SPARTA News August 2011

August 2011

SPARTA President’s Corner

by Brad Carson

August is here and has it ever been an interesting month. While we are bracing for a visit from hurricane Irene, most of the Triangle area felt the tremors from the earthquake that hit near Richmond, Virginia on Tuesday. I was working at RTP when it hit and wondered why my lamp was rattling and the chair was shaking. All I could say was WOW.

I was unable to attend last month's meeting due my sister having major surgery in Richmond. I'm happy to say that she made it through the operation with no problems even though she has breathing issues (COPD). She is home recovering and her twin has been up there helping out.

Our DB2 V10 migration is still chugging along (slowly) here at LabCorp. We've been testing the mass conversion PLANs to PACKAGEs in the development subsystem and have found our Cool:Gen (a 4GL) environment a bit of a mess. Multiple versions of DBRMs in various plans are making life there a whole lot of fun. Since the code management group is afraid to delete any obsolete/outdated code, there is a large amount of "garbage" in a number of libraries and dead plans out in DB2. It's going to be interesting to see how this will get remediated during the plan to package migrations.

I've managed to finish coding all the rexx changes for our SCLM environment to handle packages the way we need to. The COBOL and EasyTrieve parts were not too bad to handle, but the Cool:Gen part was a monster. The original implementation back in 2001 did not properly create the DB2 information for binding, so they coded around that initial error. To make the package binds work properly, I had to code around the error as well even though I found the problem. All testing has been done successfully, so we will be planning a weekend update for SCLM and convert all affected DB2 subsystems from plans to packages. I'll give you all an update on that next month.

This month we will take our annual trip to the DBAP to watch the Durham Bulls play the Gwinnett Braves. A nice break from all things technical for the group. Next month we'll return to our normal meetings with an update from those who went to SHARE. See you at the DBAP on the 30th!


Future Speakers
(subject to change)


Aug. 30 (Special Location) Durham Bulls baseball game at the DBAP
Sept. 27 SPARTA Conference Report by Ed Webb of SAS and Tom Schwartz of Luminex

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.

2011-2012 SPARTA
Board of Directors

Brad Carson - President
LabCorp 336-436-8294
3060 S. Church St.
Burlington, NC 27215

Ron Pimblett - Vice President
MDI DataSystems 919-426-6518

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
3060 S. Church St. 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 Brad Carson; if you have corrections or problems receiving your meeting notice, contact Brad at 336-436-8294.

June 2011 “CBT Tape” Shareware Online

The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V482 (dated June 23, 2011) 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 July 26, 2011 Meeting

•Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Tommy Thomas sitting in for Brad Carson, the Chapter President.
•The meeting was held at LabCorp in RTP, N.C.
•Twelve (12) people were present of which all were members.
•Everyone in the room introduced themselves, told where they worked, and briefly described their job functions.
•The minutes of the June 2011 meeting were approved as published in the July 2011 newsletter.
•Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer, gave the Treasurer's Report. As of July 15, 2011, the balance is $1,079.28. Motion was made and approved to accept the Treasurer's Report as published in the 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 based on internal politics, budget, the weather):

- Aug. 30 Durham Bulls
- Sept. 27 SHARE Updates, Presenters Ed Webb and Tom Schwartz
- Oct. 25 TBA
- Nov. 29 (at SAS) ITRM
- Dec. 27: No meeting

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

•Tommy reminded everyone to keep the conference room clean.
•The August SPARTA meeting will be August 30 at the DBAP in Durham. Tommy has 36 tickets and will send an e-mail to all to sign up for tickets. He will e-mail directions and tickets that you must print for admission to the game.
•Food for the August meeting will be whatever you buy at the ball park.

NEW BUSINESS

•Thanks to LabCorp for hosting the meeting.
•If you have any Listserver issues, contact Brad with any e-mail address changes.
•The business portion of the meeting ended at 7:40 PM.
•Tom Schwartz, a Systems Engineer for Luminex, gave a presentation on Mainframe Virtual Tape: Solution Overview.

