SPARTA News February 2014

February 2014

SPARTA President’s Corner

contributed by Ed Webb

I suspect we are all ready for Spring, and at this moment, Wednesday, February 19, 2014, it’s 70 degrees F. outside. Glad to have some relief, though the weatherpersons warn of a chill down next week, about the time for our February 2014 SPARTA meeting on Tuesday the 25^th.

Our latest z/OS endeavors here at SAS involve upgrades to our z/OS 2.1 environment.

First we have installed the latest Java from IBM, Version 7.1 which is optimized for the zEC12 and the zBC12 instruction set.

We are installing the version of ICSF (Crypto) that is current for z/OS V2. For some reason that I cannot understand, or is it cannot remember, the latest ICSF code is only downloadable from the z/OS download site, and not orderable via Shopz. So download to my desktop and then FTP up to a file system on z/OS, then SMP/E RECEIVE the package from NTS, and so on and so on. A real pain. And for us, repeat the configuration setup (directory paths, DDDEFs, data set allocations, if any are needed) once for each image. Fortunately once the process is clear, I can pass most of the repetitive work to my zNextGenner.

While she finished Crypto and began work on RSU1401, I was off ordering (via Shopz CBPDO, thank goodness) the new Apache Server 8.5 for z/OS (known to Shopz as Ported Tools for z/OS 1.2.1 feature HTTP Server).  Shopz notified me of CBPDO availability the next day and I had it RECEIVEd FROMNETWORK soon thereafter. This is the way z/OS add-on software should be obtained.

However, the APPLY CHECK revealed a major screw-up in the Product Packaging as the 8.5 product tried to update some 7.0 elements instead of putting them in its own places. Now there’s an Open APAR PI11659 to correct that. Of course, we need to install the Apache 8.5 server to get another APAR that adds support for cgiutils and cgiparse to this new web server. These are key components in some internal and some SAS product web interfaces for z/OS. It’s important to us and our customers because only Apache 8.5 from Ported Tools (or in Websphere Application Server) will be supported on z/OS V2R2 and beyond.

Looking forward to hear Jerry Seefeldt of New Era Software explain the what and why of The Control Editor (TCE) on Tuesday, February 25^th at LabCorp in RTP. See you there.

Future Speakers

(subject to change)

Feb. 25 The Control Editor by Jerry Seefeldt of New Era Software

Mar. 25 SHARE Reports by SPARTA members

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.

2013-2014 SPARTA

Board of Directors

Brad Carson - President

LabCorp

3060 S. Church St.

Burlington, NC 27215

Ron Pimblett - Vice President

MDI Data Systems 919-426-6518

866-634-3282

Raleigh, NC 27609

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.

Burlington, NC 27215

Ed Webb -  Communications Director

SAS Institute Inc.  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 1912 T.W. 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-RTP Group. The newsletter is posted to the website about five (5) days before each meeting so you can prepare. The SPARTA-RTP Group is maintained by Chris Blackshire; if you have corrections or problems receiving your meeting notice, contact Chris at chrisbl@nc.rr.com.

October 2013 “CBT Tape” Shareware Online

The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V487 (dated October 27, 2013) are available from www.cbttape.org.

If you need help obtaining one or more files, contact Ed Webb at SAS (see Board of Director’s list for contact info).

Minutes of the February 4, 2014 Meeting

•Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Ron Pimblett, the Chapter Vice President.

•Meeting was changed from Jan. 28 to Feb. 4 because of bad weather and travel conditions.

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

•Fifteen (15) people were present of which Twelve (12) were members.

•Everyone in the room introduced themselves, told where they worked, and briefly described their job functions or their job hunting challenges.

•The minutes of the November 19, 2013 meeting were approved as published in the January 2014 newsletter.

•Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer, gave the Treasurer's Report. As of January 14, 2014, the balance is $624.15. Motion was made and approved to accept the Treasurer's Report as published in the January 2014 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.

•Ron Pimblett reminded everyone to leave the LabCorp conference room clean.

•Future Speakers and Topics (subject to change based on internal politics, budget, the weather):

If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Ron Pimblett (919-833-8426).

•The next SPARTA monthly meeting will be February 25 at LabCorp in RTP.

•Food for the February meeting will be subs.

• The 2014 dues are due ($30) starting in March 2014. Please see Tommy Thomas.

