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Best Practices Guide 12.6.00, Third Edition

CA Vantage™ Storage Resource Manager

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Copyright © 2014 CA. All rights reserved. All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.

CA Technologies Product References

The CA Vantage SRM guides refer to the following CA Technologies products and components:

■ CA 1® Tape Management (CA 1)

■ CA 7™ Workload Automation (CA 7)

■ CA ACF2™ for z/OS (CA ACF2)

■ CA Allocate™ DASD Space and Placement (CA Allocate)

■ CA ARCserve® Backup (CA ARCserve)

■ CA ASTEX™ Performance (CA ASTEX)

■ CA Auditor for z/OS (CA Auditor)

■ CA Chorus™ (CA Chorus)

■ CA Chorus™ for Storage Management (CA Chorus for Storage Management)

■ CA Chorus™ Software Manager (CA CSM)

■ CA Compress™ Data Compression (CA Compress)

■ CA CREWS™ Catalog Recovery (CA CREWS)

■ CA Datacom®/AD (CA Datacom/AD)

■ CA Datacom®/DB (CA Datacom/DB)

■ CA Disk™ Backup and Restore (CA Disk)

■ CA Tape Encryption

■ CA Enterprise Backup

■ CA Graphical Management Interface (CA GMI)

■ CA Hyper-Buf® VSAM Buffer Optimizer (CA Hyper-Buf VSAM BO)

■ CA IDMS™/DB (CA IDMS/DB)

■ CA MasterCat™ VSAM Catalog Management (CA MasterCat)

■ CA MIM™ Resource Sharing (CA MIM)

■ CA OPS/MVS® Event Management and Automation (CA OPS/MVS)

■ CA PDSMAN® PDS Library Management (CA PDSMAN)

■ CA Portal

■ CA Service Desk

■ CA Storage Resource Manager (CA SRM)

■ CA SYSVIEW® Performance Management (CA SYSVIEW)

■ CA Encryption Key Manager

■ CA TCPaccess™ Telnet Server for z/OS (CA TCPaccess)

■ CA TLMS® Tape Management (CA TLMS)

■ CA Top Secret® for z/OS (CA Top Secret)

■ CA Vantage™ Storage Resource Manager (CA Vantage SRM)

■ CA Vantage™ Storage Resource Manager Allocation Option (CA Vantage SRM Allocation Option)

■ CA Vantage™ Storage Resource Manager Automation Option (CA Vantage SRM Automation Option)

■ CA Vantage™ Storage Resource Manager Database Option (CA Vantage SRM Database Option)

■ CA Vantage™ Storage Resource Manager Tape Resource Option (CA Vantage SRM Tape Resource Option)

■ CA Vantage™ Storage Resource Manager Host Configuration Client (Config Client)

■ CA Vantage™ Storage Resource Manager Web Client (Web Client)

■ CA Vantage™ Storage Resource Manager Windows Client (Windows Client)

■ CA Vantage™ Storage Resource Manager Interface for Adabas (CA Vantage SRM Interface for Adabas)

■ CA Vantage™ Storage Resource Manager Interface for DFSMShsm (CA Vantage SRM Interface for DFSMShsm)

■ CA Vantage™ Storage Resource Manager Interface for CA Disk™ (CA Vantage SRM Interface for CA Disk)

■ CA Vantage™ Storage Resource Manager Interface for USS (CA Vantage SRM Interface for USS)

■ CA Vtape™ Virtual Tape System (CA Vtape)

Documentation Changes

The following documentation updates have been made since the last release of this documentation:

■ Use Delta Objects (see page 27)—Overview, business value, and additional considerations for Delta Objects

Contact CA Technologies

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■ Other helpful resources appropriate for your product

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Best Practices Guide Process

These best practices are based on customer experience reported through interviews with development, technical support, and technical services. Therefore, many of these best practices are a collaborative effort stemming from customer feedback.

To continue to build on this process, we encourage you to share common themes of product use that might benefit other users. Please consider sharing your best practices with us.