•Topics included:

•Agenda
Mainframe Tape Industry Overview
LUMINEX At-A-Glance
Channel Gateway Overview

•Mainframe Tape Industry Overview
Billion Dollar per year market
Physical Tape market share is rapidly changing to Disk-based Virtual Tape
Tape market uncertainty
- Some companies are pushing physical tapes, but losing the battle
- Some companies are driving customers away from tape solutions
Meanwhile, commodity disk capacity continues to increase while prices decrease

•Tapeless Options
There are several choices in mainframe disk-based virtual tape without physical tapes
- LUMINEX Channel Gateway (90+% market share for mainframe deduplication in production operations)
- EMC/Bus-Tech. EMC DLm announced Feb. 2008.
(Bus-Tech acquired by EMC in November 2010)
- IBM TS7720 announced Fall 2008
- Oracle VSM “VLE” disk-based expansion announced Spring 2009
- IBM TS7680 with deduplication announced February 2010
- CA-Vtape

•Can LUMINEX Help? Yes, Definitely
LUMINEX is a fully capable mainframe solution vendor
World-leading product technology
World-leading reliability and support capabilities
World-leading business capabilities
Customer tape assessment capabilities
Mainframe tape migration software and services

•Why LUMINEX?
LUMINEX and the Channel Gateway mainframe virtual tape continues to grow
LUMINEX is leading the Mainframe Tapeless Revolution - is leading the industry
LUMINEX is uniquely able to leverage 8Gb/s FICON and Fibre Channel-attached storage
LUMINEX continues to be customer-focused in advancing products and industry impact
Ask LUMINEX customers (many listed)

•LUMINEX At-A-Glance
20+ years – Mainframe virtual tape solutions
90%+ market share for mainframe virtual tape for deduplication storage
Currently used with these & other applications:
- DFDSS, SMS, HSM, FDR, TSM, DDR, CA Disk, FDR UPSTREAM
- CA-1, RMM, CA-MIM, OAM, TLMS, DB2
- Mobius, SAR, XPTR, OnDemand
- In VM/VSE: BIM-EPIC, Dynam/T & HiDRO, VM Backup
In mission & business critical environments, across 6 continents
Leads and in all major industries, including:
- Financial, Insurance, Government, Telecom, Retail Distribution,
- Manufacturing, Education & Healthcare

•LUMINEX Channel Gateway Overview - Solutions For All Mainframe Tape Use
Mainframe Storage World included:
- Primary copies of data on tape - Including batch processing
- Backup and Disaster Recovery
- Archiving and Compliance - Including HSM/ML2
- Sharing data internally & externally

•Channel Gateway vs. Other Mainframe Control Units
Mainframe - Connect to 4 Gb and/or 8 Gb FICON
3490 or 3590 Tape Control units by LUMINEX, IBM, Oracle or EMC
Storage Types: NAS, FC Disk, IBM Disk or Tape, VSM, and or EMC Celerra

•How Does The LUMINEX Solution Work?
Source: Mainframe OS (Examples: zOS, MVS, VM, VSE, OS/390)
Connectivity: LUMINEX Channel Gateways via ESCON or FICON
- Emulates 3480, 3490, or 3590 tape drives
- Optional data compression
- Active – Active with NSPOF
- Dual PS, Fans & Mirrored OS
- No tape data on gateways
Any Disk Storage System
- Fibre Channel attached or NAS/NFS or VTL
- Compression, deduplication and encryption supported
- Mainframe Tape data stored as unmodified standard files
- Tape metadata (VOL and HDR labels, sector pointers) stored in separate file
- Replication for backup/DR
- RAID Data Protection

•Unmatched Speeds and Specs
Mainframe VT Performance/Throughput:
- Channel Gateway X – up to 2GB/s in 2U
Speeds & Feeds:
- Supports 4096 virtual tape devices per channel
- Supports 8Gb/s FICON using industry-supported PCIe HBA’s
- Modern 1 or 2-port PCIe ESCON HBA’s based on patent license
- No limits on volsers or ranges
- Add storage capacity and bandwidth non-disruptively Channel Gateways Have No Single Point of Failure
- Active – Active Configuration
- If a gateway is lost, the remaining gateways will access all data

•Tape Migration and TMACS
LUMINEX offers Tape Migration Services as part of the purchase and installation
- Designed to work with TMACS to move tape data without touching the tape catalogs
- Supports all existing tape library and virtual tape environments
- Works with IBM z/OS
- TMACS is host-based software which automates allocation for complex environments

