SPARTA News October 2009

October 2009

SPARTA President’s Corner

by Brad Carson

Here we are in October with Halloween just around the corner. And then we get to “fall back” the very next morning. Last month Ed Webb, Duane Reaugh, and I gave you our trip reports from SHARE 113 in Denver. There was a lot of information from the conference to squeeze down into one presentation. Since our meeting, I’ve given my full trip report presentation to the technical folks here at LabCorp and a 30,000 foot view of the report to some of the other IS managers here. I’m on track to give IS senior management a trip report in November. I’m always willing to tell anyone about the good information that can be picked up at SHARE.

This past month has been a busy one for us on the z/VM front. It seems that more and more people are touting the use of z/VM and zLinux for running virtualized servers. Now we are working on setting up some Oracle and Weblogic servers for testing and validating the environment. With the word out, other folks want to try their applications on zLinux. So we’ve been busy on the z/VM front trying to get everything ready. We had a little issue when we tried to connect the system to our SAN switches. Seems all the FICON/FCP ports on the system are single-mode fiber and all the ports on the SNA switches are multi-mode fiber. So while we wait for single-mode ports on the switches, we will just setup logical volume groups on CKD DASD for large file systems in Linux.

On our z/OS systems we’ve begun the migration from Omegamon to MainView. This is something we’ve been looking forward to for a while here. While the Omegamon monitors do a very good job at monitoring the systems, they are a royal pain to configure and maintain. I hope to have all the Omegamons off the system by the end of the year.

This month Jim Ott of Triangle Systems will be talking to us about the latest and greatest in IOF. I look forward to seeing you all on the 27th at LabCorp.


Future Speakers
(subject to change)


Oct. 27 IOF 8D by Jim Ott of Triangle Systems
Dec. 1 Cheryl’s Choice by Cheryl Watson of Watson and Walker
(Special Date and Location: SAS Institute Inc.)


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 September 29, 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 August 2009 meeting were accepted as published in the September 2009 newsletter.

•Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer gave the Treasurer's Report. As of September 17, 2009, the balance is $1305.87; motion was made and approved to accept the Treasurer's Report as published in the September 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)

October IOF Update by Triangle Systems
November (Dec. 1) 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 October 27 at LabCorp in the RTP.

•Food for the October meeting will be Pizza.

•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.

•Duane Reaugh of DTS Software shared (ha!) his Notes and Observations about SHARE that he attended in August in Denver, Colorado. Duane focused mainly on Storage and SHARE itself.

•Ed Webb of SAS Institute provided his notes from SHARE and highlighted several items, particularly for z/OS R11 and BCPii.

•Brad Carson of LabCorp highlighted the SHARE sessions he participated in, mostly z/OS-related. Brad also provided a copy of IBM’s Jerry Ng’s “APARs of Death”.

•Meeting ended at 9:15 p.m.

Treasurer’s Report for October 2009

contributed by Tommy Thomas

The balance in the account is $1057.60 as of October 17, 2009.

Financial Report
3/01/2009 through 10/17/2009

Items of Interest

SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2009

contributed by Tommy Thomas and Chris Blackshire

Oct. 27 - Pizza
Dec. 1 - Chicken (Nov. 24 = Thanksgiving week)
Dec. 29 - No meeting. Happy Holidays!


Young Developers Get Old Mainframers’ Jobs

contributed by Chris Blackshire

October 7, 2009
By Edward J. Joyce

Last spring one of my co-workers went to college campuses to recruit prospective "young mainframers."

Young mainframers? Isn't that an oxymoron?

My co-worker, Tim, explained that our company, a major software vendor, is seeing its mainframe workforce rapidly approaching the age of retirement. Tim said IBM and most other firms whose businesses depend on mainframes are also dealing with this industry-wide problem.

Since the 1980's, PC's and UNIX machines were supposed to have taken over the computing world, relegating mainframes to the scrap heap alongside rotary-dial telephones, suitcase-size boom boxes, and Plymouth Reliants. Indeed, most mainframes from that era have been consigned to the scrap heap - only to be replaced by bigger and faster mainframes.

Today the number of mainframes is estimated to be 10,000. Since 2000, the processing power of mainframes has quadrupled in terms of MIPS. According to IBM, the top 25 world banks run mainframes, 80% of the world's corporate data resides or originates on mainframes, and 71% of global Fortune 500 companies are mainframe clients.

As one mainframe veteran put it, "We started sun-setting some of our mainframe systems so long ago, the sun's rising again!"

For more of this article, check out this site:

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/netsys/article.php/3842721/Young-Developers-Get-Old-Mainframers-Jobs.htm


Windows OS Sizes

contributed by Chris Blackshire

Windows 98 requires .016GB ram (16MB) and .225 GB (255MB) free hard drive space.

Windows 2000 requires .032GB ram (32MB) and .650 GB (650MB) free hard drive space.

Windows XP requires .128GB ram (128MB) and 1.5 GB free hard drive space.

Windows VISTA requires 1GB ram and 15 GB free hard drive space!!!

Vista takes 8 times what XP requires!!


Time for a Mac!


Mainframe Storage Management Needed for Enterprise

contributed by Ed Webb

Here’s an interesting article from z/Journal - The Resource for Users of IBM Mainframe Systems about the continuing growth of non-mainframe storage and the lack of smart tools, like DFSMS, to manage it.

http://www.zjournal.com/index.cfm?section=article&aid=365


Humor


Kids Are Quick

contributed by Chris Blackshire

TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America .
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ? 
CLASS: Maria.


TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.


TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'
TEACHER: No, that's wrong
GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.

(I Love this kid)


TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.


TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have
ten years ago.
WINNIE: Me!


TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.


TEACHER: Millie, give me a sentence starting with ' I. '
MILLIE: I is..
TEACHER: No, Millie..... Always say, 'I am.'
MILLIE: All right.... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.'


TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand.


TEACHER: Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.


TEACHER: Clyde, your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your
brother's. Did you copy his?
CLYDE : No, sir. It's the same dog.


TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Tuesday, October 27, 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: Pizza, Drink, Dessert

Program:

IOF 8D: The New Release

Speakers:

Jim Ott of Triangle Systems

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


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