NEW BUSINESS

•Thanks to LabCorp (Tommy Thomas) for hosting the meeting.

•There are currently 41 people on the SPARTA-RTP e-mailing list. There are currently 3 outstanding join invitations whose 30-day invitation time has expired.

•Send any e-mail address changes to Chris Blackshire so he can update the SPARTA-RTP Listserv. You will be added by the moderator (Chris) sending you an invitation to Join the list.

•Please assist Ron Pimblett and Ed Webb with ideas or try actually writing a President’s Corner article. If your shop is installing software or an OS process like Brad wrote about, please write about it.

•The business portion of the meeting ended at 7:30 p.m.

PRESENTATION

• Presentation was given by Joe Winterton of IBM. 

Topic: OMEGAMON 5.1.x - 5.2 Update

• Agenda

 - OMEGAMON family – Integrated Performance Monitoring

   - Simplified architecture

   - Enhanced 3270

   - ParmGen

   - Self Describing Agents (SDA)

   - Improve Mean Time to Recovery

 - OMEGAMON 5.Next

 - Offload to zIIP

 - OM Problem Solving – enhanced 3270 user interface

• IBM Tivoli OMEGAMON – Performance Management Suite 

 - Strategically supports different IT personas with both: 

   - Green screen (3270) for rapid response times for system programmers (SMEs) 

   - Graphics User Interface (Tivoli Enterprise Portal) for Operations/LOB personnel 

   - Provides z alert/event and threshold notifications to the Tivoli Service Management eco-systems. 

OMEGAMON Management Suite

OMEGAMON XE - DB2 v5.2 

OMEGAMON XE - Messaging v7.1 

OMEGAMON XE - IMS v5.1 

OMEGAMON XE - z/OS v5.1.1 

OMEGAMON XE - CICS v5.1 

OMEGAMON XE - Storage v5.2 

OMEGAMON XE - Mainframe Networks v5.1.1

• Business Agility with improved IT visibility now available with OMEGAMON V5.1 family 

 - Modernized and strengthened OMEGAMON product line

 - Increased System Availability with faster problem resolution 

 - Improved Productivity with simplified information 

 - Reduced Costs with decreased resource usage 

 - Individual products include additional capability

• Moving to simplified architecture driving decreased resource utilization without losing current functions

 - V 5.1 Enhanced OMEGAMON Architecture (“New approach”)

   - Single Manager and User Interface across OMEGAMON family

 - V 4.x OMEGAMON Architecture (“Old School Approach”)

   - Multiple Address Spaces and User Interfaces across each OMEGAMON

• ISPF like but not ISPF same look, touch, feel for all monitors

 - Emulators with APL can be various display sizes

 - Bottleneck Analysis Workspace

• Customer Driven Development 

 - Customer programs: Work closely with OMEGAMON development as we build to ensure value and high-priority customer requirements 

   - OMEGAMON Customer Leadership Council - Quarterly calls

   - Requests for Enhancements (RFEs) - 30 day reviews - 90 day response 

 - Customer driven capability with new transparent development methodology driven by Agile processes 

Visit Service Management Connect at 

https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/groups/service/html/communityview?communityUuid=5e65990a-9690-42e2-93b1-c2267be7620c   

• Enhanced Configuration and Maintenance capability with ITM 6.2.3 Self-Describing Agents

 - Eliminate monitoring outages caused by ITM Server recycles 

 - Product upgrades/maintenance requires agent or RTEMS recycles only 

 - Eliminate maintenance upgrade errors: 

 - Applies to new installs, staged upgrades, and maintenance 

 - Crosschecks and validates version with installed data and framework 

 - Avoids inconsistent application data in ITM framework layers 

 - Self-describing framework extensible to new capabilities 

 - Eliminates application data DVDs and CDs: 

 - No extra distributed installs or upgrades for mainframe-centric customers

Faster, easier, less error-prone for improved reliability and productivity - reduce FTE

• How Self-Describing Agents works (ITM 6.2.3)

 - Application data files includes CAT/ATRs, TEP workspaces, queries, history collection, help, UI extensions (jar files) 

 - Application data files imbedded in monitoring agents and propagated to ITM servers 

 - Propagation executed only when a higher version is detected 

 - New application files, upgrades & updates installed without recycling servers 

 - PTFs deliver application data files with updated agent (always in sync) 

 - Eliminates install of mainframe application data files on distributed ITM servers

Self-Describing Agents have given 80% Improvement in FTE requirements

• Simplify Customer Driven Improvements with Installation and Configuration Enhancements for Parmgen - improve TTV

 - Removal of ICAT as the primary way to Install and Configure 1 

 - Install without need of a distributed server

 - Walks you through steps to complete configuration and customize a profile

 - Automatically updates hundreds of configuration artifacts according to profile, including Auto-discovery of system values

• PARMGEN – Quick Configuration Mode

 - Designed for the first time or inexperienced user, PARMGEN Quick Configuration mode will further simplify the configuration process for ITM based OMEGAMON products. Providing only required configuration options and enhanced configuration profiles 

PARMGEN – Enhanced model RTE profiles 

- Provide model RTE profiles in TKANSAM SMP/E target library.

 - The $MDL* profiles will already be set-up for System Variable symbolics. All product parameters will be pre configured in these model profiles.

• Roadmap - OMEGAMON 5.next

 - Modernized and strengthened OMEGAMON product line for reduced resource usage and faster problem resolution

 - Currency for upcoming STG, z/OS 2, CICS v 5.1, MB 9, IMS, and DB2

 - Toolkit capabilities for the enhanced 3270 User Interface

 - More parity between current TEP and e3270ui capabilities (NTH)

 - Improvements in installation and configuration with Parmgen

 - Data correlation between monitors focused on problem solving scenarios.

 - Additional zIIP enablement.

 - Transparent Development work with SMEs continues with the OMEGAMON Customer Leadership Council

 - Joint customer and development reviews to focused on working to prioritize value with additional capability

• Future Monitoring Strategy - Customer directed design focused on helping decrease costs and improve usage

 - Improve Dev Ops tooling with focus Areas for Improvement based on agile development and SME feedback.

 - Simplify: Eliminate complexity and frustration

 - Standardize: Align with Openstack, OSLC

 - Integrate: Move from silo monitoring towards composite views

 - Minimize: Reduce footprint, install, configuration, and CPU

 - Modernize: Provide Currency across the resources being managed focused on Problem

Solving and APM solutions

 - Customize: Personalize User Interface

• Moving Forward 

- Application Performance Management (APM) process is becoming more pro-active across the workloads: Currently - Sense and Isolate.

 - Evolving to include focus in these areas and lean processes:  

   Diagnose, Repair, Anticipate, Prevent 

• Reducing customer costs AND Improving performance

• The Truth about cutting costs with zIIPs

 - Other vendors sometimes hide consumption in system address spaces, often claiming “apples-to-oranges” comparative advantages

 - The Facts:

   - OMEGAMON has been exploiting zIIP offload for years.

   - OMEGAMON offloads processing for OMEGAMON z/OS, DB2, CICS, and Storage

   - OMEGAMON uses RMF as a data collector further reducing usage.

   - With version 5.1, OMEGAMON improved performance and reduced CPU usage in each monitor with improvement from 20%-50%

If you think your CPU utilization is too high, request an OMEGAMON Health Check. 

   We’d be happy to help tune your system.

• Reduce Costs

 - OMEGAMON utilize zIIPs and even leverages RMF collections to reduce usage 

   - It is our nature in IBM to improve and reduce costs

- OMEGAMON XE for IMS from v 4.2 to v 5.1

   - While Running the DSW (data systems workload at ~5000 TPS)

   - There was a reduction in CPU usage by about 45% in 510

   - There was a reduction in Classic's CPU usage by about 97% in 510

   - Storage usage dropped by about 96%.

 - OMEGAMON XE for CICS from v 4.2 to v 5.1

   - While Running eRWW (e-business Relational Warehouse Workload)

   - There was a reduction in CPU usage by about 22%.

   - As part of the ERWW workload and running

   - SLA processing running ST96 workload with zIIP enabled

   - There was a reduction in General Processor CPU usage by up to 70%.