•Customer Driven Product Enhancements
LTMON - LUMINEX Tape MONitoring: Brings mainframe console integration to Channel Gateway virtual tape solutions

RepMon - Replication Monitoring: Provides real-time monitoring of virtual tape data writes and replication to a remote disaster recovery site

SyncCopy - Synchronous Replication: Enforces tape data consistency across replicated storage systems with remote status
monitoring of tape availability and integrity

•Channel Gateway Support Options Summary
- Worldwide Support & Installation Services
- High level expertise applied early, operations restored sooner
- Remote or on-site installation services worldwide
- Immediate HW/SW assistance – 7X24
- Channel Gateways include remote access capability
- On-site hardware assistance within 4 hours

•Q & A

• Meeting ended at 8:25 PM.

Treasurer’s Report for August 2011

contributed by Tommy Thomas

The balance in the account is $985.25 as of August 9, 2011.

Financial Report
3/01/2011 through 08/09/2011

Items of Interest


SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2011

contributed by Tommy Thomas and Chris Blackshire

Aug. 30 - Durham Bulls - buy your own at the DBAP
Sept. 27 - Pizza
Oct. 25 - Chicken
Nov. 29 - Subs
Dec 27 - No Meeting, Happy Holidays!


z/OS R13 Migration Tip: Resolver Needs UID

contributed by Ed Webb

In its recent z/OS V1R13 Migration materials, IBM notes that the Resolver task in R13 must have a RACF OMVS segment or its equivalent. That is, the Resolver address space must have an assigned Unix uid and gid. It does not have to be uid zero (0). Check the z/OS R13 Migration book for details (see next paragraph).

IBM has posted the R13 version of its z/OS manuals online at the z/OS Internet Library site. Follow this link to jump right to the new pubs including the Migration book.

z/OS R13 and z/OSMF R13 debut on September 30, 2011. Here are the recent announcement letters: ENUS211-252 and ENUS211-242.


Who Is Going to Run These Mainframes?

contributed by Ed Webb

From Dr. Cameron Seay, Assistant Professor at NC A&T State University in Greensboro:

“.... One of the themes of the discussion has been the lack of employment opportunities for experienced out-of-work veteran mainframers; to the point of frustration with non-responsive employers, to even creeping negativity about the platform itself. However, the vets are not being pushed out because they are thought of as a bad tumor; they are being pushed out because they give the impression to industry that they are too expensive. I don't agree that they are, but that is the impression.

I know for a fact that several senior technical folks were let go at a large commercial bank to make way for some younger folks. Dumb on the part of industry, but that's the game. It's funny how capitalism is the greatest thing since sliced bread until it doesn't work in one's favor; then it is unfeeling and unkind. No it isn't; it's completely amoral. I think most would agree that many of the vets (though not all, I am sure) are more than worth the money they earn. Short- sighted management does not agree. But I remain unconvinced that there are not effective strategies that can be deployed by many of you as countermeasures. I see it being done in my area every day. ....”

Read Dr. Seay’s entire, insightful article and the many responses to it at http://www.mainframezone.com/blog/mainframe-technology-in-2011-and-beyond-who-is-going-to-run-these-mainframe.

Behind the Youthful Sales Surge for IBM Mainframes

contributed by Ron Pimblett

By Don Clark (from http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/)

Just how hot is IBM’s most venerable computer line? Well, revenue from the high-end machines known as mainframes surged 61% in the second quarter, capping the best four quarters of growth for the segment in five years.

Not bad for a product that has repeatedly been written off as dead or outdated, as most computing chores shift to lower-priced servers that descended from personal computers.  
IBM
An IBM mainframe, recently installed at Senegal’s Ministry of Finance, is inspected by Chief Information Officer Simon Pierre Thiaw.

IBM’s big iron has been showing faster revenue growth than those machines, which are powered by so-called x86 chips from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices and are the technology of choice for Web-based applications known as cloud computing. Intel last week said its cloud-based business is up 50% in the first two quarters, while the broader data center business that includes all x86 server chips was up 15% in the second period.