To share your best practices, contact us at [email protected] and preface your email subject line with "Best Practices for product name" so that we can easily identify and categorize them.



Contents 7

Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction 9

Purpose of this Guide ................................................................................................................................................... 9

Audience ...................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Mainframe 2.0 Overview.............................................................................................................................................. 9

Mainframe 2.0 Features ............................................................................................................................................. 10

Chapter 2: Installation and Configuration Best Practices 13

Installation .................................................................................................................................................................. 13

Use CA MSM ........................................................................................................................................................ 13

Install the Subsystem Software on Your z/OS Host First ..................................................................................... 14

Use CA Vantage SRM Security Features .............................................................................................................. 15

Configuration for Optimal Performance .................................................................................................................... 15

Use a Centralized Windows Client Environment ................................................................................................ 16

Use Centralized Environment Scanning and Reporting Functions ...................................................................... 17

Optimize Automated Space Management .......................................................................................................... 19

Trap and Monitor DFSMShsm Messages in Real-time ........................................................................................ 20

Use Summary Objects ......................................................................................................................................... 22

Use Joined Objects .............................................................................................................................................. 25

Use Delta Objects ................................................................................................................................................ 27

Avoid CPU and Memory Constraints ................................................................................................................... 29

Run System and Audit Scripts Appropriately ...................................................................................................... 31

Use the Warmstart Facility.................................................................................................................................. 32

Monitor CA Vantage SRM and its Resource Usage ............................................................................................. 33

Perform Routine Maintenance to Remove Uncataloged Duplicate Data Sets .................................................... 35

Monitor the CA Vantage SRM Health Checks ..................................................................................................... 39

Index 43


Chapter 1: Introduction

This section contains the following topics:

Purpose of this Guide (see page 9) Audience (see page 9) Mainframe 2.0 Overview (see page 9) Mainframe 2.0 Features (see page 10)

Purpose of this Guide

The guide provides a brief introduction to the CA Technologies mainframe management strategy and features, and describes the best practices for installing and configuring CA Vantage SRM.

Audience

The intended audience of this guide is systems programmers and administrators who install, configure, deploy, and maintain CA Vantage SRM.

Mainframe 2.0 Overview

Mainframe 2.0 is our strategy for providing leadership in the mainframe operating environment. We intend to lead the mainframe marketplace for customer experience, Out-Tasking solutions, and solution innovation. After listening to customer needs and requirements to keep the mainframe operating environment viable and cost-effective, we are providing new tools to simplify usage and to energize this operating environment for years to come.

CA Mainframe Software Manager™ (CA MSM) is an important step in realizing the Mainframe 2.0 strategy. CA MSM simplifies and standardizes the delivery, installation, and maintenance of mainframe products on z/OS systems. CA MSM has a browser-based user interface (UI) with a modern look and feel for managing those solutions. As products adopt Mainframe 2.0 features and CA MSM services, you can acquire, install, and manage your software in a common way.

CA MSM provides software acquisition and installation that make it easier for you to obtain and install CA mainframe products, and apply the recommended maintenance. The services within CA MSM enable you to manage your software easily based on industry accepted best practices. The common browser-based UI makes the look and feel of the environment friendly and familiar.

Mainframe 2.0 Features

10 Best Practices Guide

We follow the IBM z/OS packaging standards using SMP/E, with some additional CA qualities of service added, to make installation simple and consistent. Additionally, through the synchronization of product releases and the use of common test environments, we will declare a yearly mainframe software stack that includes many new releases with enhanced functionality. This stack is certified for interoperability across the CA mainframe product portfolio and the base IBM z/OS product stack.


Mainframe 2.0 has the following main features:

CA Mainframe Software Manager (CA MSM)

Delivers simplified acquisition, installation, and deployment capabilities using a common z/OS-based web application delivered through a browser-based UI. CA MSM includes the following services:

Product Acquisition Service (PAS)

Facilitates the acquisition of our mainframe products and services, including product base installation packages and program temporary fixes (PTFs). This service integrates the inventory of products available on your system with CA Support, providing a seamless environment for managing and downloading software and fixes onto your system.

