INTERSKILL MAINFRAME QUARTERLY Inside This Issue · Interskill Learning releases for 2012 included...

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INTERSKILL MAINFRAME QUARTERLY Feb 2013 Inside This Issue: Interskill Learning Planned New Curriculum and Updates for 2013 Interskill Learning Releases – 2012 z/OS 2.1…What’s in it for me? Is Your Data Center Career Cloudy? Vendor Briefs Tech-head Knowledge Test Learning Spotlight – zEnterprise Mainframe is King DevOps – Is this my future? technical: Using SMF Records to Identify High CPU Consumers 2 3 4 6 8 9 9 10 11 14

Transcript of INTERSKILL MAINFRAME QUARTERLY Inside This Issue · Interskill Learning releases for 2012 included...

Page 1: INTERSKILL MAINFRAME QUARTERLY Inside This Issue · Interskill Learning releases for 2012 included the following courses: • Cloud Computing for Data Centers • Introduction to

INTERSKILL MAINFRAME QUARTERLYFeb 2013

Inside This Issue:

Interskill Learning Planned New Curriculum and Updates for 2013

Interskill Learning Releases – 2012

z/OS 2.1…What’s in it for me?

Is Your Data Center Career Cloudy?

Vendor Briefs

Tech-head Knowledge Test

Learning Spotlight – zEnterprise

Mainframe is King

DevOps – Is this my future?

technical: Using SMF Records to Identify High CPU Consumers

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Welcome to the Interskill Mainframe QuarterlyInterskill Mainframe Quarterly is an e-Zine published by Interskill Learning, which provides world-class elearning Mainframe training programs for the Information Communications and Technology industry.

As a subscriber to Interskill Mainframe Quarterly you will receive an edition every three months which will include z/OS related articles for technical experts and management, and information on upcoming releases of Interskill’s Mainframe curriculum.

Interskill Learning Planned New Curriculum and Updates for 2013 Storage Fundamentals for Data CentersManaging the Storage NetworkParallel SysplexUnix System ServicesCA 1 Tape ManagementCA Workload Automation CA 7 EditionCA Workload Automation Restart Option for z/OS Schedulers ( formally CA11)CA ACF2CA SYSVIEW Performance ManagementCA OPS/MVS Event Management and AutomationCA EasytrieveCA Endevor Software Change ManagerCA ESP Workload AutomationDisaster RecoveryPerformance MonitoringCoaching and MentoringLinux on System zDASD Volume Initializationz/OS Version 2.1IBM Power Series – iSeries • Security Implementation• Journal Management• Storage Management• Logical Partitioning and Virtualization• Backup and Recovery• Problem Determination and Prevention in Production Support

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Interskill Learning Releases – 2012 Interskill Learning releases for 2012 included the following courses:

• Cloud Computing for Data Centers• Introduction to Mainframe Security• The z/OS Management Facility • The complete z/OS Series updated to V1.13 including:

• z/OS• z/Enterprise• JCL• TSO/ISPF• JES2• Console Simulations• SDSF• z/OS Systems Programming Fundamentals• Assessments

• A new z/OS Utilities series with new courses on VSAM, General Data Set Utilities, and Data Utilities

• New courses in the Power series for IBM i Operators and IBM i System Administrators including:

• Monitoring and Managing IBM i Workloads• Introduction to IBM i for System Operators• IBM i System Administration Fundamentals

• A new series of courses on Project Management

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• A new PDSE format that better utilizes space and is able to accommodate larger member sizes (over 125 times larger).

For System Programmers

• Using RMF and SMF features across a number of supported zEnterprise operating systems to provide a greater overall performance and capacity planning perspective.

• z/OSMF will provide access to more easily view and report on installed system software showing information such as end of service dates and fix status.

• Memory management overheads will be reduced with the introduction of 2GB pages.

• For long running address spaces, JES2 and SDSF will be able to support 4 billion spin data sets.

• Several new Health checks are introduced relating to security, diagnostic data related to system performance, catalog contention and virtual storage used by VLF.

For Storage Administrators

• Greater optimization of data through enhanced policy-based storage tiering.

