November
2006
SPARTA
PresidentÕs Corner
by
November and the holidays are coming up fast. Before you know it another year
will be here and everyone will be saying "Geeze 2006 went by fast".
Last month IBM came and spoke to us about their updates to tape technology. For
those that use IBM drives and libraries, a number of improvements are out there
now. At LabCorp I would like to see us get a couple of 3590 drives so we can
switch software delivery from 3490 to 3590, no one wants to ship on STK 9840s,
so z/OS orders can be a large number of tapes.
We performed our DR test on the
Our group has gotten z/OS 1.7 running in one LPAR and we are working on
validating all the vendor software before we move it up the system chain. It
has been interesting as we get things moving. Thruput Manager required a little
work because of the changes in JES2 exits (the new 50 series of exits). It will
keep us busy for a little while as we clean up some things. I hope that we
having it running in two LPARs by the end of the year.
This month our speaker will be Jim Horne from Lowe's to talk to us about how
they are handling performance management data. This is a presentation that Jim
will also be giving at CMG. I look forward to seeing you all at LabCorp on the
28th.
P.S. Fried chicken, drinks, and dessert will be provided.
Future Speakers
(subject to change)
Nov. 28 - Capacity Planning by Jim Horne of Lowe's
Dec. 26 - No meeting. Happy Holidays!
Jan. 30 - NC ITS
We need ideas and volunteers for future speakers. Presentations donÕt have to
be fancy, just informative and interesting. Even a 5 or 10 minute talk can
start an interesting interaction. Contact Ron Pimblett by phone as noted below.
2006-2007
SPARTA
Board of Directors
LabCorp 336-436-8294
Burlington, NC 27215
Ron Pimblett - Vice President
Dignus, LLC 919-676-0847
8354 Six Forks Road
Raleigh, NC 27615
Mike Lockey - Secretary
Guilford Co. Information Services 336-641-6235
201 N. Eugene St.
Greensboro, NC 27401
Tommy Thomas - Treasurer
LabCorp 336-436-4178
231 Maple Ave, Koury Ctr 3rd Fl. 919-361-7267
Burlington, NC 27215
Ed Webb - Communications Director
SAS Institute 919-531-4162
SAS Campus Drive
Cary, NC 27513
Meetings
Meetings are scheduled for the last Tuesday evening of each month (except
no meeting in December), with optional dinner at 6:15 p.m. and the meeting
beginning at 7:00 p.m.
These monthly meetings usually are held at LabCorpÕs Center for Molecular
Biology and Pathology (CMBP) near the
Call for Articles
If you have any ideas for speakers, presentations, newsletter articles, or are
interested in taking part in a presentation, PLEASE contact one of the Board of
Directors with your suggestions.
Newsletter e-Mailings
The
February 2006 CBT Tape Online
The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V471 (dated February 28, 2006)
are available from www.cbttape.org.
If you need help obtaining one or more files, contact
Minutes of the October 24th, 2006 Meeting
¥Meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM by
¥Twelve (12) people were present; eleven (11) were members.
¥Everyone in the room introduced themselves, told where they worked, and
briefly described their job function and recent happenings at work.
¥The minutes of September 2006 meeting were accepted as published in the
October 2006 newsletter.
¥Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer, gave the Treasurer's report. As of
October 16, 2006, the balance is $1478.80. Motion was made and approved to
accept the Treasurer's Report as published in the October 2006 newsletter.
OLD BUSINESS
¥Articles are needed for this newsletter. If you would like to write an article
for this newsletter, please contact Ed Webb. Keep in mind that you don't really
need to write the article; it can be an article that you read that you would
like to share with the membership.
¥The SPARTA Web site is available. To access the SPARTA Web site, point your
Web browser to this URL: http://www.spartanc.org. Please send any
comments or suggestions about the Web site to Mike Lockey. Be sure to check the
site every once in a while to see any new or changed information.
¥
NEW BUSINESS
¥Future Speakers and Topics:
(subject to change)
November 2006 Capacity Planning by Jim Horne of Lowe's
January 2006 NC ITS
If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Ron Pimblett.
¥The November SPARTA meeting will be held at LabCorp in the RTP.
¥Food for the November meeting will be fried chicken, drinks and dessert.
¥Thanks to Tommy Thomas of LabCorp for hosting the meeting.
¥Please remember to invite others to the meeting.
¥The business portion of the meeting ended at 8:05 p.m.
¥Shirley Barborak of IBM gave a Tape Technology Update. She spoke about the
TS7770 - new Virtual Tape Server and IBM Tape Encryption.
IBM Tape Update
Agenda
TS7770 New Virtual Tape Server Generation
IBM Tape Encryption
IBM Virtualization Engine TS7700
IBMÕs Virtual Tape Server
Virtual Tape Concepts
Virtual Tape Drives
Tape Volume Caching
Volume Stacking
Peer-to-Peer(PtP) VTS: Overview
Peer-to-Peer Copy Services Examples
IBM VTS GDPS Support
Next Generation VTS -Hydra
Software Architecture Redesign
TS7700 -Scalable Architecture
TS7700 -Three Site Copy (Future)
TS7700 -First Release Capabilities
TS7700 -Interfaces
TS7700 Grid Configuration - 1st Release
TS7700 Grid Configuration for Disaster Recovery
TS7700 Grid Configuration for Disaster Recovery & Availability
TS7700 Virtualization Engine Specifications
TS7740 Virtualization Engine FICON Performance vs. VTS
VTS Performance History
Previous Statements of Direction - Continued Focus
Tape Encryption Solution
Encryption of Data - A Business Imperative
Security Headlines Daily
Three major customer needs:
Protect data that is being removed from the primary site and transported to
secondary or disaster recovery site(s)
Protect data at the primary site from inadvertent or intentional exposure
Provide the ability for authorized “business partners in the extended
enterprise to access selected data
Encryption Solutions consist of a number of related components which customers
can implement with a range of options depending on requirements and perceived
risk.
Encryption is a technique used to help protect data from unauthorized access
Two classes of algorithms are usually deployed for secure key exchange in a
layered architecture.
The encryption operation maybe be performed in a number of different locations
and ways today
IBM System Storage Jaguar Tape Drive Encryption Highlights
Overview of encryption key generation, communication and storage with the
Encryption Key Manager
The new Encryption Key Manager (EKM) provides a flexible solution for tape data
key management and is an IBM solution differentiator
The Encryption Key Manager (EKM) is a component of the Java platform and is
available through different means on different operating systems
The IBM Jaguar Tape Drive encryption solution has been integrated with z/OS
encryption key, policy and security features
Three methods for accessing keys and establishing policy, allowing encryption
to be utilized in many different environments
The Encryption Facility for z/OS supports a Trusted Exchange with Business
Partners
Example - Single z/OS System Key Management
Example - Dual z/OS System Key Management
Example - z/OS Centralized Key Management of an AIX system using System Managed
Encryption
Example - Open Systems with a Centralized Key Manager, Using Library Based
Encryption
Summary of Jaguar II Encryption Solution Alternatives
Summary of Support Availability Dates
¥The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
TreasurerÕs Report for November 2006
contributed by Tommy Thomas
The balance in the account is $ 1478.80 as of November 15, 2006.
Financial Report
3/01/2006 through 11/15/2006
|
INCOME |
|
|
Opening Balance |
1069.06 |
|
Dues |
640.00 |
|
Misc. |
0.00 |
|
TOTAL INCOME |
$1709.06 |
|
|
|
|
EXPENSES |
|
|
Food |
343.41 |
|
Petty Cash |
|
|
Bank Service Fees |
|
|
P.O. Box |
|
|
Web Site |
|
|
TOTAL EXPENSE |
$343.41 |
|
|
|
|
BANK BALANCE |
1365.65 |
|
PETTY CASH($175) |
63.08 |
|
TOTAL CASH |
$1428,73 |
Items of Interest
contributed by Tommy Thomas and Chris Blackshire
Nov. 28 - Fried Chicken
Daylight Saving Time Change in 2007
contributed by Duane Reaugh
IBM has launched a new website for alerts regarding cross platform issues. The
URL is http://www.ibm.com/support/alerts/us/
and the first alert is regarding the Daylight Saving Time change in the
The good news is most applications programs will be unaffected. The bad news is
it may be difficult to do extensive testing since many of the fixes are at such
a low level. With Y2K, there was software to fool application programs with a
fake system date. With this problem, it is the operating system and hardware
that must be "fooled" and that is much harder. You might want to be
in town on the 2nd Sunday in March around 2 am. Being sober is optional.
HereÕs the link (via ServiceLink, IBM ID required) for LE APAR PK24076
regarding Daylight Savings Time:
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=0&q1=PK24076&uid=isg1PK24076&loc=en_US&cs=utf-8&cc=us&lang=en
Managing Complexity in IT: The Costs
contributed by Ron Pimblett
Article By Richard Murch.
Computing systems' complexity appears to be approaching the limits of human
capability, yet we march relentlessly toward increased interconnectivity and
integration. New and future technologies, such as wireless, all types of
portable PDAs, and a host of different peripherals, will increase complexity even
more. But complexity in IT increases costs and affects productivity.
One of the most difficult challenges facing almost all IT organizations today
is ensuring alignment with business objectives in terms of quality,
flexibility, initial cost, and time to market. In computing, opportunity breeds
complexity, and complexity begets systems that can be unreliable and difficult
to manage. In most medium-to-large IT organizations, numerous applications and
environments weigh in at tens of millions of lines of code, requiring
substantial numbers of skilled IT professionals to install, configure, tune,
debug, upgrade, and generally maintain those systems.
The Costs of Complexity
One dramatic way to illustrate the existence of complexity in IT is to study
the costs involved. Does your organization experience the following expensive
symptoms of IT complexity?
* Frequent and recurring software crashes of critical applications due to
incompatibility of data, files, software, or network protocols.
* Long timeframes for IT staff to solve the problems causing software crashes.
* Significant increase in IT budgets, including hardware, software, human
capital costs, training, and support.
* Complex integrated IT architectures that run multiple applications at the
same time.
* Increasing application outsourcing. ("If there's a problem, the vendor
can deal with it.")
* High turnover of critical IT staff due to frustration, long hours, and
burnout.
* Surprises in new technology, languages, or applications, leading to increased
time required for understanding and managing projects.
* Long timeframes to satisfactorily test and install new applications or
software packages.
* Growth of expensive hardware and software in IT architectures: the
"silent sales" syndrome.
* Incompatibility between competing vendor software packages: file structures,
databases, transmission protocols, and parameters due to lack of standards.
* Frequent but necessary software upgrades of packages, operating systems, and
application development languages, resulting in yet another round of errors and
incompatibility problems.
* Incessant and unrelenting requests for new business systems to be developed
and installed within what appear to be unreasonable timeframes.
Many of these categories will be very familiar to most IT management. According
to an Accenture study, IT professionals spend up to 70% of their time
maintaining existing systems, leaving little time to develop new capabilities
that add real value to their businesses but this arrangement is expensive,
time-consuming, and unnecessary.
Reducing complexity is not an easy process, and it certainly isn't free of
costs. A complexity-reduction project budget must be established that's linked
with the actual deliverables to determine the return on investment (ROI). This
budget should detail the particular expenditures, how each is spent over what
timeframe, and the tasks involved with reaching complexity-reduction goals. In
essence, complexity reduction is like any other project or expenditure: It must
have a sound business case that details the savings, cost reductions, and other
efficiencies that will be delivered. The goal of simplicity is paved with good
intentions but there must be a sound business reason for doing it. The costs of
complexity reduction can then be compared with the actual costs of IT
maintenance which in most IT installations is very high indeed.
Redbooks: All Worth A Look
contributed by Ed Webb
Drafts
TCP/IP Tutorial and Technical Overview
Revised: November, 7, 2006
More details are available at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247287.html
IBM System Storage Virtualization Engine TS7700: Tape Virtualization for System
z Servers
Revised: November, 2, 2006
More details are available at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247312.html
Communications Server for z/OS V1R8 TCP/IP Implementation Volume 1: Base
Functions, Connectivity, and Routing
Published: November, 9, 2006
More details are available at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247339.html
Communications Server for z/OS V1R8 TCP/IP Implementation Volume 2: Standard
Applications
Published: November, 9, 2006
More details are available at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247340.html
IMS Performance and Tuning Guide
Revised: November, 16, 2006
More details are available at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247324.html
Mainstar ICF Catalog Recovery Plus Updates
Published: November, 16, 2006
More details are available at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/redp4212.html
Redbooks
DB2 UDB for z/OS Version 8 Performance Topics
Revised: November 6, 2006 ISBN: 0738492493 456 pages
Explore the book online at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246465.html
Introduction to the New Mainframe: Networking
Revised: November 7, 2006 ISBN: 0738494798 406 pages
Explore the book online at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246772.html
Humor
Why, Why, Why?
contributed by Chris Blackshire
Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are
getting weak?
Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know
there is not enough?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but
check when you say the paint is wet?
Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?
Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a
revolver at him?
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?
If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always
white?
Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?
Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something
new to eat will have materialized?
Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum
cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the
vacuum one more chance?
Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?
How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?
Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the
table you always manage to knock something else over?
In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we
complained about the heat?
How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?
And my FAVORITE......
The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four persons is suffering
from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if
they're okay, then it's you.
Your Age by Eating Out
contributed by Chris Blackshire
This is pretty neat.
It takes less than a minute.
This is not one of those waste of time things, it's fun.
1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to go out
to eat. (more than once but less than 10)
2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)
3. Add 5
4. Multiply it by 50
5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1756. If you haven't,
add 1755.
6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.
You should have a three digit number.
The first digit of this was your original number (how many times you want to go
out to restaurants in a week.)
The next two numbers are your AGE!
This is the only year (2006) that it will ever work, so spread it around while
it lasts.
DonÕt
Forget the Next
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Location: LabCorp in the RTP
Take I-40 to
Free Food: Fried Chicken, Drinks, Dessert
Program:
Capacity Planning
Speaker:
Jim Horne of LoweÕs
First Class Postage