Software Installation Service (SIS)

Facilitates the installation and maintenance of our mainframe products in the software inventory of the driving system. This service enables you to browse and manage the software inventory using a web interface, and automates tasks for products that use SMP/E to manage installation. You can browse downloaded software packages, and browse and manage one or more consolidated software inventories (CSIs) on the driving system.

Software Deployment Service (SDS)

Facilitates the deployment of CA Technologies mainframe products from the software inventory of the driving system. This service enables you to deploy installed products that are policy-driven with a set of appropriate transport mechanisms across a known topology. The enterprise system topology can include shared DASD environments, networked environments, and z/OS systems. Policies represent a combination of metadata input and user-supplied input. Metadata input identifies the component parts of a product. User-supplied input identifies the deployment criteria, such as where it goes and what it is named.

Electronic Software Delivery (ESD)

Enables you to get our products from an FTP server. We have improved this process so that you no longer need to build a tape to install the product.



Best Practices Management

Integrates with IBM Health Checker for z/OS to verify that deployed software follows our best practices. The health checks continually monitor the system and software to provide feedback on whether the software continues to be configured optimally.

Best Practices Guide

Provides best practices for product installation and configuration.

Note: For additional information about the CA Mainframe 2.0 initiative, see http://ca.com//mainframe2.

http://www.ca.com/us/mainframe-automation.aspx

http://www.ca.com/us/mainframe-automation.aspx


Chapter 2: Installation and Configuration Best Practices

This section contains the following topics:

Installation (see page 13) Configuration for Optimal Performance (see page 15)

Installation

This section covers some installation best practices for CA Vantage SRM.

Use CA MSM

Use CA MSM to acquire, install, and maintain CA Vantage SRM.

Business Value:

CA MSM provides a web interface that works with ESD to provide a common way to install and maintain CA mainframe products. It is no longer necessary to have specialized knowledge on how to install individual products.

CA MSM downloads products and maintenance releases over the Internet directly to your system much more quickly than previous installation methods. Specialized SMP/E knowledge is not required because the user interface automatically generates and submits the SMP/E tasks for the user.

Additional Considerations:

After you install CA Vantage SRM using CA MSM, use the Configuration Guide to set it up. CA MSM can continue to help you maintain your product.

More Information:

For more information about CA MSM, see the CA Mainframe Software Manager Guide. For more information about product setup, see the Configuration Guide.

Installation


Install the Subsystem Software on Your z/OS Host First

You should install the subsystem software on your z/OS host first, then the Windows Client.

Business Value:

It is easier and more time-efficient to install the z/OS subsystem first, followed by the Windows Client. This is because a functioning TCP/IP address and port must be available for the z/OS subsystem before the Windows Client can be used. Also, the z/OS subsystem enables the host Config Client which will be immediately available to assist users with configuration tasks once the Windows Client is installed.


CA GMI is a subset of CA Vantage SRM that enables certain functionality for a range of qualified CA products that are running on the same z/OS LPAR.

When CA Vantage SRM detects these other qualified CA products are present in the LPAR it automatically enables its interface with them for general viewing capabilities.

To install CA Vantage SRM or CA GMI, you need to install both the z/OS software and the PC software.

Instructions for installing CA Vantage SRM or CA GMI are provided in the Installation Guide. The installation relies on standard SMP/E procedures: RECEIVE, APPLY, and ACCEPT for z/OS; and the standard Windows Installer set up wizard for the PC.

The software installations consist of the following:

■ Install the subsystem software on your z/OS host

You can access the host subsystem from a 3270 terminal (emulator) using the built-in VTAM application, but we recommend you use the Windows Client which gives you additional capabilities thereby allowing you to take full advantage of the product functionality.

■ Install the PC Client Software and CA Vantage SRM documentation set

When you install the Windows Client, the CA Vantage SRM documentation set and the Config Client are also automatically installed and available for use.

