SPARTA News July 2009

July 2009

SPARTA President’s Corner

by Brad Carson

Well here we all are in July without much of the summer heat (yet).  I’ve been enjoying this nice un-summer-like weather now.  My wife and I went up to Clarksville, Virginia to attend the annual Virginia Lake Festival (and visit with some friends) and didn’t melt with the heat like in past years.  Last month we all had a visit from the Data Domain folks and they gave us a good presentation on their mainframe virtual tape product with data de-duplication. This was the first product like this that included de-duplication of mainframe data. I know we have quite a bit of that in our tape environment. How does your environment look?

Again I’ve spent a good part of the month in Unisys land. We completed the upgrade of our production system to the new Unisys Dorado 790 on the 12th. It took a little bit longer that we expected though. Our first issue was having to pull and reroute 6 SCSI tape cables from the old system to the new one. We had to have someone become a “tunnel rat” to make sure we didn’t snag any other fiber/comm./power cables. Our second issue was that someone had regressed the new IP configuration and we had to rebuild it on the fly via the system console. We are now up and running our production lab services on this new hardware and haven’t had any issues (yet).

Over in zVM land we are still working with network services to get everything setup properly for virtual switches. We’ve also been waiting to have a couple of IP subnets reserved for the linux guests. They just got this corrected last week, so now we are moving forward again. I hope to have some more news on VM and Linux next month.

On the z/OS side of the house we are beginning to work on the migration of our monitors from Omegamon to MainView. So for us it’s a trip back in time to running MainView again. I just wish that Boole and Babbage was still maintaining that software. We’ll see how this migration goes.

This month our speaker will be Carl Wohlers from IBM to discuss “Server Platform Selection”. I look forward to seeing you all at LabCorp on the 28th.


Future Speakers
(subject to change)


July 28 Linux by IBM
August 18 Durham Bulls Baseball at the DBAP
Sept. 29 SHARE Conference Reports by Duane Reaugh of DTS and Brad Carson of LabCorp


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 June 30, 2009 Meeting

•Meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. by Brad Carson, the Chapter President.

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

•Many people were present; most were members.

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

•The minutes of May 2009 meeting were accepted as published in the June 2009 newsletter.

•Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer gave the Treasurer's Report. As of June 13, 2009, the balance is $1572.54; motion was made and approved to accept the Treasurer's Report as published in the June 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)

July IBM - Linux (maybe)
August Durham Bulls baseball game
September SHARE Conference update
October IOF Update by Triangle Systems
November Performance and Tuning by Cheryl Watson and Tom Walker
December No meeting!

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

•The next SPARTA meeting will be July 28 at LabCorp in the RTP.

•Food for the July meeting will be subs.

•Brad reminded everyone to keep the conference room clean.

NEW BUSINESS

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

•The business portion of the meeting ended at 7:45 p.m.

•Anthony Fanale of Data Domain gave a very interesting presentation on their products.

Topics

•Data Deduplication in the z/OS and Open Systems environment can save or eliminate tape backup at a much lower cost than the usual Virtual Tape Solutions.

•Meeting ended at 8:50 p.m.

Treasurer’s Report for July 2009

contributed by Tommy Thomas

The balance in the account is $1305.87 as of July 19, 2009.

Financial Report
3/01/2009 through 7/19/2009

Items of Interest

SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2009

contributed by Tommy Thomas and Chris Blackshire

July 28 - Subs
Aug. 18 - DBAP food - you buy!
Sept. 29 - BarBQ
Oct. 27 - Pizza
Nov. 17 - Chicken (Nov. 24 = Thanksgiving week)
Dec. 29 - No meeting. Happy Holidays!


System REXX Enhancements for z/OS Are Now Available for R10 and R9

contributed by Ed Webb

On July 7, 2009, IBM made available two SPE (Small Programming Enhancement) PTFs to address customer requests for enhancements to System REXX. PTFs UA47439 (R9) and UA47440 (R10) add REXXLIB concatenation, Multiple Parmlib Configurability, and Syscall Host Command Environment for TSO=YES requests. These PTFs provide functionality for System REXX that is equivalent to that incorporated into z/OS V1R11 coming in late September 2009.


Redbooks of Interest

contributed by Duane Reaugh

DFSMS V1.10 and EAV Technical Guide
Revised: July 9, 2009
More details are available at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247617.html?Open


IBM z/OS V1R10 Communications Server TCP/IP Implementation Volume 4: Security and Policy-Based Networking
Published: July 6, 2009 ISBN: 073843275X 912 pages
Explore the book online at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247699.html?Open

DB2 9 for z/OS: Distributed Functions
Revised: July 15, 2009
More details are available at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg246952.html?Open


Last Call 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


z/VM 6.1 Coming Out of the Gate in Q4

contributed by Chris Blackshire

z/VM V6.1 is intended to address the following situations:

•Running more Linux server images on a single System z server.

•Moving selected Linux and UNIX(r) workloads to a single System z server.

•Enhancing virtual networking.

•Consolidating operating systems on the System z platform:

•Migrating to newer releases of z/OS.

•Enhancing guest Parallel Sysplex(r) support.

Check out these links for more details:

http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=an&subtype=ca&appname=GPA&htmlfid=897/ENUS209-207

http://www.vm.ibm.com/zvm610/

http://www.vm.ibm.com/faq/faq61.pdf


Top Signs You May Have Been a Victim of ID Theft

contributed by Chris Blackshire

You Could Be a Victim and Not Even Know It
By Lita Epstein, credit and debt expert, WalletPop.com

When even the announcer of The Price Is Right is a victim of identity theft, you know the crime can happen to anyone. Rich Fields, of "Come on down" fame, reportedly had $71,000 stolen and had to freeze his accounts - including direct deposit of his pay -- while he tries to recover the money. At least he got wise to the problem.