Nor is IBM only milking its installed base, selling additional systems to longtime users that can’t easily move their software to alternative hardware. “We’ve added 68 new mainframe customers,” says Rod Adkins, who oversees IBM hardware sales as senior vice president of its systems and technology group.

Who would start from scratch with mainframes in this day and age? In large part, Adkins says, the new users are banks and other businesses in countries like Senegal, Namibia, Brazil and other emerging economies.

While x86 servers usually cost less to buy, he says, mainframes wind up having lower operating costs for some kinds of applications, along with advantages in security and reliability. “They pretty much run with zero downtime,” Adkins says.

And pricing is coming down. IBM has a new model, the zEnterprise 114, that starts at $75,000–the lowest entry price ever for an IBM mainframe, down from $100,000 for a machine announced in October 2008.

To be sure, there have long been boom and bust cycles in mainframe sales–and another upswing was likely for multiple reasons. Jean Bozman, an analyst at IDC, notes that mainframe sales were badly hurt after the recession hit in late 2008. Then some customers continued to hold off purchases while waiting for a new refresh of the hardware that began in mid-2010, she says.

When they resumed buying, the slow sales in the last two quarters of 2009 and the first two quarters of 2010 created an easy comparison that would tend to boost percentage growth rates.

Still, Bozman characterizes the recent demand for the technology remarkable. “How many time have there been stories in the newspaper saying the mainframe is dead?” she asks. “Not only is it not dead, we are seeing growth in new places.”


Humor


A Good Laugh

contributed by Ed Webb

From Eugene B. on a slow fishing day I guess:-)
 
 
Down South
 
Alabama
 
A group of Alabama friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night, one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under the weight of an eight-point buck.
 
"Where's Henry?" the others asked. "Henry had a stroke o' some kind. He's a couple of miles back up the trail," the successful hunter replied. "You left Henry layin' out there and carried the deer back?" they inquired. "A tough call," nodded the hunter. "But I figured no one's gonna steal Henry!"
 
Georgia
 
The owner of a golf course in Georgia was confused about paying an invoice, so he decided to ask his secretary for some mathematical help. He called her into his office and said, "Y'all graduated from the University of Georgia and I need some help. If I wuz to give yew $20,000, minus 14%, how much would you take off?" The secretary thought a moment, and then replied, "Everthang but my earrings."
 
 
Louisiana
 
A senior citizen in Louisiana was overheard saying ... "When the end of the world comes, I hope to be in Louisiana ." When asked why, he replied, "I'd rather be in Louisiana 'cause everythang happens in Louisiana 20 years later than in the rest of the world."
 
Mississippi
 
The young man from Mississippi came running into the store and said to his buddy, "Bubba, somebody just stole your pickup truck from the parking lot!" Bubba replied, "Did y'all see who it was?" The young man answered, "I couldn't tell, but I got the license number."
 
North Carolina
 
A man in North Carolina had a flat tire, pulled off on the side of the road, and proceeded to put a bouquet of flowers in front of the car and one behind it. Then he got back in the car to wait. A passerby studied the scene as he drove by, and was so curious he turned around and went back. He asked the fellow what the problem was. The man replied, "I got a flat tahr." The passerby asked, "But what's with the flowers?" The man responded, "When you break down they tell you to put flares in the front and flares in the back. I never did understand it neither."
 
Tennessee
 
A Tennessee State trooper pulled over a pickup on I-65. The trooper asked, "Got any ID?" The driver replied, "Bout whut?"
 
 
Texas
 
The Sheriff pulled up next to the guy unloading garbage out of his pick-up into the ditch. The Sheriff asked, "Why are you dumping garbage in the ditch? Don't you see that sign right over your head." "Yep," he replied. "That's why I'm dumpin' it here, 'cause it says: 'Fine For Dumping Garbage.' "
 
***Y'all kin say whut y'all want 'about the South, but y'all never heard o' nobody retirin' an' movin' North.
 
 
SO TRUE

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

7 p.m.

Special Location: Durham Bulls Athletic Park

Check out this link for directions: http://www.dbulls.com/stadium/directions.html

Fee Food: Whatever You Buy

Program:

Triple-A Baseball

Speaker:

Durham Bulls vs. Gwinnett Braves

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

First Class Postage

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