You can install the PC clients using ESD, the installation CD, or by downloading the Windows Client from CA Support.

The Windows Client setup wizard guides you through the installation.

More Information:

See the chapter "Customization" in the Windows Client Guide and the chapter “Host Setup for New Customers” in the Installation Guide.

Configuration for Optimal Performance


Use CA Vantage SRM Security Features

Use full CA Vantage SRM security features to manage user access and authority.

Business Value

Whether you are using CA ACF2, CA Top Secret, or IBM's RACF, when you activate the security features of CA Vantage SRM, the product can control who logs on, what objects they can access, and allow them to perform actions upon the objects while maintaining a secure environment.


Basic CA Vantage SRM security features are activated by turning on the appropriate CA Vantage SRM VKGPARMS of SECURRES and SECURITY.

Resource facilities are used to deny or grant access. The resource name SYSSSM.FUNC controls access to all objects. Users that have ALTER access specified for this resource can access all objects. You can use three additional resource facilities to control access to DASD actions, tape actions, and job spool objects. To activate these extended features for full customization and flexibility, review the following VKGPARMS: SECURSCR, SECURHSM, SECURPFX, SPOADMIN, STGADMIN, TAPADMIN, TMCDSNCK, VTPDSNCK, and DBADMIN.

More Information:

For more information, see the topic Methodology for Defining Access Rules to Objects in the Reference Guide. For more information about the security feature, see the topic Security Topics in the Reference Guide. For more information about system parameters (VKGPARMS), see the Configuration Guide.


This section describes configuration options, tips, and hints to optimize the use of CA Vantage SRM. To configure CA Vantage SRM, follow the instructions in the Configuration Guide.



Use a Centralized Windows Client Environment

If you have multiple CA Vantage SRM users, and expect they will work together in a shared single work group environment then you should use a centralized Windows Client setup.

Business Value:

The centralized Windows Client environment improves the efficiency of storage management teams by allowing all user-created views and reports to be automatically shared. Trend data can also be shared so it needs to be collected only once. CA Vantage SRM can be started from any machine where the Windows Client is installed and any team member's settings can be loaded there.


The Windows Client keeps all definitions (object definitions, user views, reports, and so on) in the following two working directories:

■ Central

■ Database

To centralize your workgroup environment, place a single copy of these working directories for all Windows Clients on a network drive. To enable recovery in case of a disaster, be sure to register the locations of these working directories in your company backup procedure.

This centralized Windows Client environment covers the following two scenarios:

■ The workgroup members have equal rights. Each person can define user views, reports, and so on. One person volunteers to run the Scheduler and manages all scheduled tasks.

■ One workgroup member plays the administrator role. This person defines user views and reports, runs the Scheduler and takes care of all scheduled tasks, and so on. All the other members just use the existing definitions.



To establish the centralized Windows Client environment

1. With your system administrator, determine where to put the working directories (file server and folder). These are referred to as the Windows Client Central directory and the Database directory. Make sure the location is shared and accessible for all the workgroup members.

2. Each time you install a Windows Client, you are asked where the Central directory and the Database directory used by the Windows Client should be located. Point to this remote location for the Central directory and the Database directory.

All installations of the Windows Client point to the common remote directory location for the Central directory and the Database directory.

Note: If you have already installed the Windows Client on a PC and want to set it up to use the centralized Windows Client environment, then reinstall the Windows Client on that PC and follow this procedure.

More Information:

See the section Central Database in the Windows Client Guide.

Use Centralized Environment Scanning and Reporting Functions

Use a single CA Vantage SRM scan to scan the z/OS storage environment for reporting purposes.

Business Value:

Total combined CPU and I/O resources can be reduced by replacing the multiple individual scans with one common scan. Using a single scan improves efficiency and conserves mainframe resources which can help reduce costs.


Use the CA Vantage SRM Scheduler function to email the desired reports automatically to all the users that require them, or automatically update a web site with the report information. This approach can be used for both DASD and tape management systems.