• Improved tape and disk processing with enhancements to DFSMSdfp and DFSMShsm

For Programmers

• z/OS XL C/C++ contains new options to optimize code and new debug levels

• A new PARMDD DD statement allows more characters to be passed to a program being invoked through JCL

• JCL and system symbols will be able to be used more extensively in JES2 environments.

By Greg Hamlyn

After months of shrouded secrecy, details of IBM’s latest z/OS version to be released in September of this year have begun to emerge. SHARE’s recent conference in San Francisco contained several sessions relating to z/OS 2.1 including one from John Eells, titled “What’s new in z/OS 2.1?” IBM has also recently made a pre-announcement about z/OS 2.1 and its planned changes (links to both these items can be found at the end of this article).

So, with an overview of the planned changes, let’s look at some of what z/OS 2.1 has to offer different groups.

For Operators

• Multiple DFSMShsm migrated data sets will be recalled in parallel, reducing batch job times.

• Memory and storage functions within DFSORT have been optimized and increased.

• A new FORCE operand that allows the TCB address to be specified.

z/OS 2.1…

What’s in it for me?

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For Organizations

z/OS 2.1 offers organizations the usual improvements to security, performance, scalability and availability, whilst enhancing products making them more automated, intuitive and easier to use….something for everyone really.

The items above form only a small subset of the overall enhancements for z/OS 2.1. For more detailed information try the links below.

IBM z/OS 2.1 pre-announcement - http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=an&subtype=ca&appname=gpateam&supplier=760&letternum=ENUSJP13-0012

SHARE presentation handout - https://share.confex.com/share/120/webprogram/Session12728.html

Greg Hamlyn, a senior technical course designer and developer with Interskill, has over 25 years experience working in the mainframe and z/OS data center environments, having performed in numerous operational roles ranging from computer operator to national mainframe technical training manager for a large Government agency. He has presented at AFCOM and has written a number of articles relating to training methods and trends and everything that is z/OS.

You can contact him at [email protected]

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Is Your Data Center Career Cloudy?By Greg Hamlyn

In the first three installments of this four part series we discussed what the cloud actually is, how it can be configured, the affect that the cloud will have on data center jobs and how you can keep ahead of the game by undertaking training, joining online communities, attending conferences or even obtaining some certification. In this last installment we look into the crystal ball to see where the cloud is traveling to and whether this is where you want to be!

Present day Cloud

When cloud computing first emerged, the trend was towards the public cloud offering as it was seen where considerable cost savings could be made. As the market began to mature and the realization that the data security and regulatory issues were not going to be quickly or easily resolved, organizations looked at the other benefits to be gained from implementing a cloud structure and the private cloud was born. Since then, depending on the requirements of the organization, a public, private or hybrid approach has been satisfying all those involved, but where is this IT shift taking us?

Wanting more

For those with children, the concept of wanting more should be common knowledge. The same goes for IT consumers. New products and services are released onto the market and within a short period of time are superseded by something that is easier to use or faster. Everyone wants more information, on mobile devices, more quickly, without having to worry so much about the infrastructure it is stored or processed on. The cloud is the vehicle that can deliver this promise.

Future of the cloud

Some crystal ball gazing at what the cloud will and will not do for us in the future:• Everything is going to move to the cloud,

in one form or another• Mobile applications and not on-site

installed software, will be used for obtaining the information we need

• There will be some organizations that never use a public cloud, even if data security and regulatory compliance is nailed down by a cloud vendor

• Applications and tools become smarter, where they can utilize resources better and work automatically on your behalf

• Flexible hybrid models will allow organizations to use resources that best benefit the customers and the business

So what does this mean for future Data Center jobs?

As data centers become more automated and standardized as a result of cloud implementations, less manual labor will be required but the following types of jobs should be popular;

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Managers/Project ManagersWhile automation and cloud outsourcing will remove many of the hands-on tasks, the ongoing management of the environment will still be required. As new cloud initiatives and technology appears, project managers will be required to assess whether the technology is suitable and the benefits it could bring to the organization or their individual business unit. These skills will become transportable across the organizations and provide internal stakeholders with cloud solutions to suit their requirements.

ConsultantsWhere there is no internal expertise to run, manage and plan your organization’s cloud environment, consultants will be required. Administration and technical support positions are likely to be the main areas where this type of outsourcing will be required. If you are currently employed in this field by a private organization, then the future might not necessarily be with them, but performing for large cloud outsourcers that treat you as a resource that can be on-sold to customers.