 - OMEGAMON XE for MfN from v 4.2 to v 5.1

   - While Running the running the ~30k TN3270 sessions with Application workload modeler

   - Data collection for Gateway Routes

   - There was a reduction in CPU usage during data collection for gateway route information

by about 90%

   - Data collection for Interfaces - There was a reduction in CPU usage during data collection for interface information by about 77%

 - OMEGAMON XE for DB2 v 4.2 to v 5.1.1

   - Reduction in CPU for batch processing of 10%

   - Average reduction in CPU for real-time collection, depending on scenario, of about 30%

   - Using thread filtering, about 70%

   - Near Term History reduction of about 20%

   - Total memory usage reduction close to 5%

   - Below the bar memory reduction of about 10%

 - OMEGAMON XE on z/OS from v 4.2 to v 5.1

   - When the TEP workspace was refreshing every 30 seconds, there was a reduction in CPU usage by about 17% in 510 all while increasing collections for new metrics.

 - OMEGAMON XE for Messaging v 7.0 to v 7.1

   - Customers using situations this release were provided capability for synchronized collections and this reduced CPU usage by about 77%

• KOBSITEC – Enterprise Situations Panel

 - Customer now use e3270ui/ITM to PROACTIVE monitoring

 - Not have eyes on 30 screens looking at lights

 - Do not look at STATUS screens – Instead alerted on issues

 - Plus, simplification – reduction in the number of monitoring address spaces

• Sample Situations - Problem Solving with OMEGAMON Examples for zOS LPARs

 - Out of ECSA – LPAR crashes-Scenario - LPAR – ECSA – 92.7% Full

 - PPS -CPU Loop Warning - Finding and fixing z/OS Problem-Job CPU Looping

 - OMEGAMON XE for zOS 5.1.0 - USS Process gone WILD

 - Bottleneck Analysis and Inspect task to get to looping code 

 - OMEGAMON XE for zOS 5.1.0 - Running out of USS Processes on an LPAR

 - Finding and fixing z/OS Problem – Job Held Dataset

 - What is slowing down my business partner’s applications?

 - OMEGAMON XE for Messaging 7.1.0 - Queue Filled due to Application not started

• Summary:

 - OMEGAMON family – Integrated Performance Monitoring

   - Simplified architecture

   - Enhanced 3270

   - ParmGen

   - Self Describing Agents (SDA)

   - Improve Mean Time to Recovery

 - OMEGAMON 5.Next

 - Offload to zIIP

 - OM Problem Solving – enhanced 3270 user interface

• Contact Information

 - Joe Winterton of IBM - Work 919-224-1328 - Email: josephw@us.ibm.com 

    (OMEGAMON Release Manager)

 - Also thanks to Paul (Smitty) Smith of IBM - 919-224-1806 - Email: paulmsm@us.ibm.com 

• The presentation and discussions ended about 8:35 PM.

Treasurer’s Report for February 2014

contributed by Tommy Thomas

The balance in the account is $548.64 as of February 12, 2014.

Financial Report

3/01/2013 through 02/12/2014

Items of Interest

SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2014

contributed by Tommy Thomas and Chris Blackshire

Feb 25 - Subs

Mar 25 - BarBQ

Apr 29 - Pizza

May 20 - Chicken

June 24 - Subs

July 29 - BarBQ

Aug 25 - DBAP Buy Your Own (Monday night)

Sept 30 - Pizza

Oct 28 - Chicken

Dec 2 - Subs

Dec. 31 - No Meeting, Happy Holidays

SHARE Adds Another Hotel

contributed by Ed Webb

Registration is now open for SHARE in Anaheim, March 9-14, 2014. Join us for over 500 user-focused sessions, networking opportunities and hardware and software product highlights to stay at the forefront of the industry.

New Hotel Option

Hilton Anaheim

777 West Convention Way

Anaheim, CA 92802 

714.750.4321

$169 per night for single/double

Host to all technical sessions, networking events and the SHARE Technology Exchange Expo, the Anaheim Marriott has everything SHARE attendees need under one roof. 

Anaheim Marriott

700 W. Convention Way

Anaheim, CA 92802 

714.750.8000

$169/night [includes internet access]

$133/night for government employees (limited number available)

Redbooks Go Mobile

contributed by Ed Webb

A new mobile App is available to access RedBooks via your tablet or smartphone, iOS or Android.

“Features of the app include:

Read thousands of Redbooks publications, from classic Redbooks to the latest Solution Guides, Product Guides, Redguides, and more

Find Redbooks publications by those most recently published or updated, most popular, subject area, or publication type

Search within publications and create bookmarks

Save your favorite publications and organize them in convenient, customizable folders”

http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks.nsf/pages/mobileapp?Open

Southern CMG Returns to Raleigh in April - Mark Your Calendars!

contributed by Dan Squillace

This winter *will* end and a very-welcome Spring will come! This means our Southern CMG Regional meetings are approaching! We have two SCMG meetings scheduled in April.