To set up centralized z/OS environment scanning and reporting functions

1. Identify programs that scan the storage environment. Examples are CA Disk, IBM DCOLLECT, Innovation FDREPORT, or various user SAS and REXX programs. Find out the information that they provide, and how often.



2. Ensure that the CA Vantage SRM collectors for the information you need are operating. The most common collectors for the DASD environment are:

Data Set information (DTOC)

Set the DTCINTVL system parameter to the desired frequency.

Storage Group and Volume Information

Set the PAWINTVL system parameter to the desired frequency.

If reporting is needed by data set groupings (such as applications or departments), use the Config Client to define Data Set Groups. Configure the GRPSTATS system script to operate with the desired frequency. Be careful when defining Data Set Groups and review the GRPOVLAP systems parameter because numerous overlapping groups can impact CPU usage.

Collections can also be scheduled for other information, such as:

■ Tape volume and data set information

■ CA Disk and DFSMShsm backup and migration information.

■ Database internal space usage.

Note: For more information, see the Configuration Guide.

3. Implement a centralized Windows Client environment on a Microsoft Windows Server. This ensures that scheduled operations occur without the requirement for individual user PCs to be turned on and connected.

Note: For information on how to set up a centralized Windows Client environment, see the section Use a Centralized Windows Client Environment (see page 16).

A Microsoft Windows Server is not required in order to use the Windows Client. It is only suggested here as a means to provide an around-the-clock report distribution center which is not tied to an individual’s PC. Using an individual's PC for a centralized Windows Client environment renders the report distribution center inoperable when the individual disconnects from the network.

4. Log on to the centralized Windows Client environment. Create user views of objects and output definitions using the View and Output Definition wizard. This wizard allows you to set up, schedule, and distribute object information reports. For example, scheduled reports, in numerous formats, can be distributed to individuals that need them, to a web site or file server for more universal access, or both.

Your CA Vantage SRM environment is set up for centralized z/OS environment scanning and reporting functions.

More Information:

For information about system parameters, see the Configuration Guide. For information about scripts, see the User Guide. For information about the CA Vantage SRM Scheduler and using the View and Output Definition wizard, see the Windows Client Guide.



Optimize Automated Space Management

The CA Vantage SRM Automation Option is generally implemented to address the following two types of issues:

■ Remedial responses to unexpected events

■ Regular housekeeping to optimize storage usage

This best practice applies to the second category, where regular scans of DASD and tape environments are done to identify potential problems and take proactive action. Rather than scan DASD or tape storage environments in order to check for needed housekeeping or space management actions, these checks should be triggered by the completion of a regularly scheduled scan.

Business Value:

Creating and using automation scripts to perform regularly scheduled scans ensures that environmental checks are being done with current data, and unnecessary resources are not consumed by doing real-time data collections for each individual check.


You should consider the following alternative methods for performing regular housekeeping and optimization of storage usage:

■ Identify your space management and housekeeping activities, the associated CA Vantage SRM collection vehicle, and the console message that is issued each time an environmental scan completes. The following are the most common examples:

– Performing space management for Storage Groups or Volumes with problems such as excessive usage, VTOC problems, or fragmentation problems. This requires the POOLS Collector which runs on an interval controlled by the PAWINTVL system parameter. Message VAN0095I is issued when a collection is done.

– Checking for data set problems (for example, empty data sets, unused data sets, unknown DSORG, uncataloged data sets, management class exceptions). This requires the DTOC Collector which runs on an interval controlled by the DTCINTVL system parameter. Message VAN0489I is issued when a collection is done.

– Checking for tape problems such as insufficient scratch tapes, underutilized tapes, or tape robotics space problems. These require a variety of systems scripts. Message VAN0735I is issued when a system script completes, and this message contains the name of the script.

Note: For the names of system scripts, see the User Guide.