DevelopersBecause the future seems to point to a mobile world, application developers and programmer positions will see the most growth within the data center.

Security AnalystsAs discussed in an earlier installment of this article, the security and regulatory compliance issues are becoming more complicated with more data tending to be processed or stored offsite. Security Analysts will need to skill themselves to manage such an environment.

After reading this entire article you can see how the cloud is only beginning to get

moving and that traditional data center jobs will need to evolve to survive…don’t be shy to accept a role in cloud-related projects that your organization may be considering. It could kick start your new career.

…and by the way, I don’t need a crystal ball to predict that a cloud vendor will experience issues where data is hacked or accidentally leaked from their system!

Greg Hamlyn, a senior technical course designer and developer with Interskill, has over 25 years experience working in the mainframe and z/OS data center environments, having performed in numerous operational roles ranging from computer operator to national mainframe technical training manager for a large Government agency. He has presented at AFCOM and has written a number of articles relating to training methods and trends and everything that is z/OS.

You can contact him at [email protected]

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of personnel including Data Center Managers, System Programmers, Database Administrators, Storage Administrators, Security Specialists and Application Programmers. Having attended this myself previously, I can recommend this as money well spent.

CA Technologies

CA World ‘13 (Las Vegas – April)All the latest data center related hot topics are on offer in this 4 day conference including: Cloud, mobile computing, big data, and DevOps. In fact, there are few data center job roles that wouldn’t benefit in some way from the 500 sessions on offer. So, if you are involved in tasks such as workload automation, cloud management, database administration, system or component performance monitoring or management, then there are plenty of hands-on labs and discussions to keep your interest.

Vendor-neutral

SHARE (San Francisco – February and Boston - August)This event spans 6 days and provides the attendee with workshops and information sessions relating to application development, CICS management, z/OS and z/VM systems programming, virtualization as well as looking at trends such as mobile computing, and the cloud. If you are too busy or have other commitments at the time of this conference, SHARE provides the capability to attend virtually, enabling you to access feature topics via webcast. A single virtual conference registration allows several people from your organization to access sessions relating to their area of expertise…..certainly well worth thinking about.

Vendor BriefsThe last few months have been very quiet on the product release front, with the focus being on tools/products that can be used to identify and resolve performance problems in different areas. Compuware have released two versions of APM for Mainframe, one which can be used for monitoring CICS applications, while the other monitors java applications. CA Technologies meanwhile has released a new version of its Mainframe Application Tuner, which provides the user with a powerful GUI interface with drill down diagnostic offerings.

With little happening, I thought that it might be a good opportunity to look at conferences and tradeshows that the major players will be involved with this year. This will give you a head start to identify the value they might provide to you, and to convince your boss that you need to attend.

IBM

2013 IBM System z Technical Symposium (New Orleans – May)As you would expect, this 3 day event covers technical topics relating to the EC12 and operating systems z/OS, z/VM and Linux on System z, as well as a management track focusing on the business benefits and smarter computing demands. Some details on the new z/OS version V2R1 (to be released later in the year) will also be provided along with its benefits.

2013 IBM System z Technical University (Munich – June and Orlando – October)This 4.5 day event delves more deeply into System z key hardware and software and includes aspects on implementation, configuration, monitoring and management. Topics are suitable for a wide range

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AFCOM (Las Vegas – April/May and Brisbane – August/September)AFCOM’s Data Center World is a more high level conference catering for management groups associated with Disaster Recovery, Security, Operations, Facilities and Network/Communications. This conference provides vendor neutral tracks on latest trends, best practices and real time solutions whilst providing face-to-face access to fellow management professionals.

Gartner Data Center Conference 2013 (Las Vegas – December)The dust has only just settled from Gartner’s 2012 Data Center conference where a wide range of conference sessions, Q & As, workshops, round table discussions and even one-on-ones, provided Operations, Facilities, Infrastructure, Storage and Business Continuity personnel with access to vendor-neutral experts in the field. I especially like the user case studies, where theory is put to the test.

So, whether you are new in the job or a seasoned professional looking to expand your skills, knowledge or network of like-minded people, one of the tradeshows above is sure to suit. Note that these days many of the tradeshows mentioned here will also have links to documents or information you can use to justify attendance to your boss!

Tech-head Knowledge Test With every release of this newsletter a mini online test will be provided of a product that you are likely to be using in the workplace. You may want to challenge your work colleagues or just want to confirm your own knowledge! The test for this newsletter focuses on the use of JCL and IDCAMS when dealing with VSAM data sets, and consists of 15 questions. Click the link below to start.

Managing VSAM Data Sets

Learning Spotlight – zEnterpriseIBM continues to reinvent itself providing hardware and software that pushes the boundaries (its latest EC12 processor for example, has a processing capability of 78,000 MIPS…think about how fast that actually is!). The zEnterprise system, which was released in 2010, signaled the integration of several heterogeneous platforms under the management of the mainframe. Fast forward to 2013 where the zEnterprise EC12 is the most powerful and technologically advanced IBM enterprise system ever to exist.

The module that we have provided for you here is What is the zEnterprise?, which describes the characteristics of the zEnterprise, its major components and new terminology associated with this technology.

We hope you enjoy it.

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Mainframe is KingSo how did you go with the mainframe crossword that was in our previous newsletter?

Here is the solution.

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all, we are looking for a candidate that is passionate about DevOps and a strong believer in the concept “infrastructure as code”.

Primary Responsibilities:• Building and improving our automated

infrastructure through Chef• Improving site performance, monitoring,

and overall stability of our platform• Supporting our application development

and operations teams to meet infrastructure needs

• Improving our deployment and release processes

• Troubleshooting site issues

Actually, in its purest intent DevOps is really just a merging or realignment of tasks associated with these two traditionally siloed groups to provide a more agile environment where software can be developed, tested, and implemented into production more reliably and in a much shorter time frame.

Why is DevOps needed?

Consider this all too common scenario: an application that the development team has created is passed to the operations team for deployment into production. The operations team creates the deployment scripts and begins rolling it out. Unfortunately there is an error and development is contacted (in the middle of the night). Each team is adamant that the other is to blame for the problem as their processes and testing did not show up any issues.

This type of scenario can result in the delay of a product to market or at very worst system performance or downtime issues. DevOps is all about creating an environment where aspects of each group’s tasks are integrated from the beginning of the project.

DevOps – Is this my future?By Greg Hamlyn

Chances are that at some stage over the last couple of years you may have seen a DevOps job advertised or heard management discussing how a DevOps environment can provide benefits to your organization. There has also been plenty of hype in the media and even conferences have sprung up on the topic, but what is DevOps and should you be prepared for its implementation?

In this article we clear the air about what DevOps is (and what it isn’t); its benefits, what it means to you, and how you can increase your knowledge on this topic.

What is DevOps?There seems to be quite a bit of confusion in defining what DevOps actually is. Some may see it as a new super Data Center professional that can undertake application development and system administration/operations tasks (and in the process save money by combining two jobs into one). A look at Dice job boards currently shows over 200 jobs relating to DevOps, so there might be something in this definition!

DevOps Technician

Position Summary:Our progressive company is seeking a DevOps Technician to join our team. We’ve already invested in automating many parts of our infrastructure and deployment systems but we’re looking for you to help us make them even better. Our DevOps group strives to improve our processes so our applications development and operations teams can work smarter and faster. Above

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Is DevOps real?

So, is DevOps something that you should stand up and take notice of, or is it just hype? There is certainly no shortage of people pushing the DevOps barrow although personally, I see DevOps as just another step in the IT staffing model….where job roles evolve to match continuous improvement methods that will meet the overall goals of the organization. This may be the developer being given more responsibility to implement their own program into production (with operations performing the on-going monitoring of it), or it could be operations being presented with the opportunity to undertake some coding that will improve part of the process.

I think that many successful organizations have already identified the need for DevOps and implemented this type of structure (whether they have called it this is not really relevant). A number of others are most likely waiting to see whether it catches on.

Will everyone implement DevOps?

So far I have painted DevOps in a favorable light making it sound as though it is simple to implement.

In reality, development and operations groups are quite culturally different. The development team’s goals are to create a useful application and have it implemented as quickly as possible so that the organization can take advantage of market conditions…in other words they are change merchants. The operations group on the other hand is responsible for ensuring the system is available and that it provides the performance expected…something that constant change will challenge.

Apart from this cultural issue there are a number of other barriers that some organizations will find too hard to jump, in order to install this type of structure:

• If the value of DevOps is not sold to, and understood by, the major stakeholders within the organization, then it will not get off the ground.

• DevOps may be considered a still evolving practice and not stable enough to implement.

• The work required to implement it is going to take too long and will be too expensive.

So, you may find that DevOps has no affect on you at all, but it will certainly pay for you to take notice of what it is looking to achieve and to address these issues where you can before they are thrust onto you.

How can you get involved with DevOps?

If you think that DevOps is something that you or your organization can benefit from, then there are a number of places that

PRE DevOps

Application Development

Operations

Creating new programs quickly

in response to the organization’s

need.

CHANGE

Ensuring that the system is stable

and available. Any new chages that can affect this.

STABILITY

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can assist you with building your skills and knowledge:

• devopsdays.org is a site that lists international conference dates, and provides access to presentations and blogs relating to the DevOps movement. There are several other conferences that are either dedicated or have integrated DevOps into their agenda.

• A book called The Phoenix Project: A novel about IT, DevOps and helping your business win, has received rave reviews and tackles the traditional problems associated with disconnected IT teams, told from the viewpoint of fictional characters. Currently, a search through Amazon will highlight only a few other quality books that have been produced on this topic, but as interest in DevOps increases, so should this library.

• You won’t have any trouble locating any DevOps blogs through Google….try puppetlabs.com/blog and search for DevOps for plenty of good quality posts.

Anyone in IT these days should be looking at constantly evaluating the tasks they perform, and how it relates to the overall effectiveness of the organization. DevOps looks to be a good example of this.

Interskill is giving away 10 free copies of “The Phoenix Project”. Send through your name and email address [email protected] with “DevOps” as the subject by the end of March 2013 to be entered into the draw. Or call 770.872.4278 for more information and to register for the draw. Winners will be notified by email and will appear in our next newsletter.

Greg Hamlyn, a senior technical course designer and developer with Interskill, has over 25 years experience working in the mainframe and z/OS data center environments, having performed in numerous operational roles ranging from computer operator to national mainframe technical training manager for a large Government agency. He has presented at AFCOM and has written a number of articles relating to training methods and trends and everything that is z/OS.

You can contact him at [email protected]

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technical: Using SMF Records to Identify High CPU ConsumersBy David Stephens, Lead Systems Programmer at Longpela Expertise

Most mainframe users are using Sub-Capacity licensing: paying for big ticket software such as z/OS, DB2 and CICS based on the z/OS system CPU usage. Sub-Capacity licensing has changed the landscape for software costs, offering software licensing cost savings for sites that can reduce their processor usage. When tuning to reduce CPU usage, the first step is to get a ‘hit list’ – a list of high CPU users that could provide the largest CPU savings. This article looks at three different SMF records, and they can, or can’t, be used to identify the big CPU users.

SMF Type 70

SMF Type 70 records have been around for ages – certainly far before I started working with mainframes. This trusty old favourite shows total z/OS system-level statistics. In particular, it shows how log each central processor (CP) was busy, and how long idle. From this information, we can get an accurate picture of the entire z/OS system

CPU usage – including batch, TSO, systems and z/OS itself.This doesn’t sound too exciting when trying to identify the big CPU users – you need to know CPU usage for each product or address space, not the entire system. However for Sub-Capacity users, Type 70 is your first port of call.

I know what you’re thinking: “I can see this from IBMs SCRT output.” And you’re right. In fact, IBMs Sub-Capacity Reporting Tool (SCRT) uses Type 70 records itself to find this information. However some users, such as outsourcing customers, may not get to see SCRT reports. And personally, I like to see an overall picture in case there are some extra peaks that don’t show up in SCRT reports. There’s not much point tuning one peak when there’s a second peak almost as high. In this case, both peaks must be tuned together. So armed with a graph like the one above, I can pick periods to tune.

SMF Type 89

It’s easy to get excited about SMF Type 89 records. A relatively new record type, it stores the CPU of each registered Sub-Capacity product over time. This is the mainstay of IBMs SCRT tool, and must be activated in any Sub-Capacity system. Any Sub-Capacity software product registers using the IFAUSAGE macro, and voila! Type 89 records are recorded for that product.Reporting software such as Merrill’s MXG, IBM TDSz and CA MICS all include features that can be used to process SMF Type 89 records. But here’s the thing – I’m not a fan of Type 89 records. Sure, they sound exciting, but they only show the CPU usage for a total product. And yes, from APAR OA31615 in 2011, they also show zAAP/zIIP time. But that’s where it ends. Want to know which

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IMS address space is using all the CPU? Type 89 can’t help. Want to know what could have been offloaded to a zAAP/zIIP if one was installed? No use here either. The biggest disadvantage is that SMF Type 89 only records registered Sub-Capacity product use. So if a non-Sub-Capacity or home-grown module is pushing up your CPU usage, SMF Type 89s won’t help you.The good news is that there’s an SMF record that will.

SMF Type 30

SMF Type 30 records report CPU usage for each job step. There are a couple of types, but the most interesting for our purposes is the Type 30 Interval record. This record is produced regularly (how regularly depends on your SMFPRMxx parmlib member, but usually every 15-30 minutes), or at job step end. So using SMF Type 30 records, we can find the CPU used for each job step every 15-30 minute period.All reporting software includes features to process SMF Type 30 interval records. However there will be a lot of these records – and I mean a lot.To handle this, I first select a 1-2 hour period that I am about to tune. This is where that graph I created earlier from Type 70 records comes in. I then collect all the SMF Type 30 records for that period, and process them to produce a list like this:

This doesn’t look particularly helpful does it? No job names, no timestamps, nothing. However it’s all we need to identify the big CPU users.

When tuning for CPU, we’re looking for programs that are consuming a lot of CPU. And by program, I mean the program from the EXEC PGM=xxx JCL statement for the job step. Now, some of these programs will be long running programs called once. CICS is a classic example of this. However some may be short running programs called many times. A program using only 1 CPU second, but called 2000 times is just as interesting as a single program using 2000 CPU seconds. To give an example, at one site I found a home-grown assembler program, called from automatically submitted batch that consumed only one CPU second each time. However this batch job was called over 2000 times during a one-hour peak window. Yes, after finding it, I spent the next few days reducing that program’s CPU usage.

So, we now have a list that shows the big CPU using programs over our 1-2 hour period. We need to translate these programs into something a little more useful. How can we do this? Manual labour.

With experience, I know most of the program names, and can find out the rest by tracking down the job running the program, or the library name holding the module. For example, DFHSIP is CICS, DFSRRC00 is IMS, DSNYASCP is DB2, and ARCCTL is DFSMShsm . The SMF Type 30 record also has the job name and RACF user name, which may help in identifying the product.

Once I know what each high-using program is used for, I can then drill down further. And our SMF Type 30 records can also help here. They record information including the JES job identifier (which can be used

Rank12345678910

ProgramDFSRRC00DSNYASCPARCCTLIKJEFT01IGG0CLX0SASSSLOADUTIL0028SSLOADIXCINJST

CPU Secs202,145112,13480,34550,5418,1007,6326,2085,9505,5884,063

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to determine the type of job: batch, TSO user, APPC task, USS process etc.), the zAAP/zIIP eligible CPU time (if you want to see if buying a zAAP/zIIP will save you money), and even I/O counts (in case you’re also paying by EXCPs). So if CICS usage it high, I can find the CICS region responsible, and then use CICS monitors to find out more. Similarly if IMS usage is high, I can determine if it is the IMS control region, DBRC, MPPs or BMPs. From there, I can do more detailed analysis.

Conclusion

When tuning mainframe systems, sometimes the basics are still the best. Although there are a lot of software products and tools to help you tune your mainframe systems, old-fashioned processing of SMF records is still one of your most powerful tools. Whenever attempting a project to reduce CPU usage, the first step is to find the big CPU users. Basic processing of SMF Type 70 and 30 Interval records can be used to find the programs using the most CPU. From here, more detailed tuning can be done to reduce their consumption.

Source:LongEx Mainframe Quarterly - November 2012, Retrieved fromhttp://www.longpelaexpertise.com.au/ezine/HighCPUFromSMF.php

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