Raleigh NC:        Friday, April 11^th

Richmond VA:   Thursday, April 17^th

Agendas are still in preparation. Meeting and registration information forthcoming.

IBM Ported Tools for z/OS Updated with Apache 8.5 Web Server

contributed by Ed Webb

After announcing the demise of the IBM HTTP Web Server Powered by Domino (usually known as HTTP 5.3), IBM has finally shipped the replacement IBM HTTP Server Powered by Apache as a feature of IBM Ported Tools for z/OS. The old HTTP will not ship in the next release of z/OS in 2015 so we still have time to update any code to the Apache HTTP.

Caution: Unfortunately the new Ported Tools 1.2.1. Apache Server 8.5 does not install correctly out of the box (that is, via CBPDO) so wait for the fix for APAR PI11659 before ordering the product.

And don’t forget to check out the new Redpaper that describes the Migration from Domino to Apache Web Server:

IBM HTTP Server on z/OS: Migrating from Domino-powered to Apache-powered

Revised: January 27, 2014

More details are available at 

http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpapers/abstracts/redp4987.html?Open 

Here’s the Ported Tools 1.2.1 announcement:

http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?subtype=ca&infotype=an&appname=iSource&supplier=897&letternum=ENUS214-041

SPARTA Review of the 2013 Speakers

contributed by Chris Blackshire

01/29/2013 Topic: z/OS Debugging Techniques. "Old Dogs And New Tricks". 

Webinar Remote Speaker: Patty Little, IBM

This was her SHARE Conference presentation.

02/26/2013 Topic: SHARE 120 (at San Francisco) Conference Reports

Speakers: Ed Webb of SAS and Brad Carson of LabCorp

03/26/2013 Topic: Latest IBM System z Technologies 

Speakers: Duane Reller and Zamir Gonzalez of IBM

04/30/2013 Topic: Performance Factors in Cloud Computing and the Mobile Workforce

Speaker: Laura Knapp of Applied Expert Systems (AES) Technologies

05/21/2013 Topic: Latest IOF Updates

Speaker: Jim Ott of Triangle Systems

06/25/2013 Topic: Omegamon Updates

Speakers: Paul Smith (Smitty), Sandeep Perumbuduri, Dean Butler, and Tom Howe of IBM

07/30/2013 Topic: Ivory Mainframe Integration and Data Access Tools

Speaker: Elizabeth Ray Stitt and Don Spoerke from GTSoftware

08/27/2013: Topic: SPARTA Night Out (Durham Bulls vs. Charlotte Knights)

Presenters: Our Durham Bulls at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. 

09/24/2013 Topic: SHARE 121 (at Boston) Conference Report

Speaker: Ed Webb of SAS Institute

10/29/2013 Topic: CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V5.1 Technical Overview

Speaker: Andre Clark and Edward Addison of IBM

11/19/2013 Topic: Can Capacity Planning and Finance Co-exist?

Webinar Remote Speaker: John Baker

Humor

Exophile

contributed by Chris Blackshire

“Exophile” is a word used to describe those who have a love for words, such as "you can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish", or "to write with a broken pencil is pointless." A competition to see who can come up with the best lexphillies is held every year in an undisclosed location. This year's winning submission is posted at the very end.

When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.

A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles U.C.L.A.

The batteries were given out free of charge.

A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail.

A will is a dead giveaway.

With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.

A boiled egg is hard to beat.

When you've seen one shopping Center you've seen a mall.

Police were called to a day care Center where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine is now fully recovered.

He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

When she saw her first strands of grey hair she thought she'd dye.

Acupuncture is a jab well done. That's the point of it.

And the cream of the wretched crop:

Those who get too big for their pants will be exposed in the end.

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

7 p.m.

LabCorp in the RTP

Take I-40 to Miami Boulevard and go north. Turn right onto 1912 T.W. 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:

The Control Editor

Speaker:

Jerry Seefeldt of NewEra Software

SPARTA News

P.O. Box 13194

Research Triangle Park, NC  27709-3194

First Class Postage

SPARTA Corporate Sponsors: