.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/
General literature

http://www.ibm.com/systems/z/resources/
Previously announced statements of direction

http://www.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/zos_sods.html
z/OS Internet Library

http://www.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/bkserv/
z/OS Basic Skills Information Center

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/zos/basics/index.jsp
Descriptions of courses worldwide

http://www.ibm.com/services/learning
z/OS downloads

http://www.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/downloads/
CustomPac

http://www.ibm.com/services/custompac
ShopzSeries

http://www.ibm.com/software/shopzseries
z/OS Communications Server

http://www.ibm.com/software/network/commserver/zos/
z/OS Management Facility

http://www.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/zosmf/

IBM Announcement : Preview z/VM 6.3

2013-02-05T09:04:00.001+01:00

Today IBM is launching a preview for their operating systems. Let's first have a look at z/VM : 'Preview: IBM z/VM 6.3 - Smarter Computing with efficiency at scale (ZP13-0027)'.

The highlights ?

"To address pressure on memory resources, z/VM V6.3 supports 1 TB of real memory, which may increase server consolidation ratios and continues to provide support for more virtual servers than any other platform in a single footprint".

"To address your increasing workload demands for processor cycles and for quicker access to memory, z/VM V6.3 delivers HiperDispatch function that can improve workload throughput by optimizing processor cache utilization. HiperDispatch attempts to redispatch a virtual server repeatedly on the same physical CPU, or on a collection of physically adjacent CPUs, to increase the chances of obtaining data from the processor cache, instead of incurring time delays by having to go to main memory for data".

Prerequisites

IBM zEnterprise EC12 (zEC12)
IBM zEnterprise 196 (z196)
IBM zEnterprise 114 (z114)
IBM System z10® ( z10™ EC, z10 BC)

Planned availability date is third quarter of 2013.

Redbooks revisited

2013-01-29T08:35:00.000+01:00

I've noticed recently that there are a couple of new things on Redbooks that might be interesting to know.

First of all, it's nice to see that you can now also download redbooks in EPUB format.

This means you can read these publications also on an E-reader. This might of course also be your iPad or your smartphone. I guess. I'm not all that familiar with this world. Yet. But I know, lots of you are by now.

Second there seems to be a new type of Redbooks called Redbooks - Point-of-View publications.

(...) brief, strategy-oriented documents that represent an author's perspective on a particular technical topic. Written by senior IBM subject matter experts, the publications examine current industry trends, directions, and emerging technologies. They further outline how you can address business challenges with specific approaches, and explain the business value that your company or organization may gain by choosing the highlighted solution.
At about 5 pages in length, Point-of-View publications typically include solution highlights, a description of the problems being addressed, proposed solutions, and references for additional reading.

You'll find an overview of some over here.

But while I'm at it, let me also point out that that's not the only novelty at Redbooks we've seen introduced in recent times :

Point-of-View publications are one of the latest offerings from IBM Redbooks, which recently expanded its offerings to include video interviews, tutorials, and 3-minute Redbooks overviews; blogging on blogs; IBM Redbooks Product Guides; IBM Redbooks Solution Guides; and more.

As I always say, just check it out !

Upcoming events and webcasts

2013-01-24T07:30:00.000+01:00

I saw a lot of announcements for webcasts and so passing by, so I thought I might as well summarize them for you, along with some other upcoming events.

GSE Meetings in Belgium

It's perhaps a bit early for the GSE Meetings but here's already the date for the first z/OS Working Group Meeting.

March 13, 2013 - GSE z/OS Working Group Meeting
RealDolmen Huizingen
No additional information for the moment.
The other dates for 2013 should be June 12, September 10 and December 11.

IBM Events in Belgium

For the moment I can already tell you that the dates for the Total Solutions Event at the Brussels IBM Forum are already fixed. So you can already block your agenda for September 24 until September 26, 2013.

Webcasts and teleconferences

January 24, 2013 at 4 pm GMT, 5 pm Brussels
Save money from enhanced analytics with Tivoli support for zEnterprise zAware
Information and Registration

January 29, 2013 at 4 pm GMT, 5 pm Brussels
DB2 10 and Beyond - Celebrating 30 Years of Superior Technology
"You’ll also get a glimpse into the future and IBM plans for the next release, DB2 11"
Information and Registration

January 30, 2013 at 4 pm GMT, 5 pm Brussels
10 things you’ll want to know about Rational development tools – before you start that project
Information and Registration

February 5, 2013 at 4 pm GMT, 5 pm Brussels
Want to Modernize Your IMS Administration? We have tools for that
Information and Registration

February 5, 2013 at 4.30 pm GMT, 5.30 pm Brussels
Virtual IMS user group : Best practices: maximizing the use of your IMS data through replication
Information and Registration

February 28, 2013 at 4 pm GMT, 5 pm Brussels
Enabling the private cloud with CICS: An analyst perspective
Information and Registration

March 12&13, 2013 at 3 pm GMT, 4 pm Brussels
IBM DB2 10 Migration Planning and Real Customer Experiences – PART 1 & PART 2
Information and Registration

March 26, 2013 at 3 pm GMT, 4 pm Brussels
Modernizing your DB2 environment with DB2 Utilities and Tools for z/OS
Information and Registration

And there are still some more. If you want to see all upcoming webcasts, have look over here. For all upcoming teleconferences, you can take a look over here.

z/VSE Live Virtual Class

February 13, 2013 at 4 pm Brussels
z/VSE Release and Version Upgrade, Migration Considerations
Information and Registration

As I always say, just check them out !

Mainframe Watch Belgium

Announcement : CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Value Unit Edition V5.1

Announcement : IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS V5.1

Reminder : z10 End of Marketing on June 30. 2013

New GSE Working Group in Belgium : GSE Young Professionals

Sampling Techdocs - up to March 2013

Flash Alert : TS7700 Potential Performance Issue with R3.0 code and 3957 VEA/V06 models

Abstract

Content

zEnterprise Newsletter

Announcement : General Price Action on System z Software

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

IBM Flash Express

Intro

IBM Mainframe Insights blog series

More

An Ode to Movie Mainframes

DB2 for z/OS turns 30 in June

Red Alert : PTF UK91435 required for DB2 10 for z/OS in a Data Sharing environment

Fellow Bloggers

IBM Software Product Compatibility Reports

IBM Announcement - IBM zEnterprise enhancements

DS8100-DS8300-DS8700 - DDM Firmware Issue – Possible Undetected Data Loss or Data Error

Abstract

Content

Red Alert - System z Security Portal for Security and Integrity Fixes

Software withdrawal and support discontinuance: IBM System z selected products

IBM XIV Storage System Model 214

The 500TB Question

IBM Announcement : z/OS 2.1

IBM Announcement : Preview z/VM 6.3

Redbooks revisited

Upcoming events and webcasts