One of the scariest things about identity theft is that you could be a victim and not even know it. Identity theft includes any act in which your identity is used fraudulently. I'm sure you've heard of credit card fraud, where someone opens an account in your name or uses your credit card number without your permission. But other common identity theft scams include bank account fraud, phone or utilities fraud, government documents fraud and Social Security fraud.

These four red flags can signal that you are a victim of identity theft

Red Flag No. 1:

Your credit cards or other bills don't arrive when you expect them.

A thief could have changed your address with a financial institution and started using your credit card. Since the bills are no longer coming to your address, it will take longer for you to figure out the problem. Most financial institutions allow you to look at your accounts online. Do so regularly to avoid this problem. If you see charges you don't recognize, call your bank's customer service line immediately.

Red Flag No. 2:

You start to receive credit cards for accounts you didn't open yourself.

A thief may have responded to a credit card offer using your name and credit history and been planning to intercept the card from your mailbox.

Don't hesitate one second. Call the financial institution that issued the card immediately and explain that the account was opened fraudulently.

Red Flag No. 3:

You are denied credit even though you know you have a good credit history.

Whenever you are denied credit -- for whatever reason -- you are entitled to free copies of your credit reports from each of the three top credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. As part of that denial, you should get a letter that tells you how to obtain those free credit reports. Take advantage of this law and review your credit report to see what the problem is. If you find fraudulent accounts on your report, follow the instructions that explain how to get them removed.

Red Flag No. 4:

You get a call from a store about a purchase you know you didn't make.

If you do get this type of call, don't give out any information because the call could be a phishing attempt (that's when thieves pretend to be calling or e-mailing from a store or bank in hopes you will disclose personal financial information - like your Social Security number or bank account password).

Find out as many details about the purchase as you can, as well as the caller's name and contact information. Look up a contact number yourself. Call the company after you've checked it out.

Only after you know the company is legitimate should you give out any personal information. Then, call your credit card company and let them know that your card was used fraudulently.

If You Are a Victim of Identity Theft

Any time you suspect fraud you should place a fraud alert with all three credit reporting agencies. They will place a 90-day alert on your account, which can be extended. They will also send you a copy of your report to be sure there aren't other problems. These are the contact numbers to report fraud:

* Equifax - 1-800-525-6285
* Experian - 1-888-397-3742
* TransUnion - 1-800-680-7289

You can never err by being too cautious. It's better to report a possible fraud attempt and be wrong, than not to report one and allow a problem to continue to grow and fester.

Check Your Report

See who's been checking your credit. Look for potential inaccuracies and unauthorized activity.

Guard Your Identity

Closely monitor your credit reports at all 3 Bureaus.

Know Your Score

Higher scores usually mean lower interest rates on new loans, which could save you money.


Humor


Car Talk and Derivations

contributed by Chris Blackshire

I saw an appropriate bumper sticker at a British car meet once...

"The parts falling off this car are of the finest British craftsmanship!"

And for those who have had a British car (or motorcycle) and retained some sanity...

Q) Why do the British drink warm beer?
A) Lucas refrigerators!

Q: Why don't the British build supercomputers?
A: Because they haven't figured out how to make them leak oil.

British Cars don't leak oil - They are just marking their territory (it's oozing class).

I have a '74 TR6. If I park next to a Japanese car, the Triumph leaves a 'gift' in the parking spot.

In Heaven: where the police are British, the chefs Italian, the mechanics German, the lovers French, and it's all organized by the Swiss.
In Hell: where the police are German, the chefs are British, the mechanics French, the lovers Swiss, and it is all organized by the Italians.

Or

In Heaven: where the cars are German, the food is French, the lovers Italian, the hospitality is British, and the cops are Irish.
In Hell: where the cars are Italian, the food is British, the lovers are Irish, the hospitality is French, and the police are German.

Or

In Heaven: the British are the police, the French are the cooks, the Italians style the cars and the Germans build them.
In Hell: the Germans are the police, the British are the cooks, the French style the cars and the Italians build them.

Or

In Heaven: the chefs are French, the lovers Italian, the mechanics German, and the police English
In Hell: the chefs are English, the lovers German, the mechanics Italian, and the police French.

Or

In heaven: the jokes are funny.
In Hell: people keep repeating the same tired joke different ways, as though that would MAKE it funny.

How do you double the resale value of a Yugo?
Put half a tank of gas in it.

What is a 4 door YUGO called?
WEGO


Quickies

contributed by Chris Blackshire

Aspire to inspire before you expire.

My wife and I had words, but I didn't get to use mine. ( I Love This One! )

Frustration is trying to find your glasses without your glasses.

Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.

The irony of life is that, by the time you're old enough to know your way around, you're not going anywhere.

God made man before woman so as to give him time to think of an answer for her first question.

I was always taught to respect my elders, but it keeps getting harder to find one.

Every morning is the dawn of a new error.

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Tuesday, July 28, 2009
7 p.m.

LabCorp in the RTP

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.

Free Food: Subs, Drink, Dessert

Program:

Server Platform Selection and System z

Speaker:

Carl Wohlers of IBM

SPARTA News
P.O. Box 13194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-3194


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