■ Use the Message Automation wizard (under the z/OS menu of the Windows Client) to create scripts that detect the content of each of the above messages and issue operator commands that initiate the desired housekeeping and space management tasks.

■ Generalized Object Automation (GOA) scripts should normally be used to do housekeeping and space management tasks. GOA scripts should not be configured as Real Time (RT). Use one of the other modes, if available, such as Last Interval (LI), Disk Checkpoint (DC), or Disk Interval (DI). This will prevent a real time data collection, but still use current data because the relevant collection has just completed.

More Information:

For more information about Message Automation (MA) scripts, see the chapter "Working with Message Automation (MA) Scripts" in the User Guide. For more information about Generalized Object Automation (GOA) scripts, see the chapter "Working with General Automation (GOA) Scripts" in the User Guide.

Trap and Monitor DFSMShsm Messages in Real-time

If you have the CA Vantage SRM Automation Option and the CA Vantage SRM Interface for DFSMShsm, you can implement monitoring of the DFSMShsm (HSM) messages in real-time.

Business Value:

The unique ability to trap and monitor HSM messages in real time can improve service levels related to identifying and responding to problems quickly - as opposed to delayed processing of HSM logs later.

Note: The ability to intercept HSM messages in real-time is not available if you are using the Problem Determination Aid (PDA) log facility. For more information, see the section Specify PDOX/Y Activity Data in the chapter "Configuring CA Vantage SRM Interface for DFSMShsm" in the Configuration Guide.

This ability allows you to select specific HSM messages that are of particular interest to you and route only those messages to CA Vantage SRM where they can be accumulated for easy viewing and analysis. This will save you from searching through the HSM logs for certain messages; CA Vantage SRM can do it for you. It also allows the CA Vantage SRM automation functions to detect and respond to the critical HSM messages in real-time.




To monitor HSM messages in real-time mode, you must have the CA Vantage SRM DFSMShsm Interface and the CA Vantage SRM Automation Option.

The following procedure assumes you have configured the CA Vantage SRM Interface for DFSMShsm but you have not implemented the ability to monitor HSM messages in real-time.

To monitor HSM messages in real-time mode

1. Configure your system to monitor HSM messages in real-time.

Note: For more information, see the section Monitor DFSMShsm Messages in Real-time – Message Automation in the chapter “Configuring CA Vantage SRM Interface for DFSMShsm” in the Configuration Guide.

2. Configure Message Automation to retrieve HSM messages.

Note: For configuration instructions, see the section Message Automation in the chapter "Configuring CA Vantage SRM Automation Option" in the Configuration Guide.

Observe the following:

■ Part of the above configuration ensures that you have member HSMTRIGS in your user CA Vantage SRM PARMLIB. This member can be used to avoid monitoring all HSM messages. You should customize and use this early filter option if you do not want to monitor all HSM messages. This will limit the number of messages to be routed to CA Vantage SRM to only those messages that you want to count, collect, or process by scripts.

■ Use automation script samples distributed in the CA Vantage SRM CCTUSAMP library. Look in member AAAINDEX in the CCTUSAMP library under target Automation. Copy the sample scripts you want to use to your automation script library and configure them to reflect your environment.

■ Review automation scripts available from CA Support at http://ca.com/support. Look at the user script examples under DFSMShsm Management and copy the ones you want to implement over to your automation script library. You can copy a script by copying it to your clipboard or right-click and save it to your desktop, then move into your automation script library. Use the General Object Automation (GOA) wizard or the Message Automation (MA) wizard, as appropriate, to configure the script, that is, when to run it, and so on.

CA Vantage SRM is now configured to monitor HSM messages.





Use Summary Objects

Create Summary Objects using the Summary Object Designer wizard in the Windows Client to easily generate customized statistical and management-level reports about your system.

Business Value:

Summary Objects enable you to extract meaningful information from large amounts of raw data to assist with measuring business impacts and costs. The ability to log this summarized data also allows you to produce trend reports on metrics not available from the original raw data.


The following are the benefits in defining and using Summary Objects:

■ They are easy to create and modify using the Summary Object Designer wizard.

■ Large amounts of data can be summarized quickly in a very flexible manner.

■ The creation of a Summary Object view creates a new object which again can be used in automation and also defined to be logged so that trend information is available for the new object over time.

■ The factory-distributed Summary Objects provide real value from which you can get immediate benefits.

■ Summary Objects have a unique name and can be distributed to any system using the Summary Objects Distribution wizard in the Windows Client.

If you think of an old style printed report, perhaps sorted by a particular field, a Summary Object report is similar to producing a subtotal line when there is a break in the value of the field. That is, all the numeric fields up to that break point are sub-totaled. The next row, with a new unique value in the break field, begins a new collection of records to be sub-totaled. When all records are processed, there is usually a grand total at the end, which is the sum of all the sub-totals. In addition to totaling numeric fields; the average, minimum and maximum values of each numeric field can also be easily provided. This method of producing a summary is referred to as summarizing by value (break in the value) of the selected summary field. An example within CA Vantage SRM is a Dataset Summary by DSORG, which subtotals the allocated space for each type of data set (PS, PO, VSAM, and so on).

You can also summarize by a step-size increase in the value of the summary field. Instead of breaking and subtotaling for every unique value in the field, it creates a bucket for a fixed range of values (the step-size). The subtotals are for all the rows that fall into each bucket range.



Within CA Vantage SRM, a Summary Object Designer wizard enables you to define your own summaries for any source object. A Summary Object defines summary reports (or buckets) within an object table, and then provides statistics about all the object rows that fall into that Summary Group. The statistics include counts, maximum values, minimum values, average values, and totals. These statistics are provided for each group of records, as well as for all the records.

The Summary Object Designer lets you select the method for defining the Summary Groups, as well as the fields for which you want to see statistics. Any CA Vantage SRM object table can be summarized this way. Management-level reports can now appear exactly as you want them because you can split up the object tables and name the Summary Group to match your environment.

Additionally, Summary Objects created by the Summary Object Designer also become source objects within the z/OS subsystem. This means that while you can see and manipulate the statistical data, you can also collect trend data or automate trend data collection for Summary Objects.

You can right-click the newly created Summary Object and select Object Logging or General Object Automation to initiate those processes for the Summary Object.

You can use one of the following methods to define the Summary Group within an object:

By Value

This method defines Summary Groups based on the value of up to five fields that combine to produce a key. All records that have the same values in this key make up a Summary Group and are summarized in a single Summary Object row. A separate row is produced for every change or break in the value of the key. There is also a single Summary Object Row that provides overall statistics for the entire Summary Object.

By Step

This method defines Summary Groups based on a numeric field and a step size. A single Summary Object row is produced for all the rows that fall into each Summary Group established by the field name and step size. There is also a single Summary Object Row that provides overall statistics for the entire Summary Object.

By Filter

With this method you specify a complete filter expression to define each Summary Group. A subtotal or summary line is produced for all the rows that match each filter.



By Node

This method is similar to Value, but instead of using the entire value of a field to define the contents of a Summary Group, only a portion of a field's value is used. The "." and "/" characters are used as delimiters. Each node is separated by a delimiter. The common example of a Node field is the data set name or directory name. A Summary Object Row is produced for all the rows that have the same values in the specified nodes.

The following configuration items are required in order to use Summary Objects:

SUMMARY member

Resides in your user PARMLIB data set. This member contains the activation parameter necessary for using the factory-supplied Summary Objects and old (pre r12 SP4) Summary Objects.

SUMMDEFS data set

Contains one member for each defined Summary Object and is the place where your Summary Objects are created and maintained. This data set is pointed to by the SUMMDEFS system parameter.

The All Summary Objects object displays a list of all the Summary Objects registered on the z/OS host. This object is found in the CA Vantage Internal Management folder in the z/OS Object Tree.

Observe the following when creating, modifying, distributing or deleting summary objects:

■ Use the Summary Object Designer wizard to create Summary Objects.

■ Use the Summary Object Designer wizard or Modify Summary Object dialog to modify Summary Objects.

■ Use the Summary Object Distribution wizard to copy Summary Objects to other systems. Make sure you are logged on to all systems you want to copy the Summary Object to.

■ To delete a Summary Object, use the Delete action available from the All Summary Objects table, or right-click the Summary Object in the object tree and select Delete Summary Object. Performing the delete action will also perform clean-up (removal) of the log script if one exists for the Summary Object, and delete the log data sets. In addition, any automation scripts based on the Summary Object are deleted. You cannot delete factory-supplied Summary Objects.

■ Make sure that you do not create a Summary Object where every input record results in one output summary record. Such cases really do not summarize anything (a million records in, results in a million records out). Imagine what will happen regarding memory usage if a Summary Object is created this way. The Total, Min, Max, and Average fields comprise each summary record and all are either 8 or 16 bytes in length. A Summary Object that really did not summarize any records can result in a lot of memory and CPU being consumed with no value in return.



■ To prevent memory issues while creating Summary Objects, a CA Vantage SRM system parameter called GENNMBRS has been introduced. Be aware of the default value of this parameter which is set to 10000. If the number of records in a Summary Object reaches the value in this system parameter, a message is written to the MSG file and the process creating the Summary Object stops.

More Information:

See the chapter "Working with Summary Objects" in the User Guide.

Use Joined Objects

Create Joined Objects using the Joined Object Designer to easily generate reports about your system that display information from more than one object in the same display.

Business Value:

Improves storage administrator productivity and efficiency by providing the ability to generate reports and automatically solve problems based on a combination of metrics coming from multiple objects.

The factory-distributed Joined Objects target common issues and provide real value from which you can get immediate benefits.


The following are the benefits in defining and using Joined Objects:

■ The ability to make decisions based on metrics contained in multiple objects.

■ Joined Objects can make use of all CA Vantage SRM automation services, meaning vastly increased automation possibilities.

■ Joined Objects can be logged so that more specific trend information is available over time.

■ Joined Objects only need to be created once - they have a unique name and can be easily distributed to any other hosts in the enterprise using the Joined Object Distribution wizard. This allows new capabilities to be made available easily and quickly to all users.

Joined Objects are the result of combining information from two existing objects, a Base Object and a Candidate Object. Each row within a Joined Object contains all the information from both the Base and Candidate Objects that were used to create it. Joined Objects are created using the Joined Object Designer wizard. This wizard also allows you to use another Joined Object from the same Source Object as a model.



Joined Objects have an object name and an entry on the Object Tree under the Base Object that was used to define them. The Base Object is the object on the tree that you right-click to start the Joined Object definition. Joined Objects behave the same way as all other objects and can take advantage of all CA Vantage SRM services such as report distribution, historical logging, trending, and automation. This allows you to distribute reports, generate alerts, take automated actions and identify trends - all based on the combined information present in Joined Objects.

The JOINDEFS data set is key to making Joined Objects available to you. It contains one member for each defined Joined Object and is the place where your Joined Objects are created and maintained. It is pointed to by the JOINDEFS system parameter.

Note: For more information, see the section Configure for Joined Objects in the Configuration Guide.

The All Joined Objects (JOINSTAT) object displays a list of all the Joined Objects registered on the z/OS host. This object is found in the CA Vantage Internal Management folder on the Object Tree. When this object is displayed you can perform the following actions to the Joined Objects listed:

Note: The actions are available from the Actions menu or you can right-click a row and select one from the pop-up menu.

Open

Opens the selected Joined Object in a separate window.

View

Displays the selected Joined Object's settings in the View Joined Object Settings dialog.

Modify

Starts the Modify Joined Object Settings dialog. Use the dialog to modify the selected Joined Object.

Note: Joined Objects cannot be significantly modified, because to do so would force the object name to change in order to preserve uniqueness. Only insignificant changes can be made to existing Joined Objects. