SPARTA News May 2009

May 2009

SPARTA President’s Corner

by Brad Carson

May is here and so is the rain. My lawn at home has never grown so fast. I hope that this wet spring doesn't mean a dry August (and the water restrictions). Last month we had an update from BMC about the current status of the MainView suite of products. It was a good presentation for all.

We have finally managed to migrate our last production CICS region to CICS/TS version 3.2. It has taken eight plus months to get this completed here. So many people worrying about if this will impact our billing software release(s) and schedules. After all this and the only issue we have found is with the CA:Gen (previously Cool:Gen) debugging environment. Our installed release of GEN still uses the SAS/C runtime while the latest release uses LE runtime. The GEN debug trace function now 0C4's every time it is invoked in development (we don't allow that in QA or Production). So now there is a new project to migrate to the latest release of GEN. The developers are upset since all modules will need to be rebuilt because of the runtime change from SAS/C to LE. Lots of regression testing will be needed here. Hmm, maybe now we might be able to convince them to convert to DB2 package binds, it's only been available for 15 years now.

Over in z/VM land we are moving forward with the installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3. Management is still trying to figure out what to run there after we get our base servers running (TWS, Library Server, Tomcat for iStrobe). The big item they are now looking at is hosting all the new Remedy servers under VM (including the Oracle DB). I keep telling them "bring it on". We'll see how this goes.

This month our speaker will be from IBM and they will be giving us an update and demo of Omegamon® XE for Storage. Because of this presentation, our meeting will take place at the IBM RTP Executive Briefing Center. This is building 002 on the IBM RTP campus; thanks to Bill Peiffer for being our host. I look forward to seeing you all there on the 19th at IBM.


Future Speakers
(subject to change)


May 19 (Special Date) Omegamon for Storage by IBM
June 30 Data Domain


We need ideas and volunteers for future speakers. Presentations don’t 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.

2009-2010 SPARTA
Board of Directors

Brad Carson - President
LabCorp 336-436-8294
3060 S. Church St.
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 LabCorp’s Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology (CMBP) near the Research Triangle Park (see last page). Take I-40 to Miami Boulevard and go north. Turn right onto Alexander Drive. Go about a mile or so. Then turn right into LabCorp complex and turn Left to the CMBP Building. In the lobby, sign in as a visitor to see Tommy Thomas. Tommy will escort you to the conference room.

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 SPARTA policy is to e-mail a monthly notice to our SPARTA-L Group. The newsletter is posted to the website about five (5) days before each meeting so you can prepare. The SPARTA-L Group is maintained by Mike Lockey at (336) 641-6235; if you have corrections or problems receiving your meeting notice, contact Mike.

“CBT Tape” Shareware 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 Brad Carson at LabCorp or Ed Webb at SAS (see Board of Director’s list for contact info).

Minutes of the April 28, 2009 Meeting

•Meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Brad Carson, the Chapter President.

•The meeting was held at LabCorp in RTP, N.C.

•Seventeen (17) people were present; sixteen (16) were members.

•Everyone in the room introduced themselves, told where they worked, and briefly described their job function.

•The minutes of March 2009 meeting were accepted as published in the April 2009 newsletter.

•Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer gave the Treasurer's Report. As of April 20, 2009, the balance is $1315.79; motion was made and approved to accept the Treasurer's Report as published in the April 2009 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 page is available. To access the SPARTA Web page, point your Web browser to this site: http://www.spartanc.org. Please send any comments or suggestions about the Web page to Mike Lockey. Be sure to check the Web page every once in a while to see any new or changed information.

•Future Speakers and Topics:
(subject to change)

May IBM - Omegamon XE for Storage
June Data Domain
July TBD
August Durham Bulls baseball game
September SHARE Conference update

If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Ron Pimblett.

•The next SPARTA meeting will be May 19 at the IBM Executive Briefing Center in RTP.

•Food for the May meeting will be chicken.

•Brad reminded everyone to keep the conference room clean.

•Reminder to pay your 2009 SPARTA dues.

NEW BUSINESS

•By affirmation the current SPARTA Board of Directors will continue as the 2009-2010 SPARTA Board of Directors.
Brad Carson - President
Ron Pimblett - Vice President
Tommy Thomas - Treasurer
Ed Webb - Communications Director
Mike Lockey - Secretary

•Thanks to Tommy Thomas of LabCorp for hosting the meeting.

•The business portion of the meeting ended at 7:51 p.m.

•Janet Sessarego, Senior R&D Director, MAINVIEW and DB2 for BMC Software, presented "Uncovering the Mainframe Ecosystem through MAINVIEW".

Topics
•Uncovering The Mainframe Ecosystem
- Basic overview of MAINVIEW architecture
What is a Mainframe Ecosystem and why uncover it?
Learning about the MF Ecosystem with Atrium Discovery for z/OS
Identifying problems in MF Ecosystems
Opening the MF Ecosystem with Performance Assurance for Mainframes (CDB)
Opening the MF Ecosystem with MAINVIEW Data Server
Thoughts on Open Source
What is a Mainframe
Why BMC Mainview?
The 3 Most Valuable Features of Mainview
- Architecture, Architecture, Architecture
MAINVIEW Architecture - Connectivity and Integration
MAINVIEW Value Added
MVS PAS
Integrated Subsystem Monitoring and Automation
MAINVIEW Architecture
Connectivity and Integration Extended Across SysPlex
Data Integration View what is important to the Applications
Why uncover the ecosystem?
A day in the life of a transaction in the ecosystem
Transaction Management - MVTA Integration with Q Nami
Uncovering the Components of the Ecosystem
BMC Atrium Discovery for z/OS
BMC Atrium CMDB
TD on MVE - Line mode actions
System (LPAR) Configuration
Displaying Device Information
Discovery for z/OS Summary
MV Alarm Manager
Classifying Metrics - Recommendations
Classifying Metrics - Why These?
How do I identify what I need for my critical applications?
Customize the Alarm Conditions
Integration Adapter for z/OS - Event Flow
Impact of events to Ecosystem
Some final words on metrics
Opening the MF Ecosystem with Performance Assurance for Mainframes
CDB Architecture Goals
CDB Core Services
CDB Architecture
Object Services Example
CDB Opens the Mainframe Capacity Cloud
Opening the MF Ecosystem and thoughts on Open Source
BMC MAINVIEW User Interfaces
Data Server - What is it?
Data Server Opens the Mainframe Ecosystem
The Data Server is Open Source!
Downloading MAINVIEW Data Server
This is Open Source!!
Questions?
Thank You!


•Meeting ended at 9:15 p.m.

Treasurer’s Report for May 2009

contributed by Tommy Thomas

The balance in the account is $1228.77 as of May 12, 2009.

Financial Report
3/01/2009 through 5/12/2009

Items of Interest

SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2009

contributed by Tommy Thomas and Chris Blackshire

May 19 - Chicken (May 26 = Memorial week)
June 30 - Subs
July 28 - BarBQ
Aug. 25 - Pizza
Sept. 29 - Chicken
Oct. 27 - Subs
Nov. 17 - BarBQ (Nov. 24 = Thanksgiving week)
Dec. 29 - No meeting. Happy Holidays!


System REXX Enhancements Coming Soon

contributed by Ed Webb

IBM has closed APAR OA26802 for z/OS V1R9 and V1R10 but PTFs are not yet available. OA26802 provides new function for System REXX to address “customer requirements” including REXXLIB concatenation, Multiple Parmlib Configurability, and Syscall Host Command Environment. Also TSO=YES Execs will now run in JES-managed address spaces instead of Master, and two new external functions are available: AXRWAIT and AXRINFO. And with co-req APAR OA25932, System REXX execs can use the REXX STORAGE function.


VM ServiceLink is Being Sunset

contributed by Ed Webb

On Friday, May 15, 2009, IBM announced that the VM version of its ServiceLink application will be sunset on July 1, 2009. After that date, only the Internet ServiceLink will be available.


Time to Plan for SHARE in in Denver in August

contributed by Ed Webb

It’s time to think seriously about attending SHARE in Denver on August 23-28, 2009. Check out this link for registration and hotel reservation information: http://www.share.org/Events/UpcomingConference/tabid/349/Default.aspx


First Deliverables of CA’s Mainframe 2.0 are Available

contributed by Ed Webb

CA has announced availability of the first deliverables of its Mainframe 2.0 initiative. In addition to providing enhanced electronic delivery of its mainframe software, CA has provided 100 Health Checks that use IBM Health Checker for z/OS, and is standardizing planning, installation, and implementation of its z/OS products. See http://www.ca.com/us/press/release.aspx?cid=205257 for details.



System z9 and z10 Enhanced

contributed by Ed Webb

IBM has announced enhancements for its z10 and z9 System z servers. Review IBM Announcement letter 109-230 here.


Humor


Aphorisms

contributed by Chris Blackshire

Aphorism: A Short, Pointed Sentence Expressing A Wise or Clever Observation or A General Truth.

1. The nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow.

2. Money will buy a fine dog, but only kindness will make him wag his tail.

3. If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all.

4. Seat belts are not as confining as wheelchairs.

5. A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you're in deep water.

6. How come it takes so little time for a child who is afraid of the dark to become a teenager who wants to stay out all night?

7. Business conventions are important because they demonstrate how many people a company can operate without.

8. Why is it that at class reunions you feel younger than everyone else looks?

9. Scratch a cat and you will have a permanent job.

10. No one has more driving ambition than the boy who wants to buy a car.

11. There are no new sins; the old ones just get more publicity.

12. There are worse things than getting a call for a wrong number at 4 AM. It could be a right number.

13. No one ever says, "It's only a game." when their team is winning.

14. I've reached the age where the happy hour is a nap.

15. Be careful reading the fine print. There's no way you're going to like it.

16. The trouble with bucket seats is that not everybody has the same size bucket.

17. Do you realize that in about 40 years, we'll have thousands of old men and old ladies running around with tattoos? (And rap music will be the Golden Oldies!) No! Say it isn't so!

18. Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Corvette than in a Yugo.

19. After 60, if you don't wake up aching in every joint, you are probably dead!

20. Always be yourself. Because the people that matter, don't mind and the one's that mind, don't matter.

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Special Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2009
7 p.m.

Special Location: IBM in the RTP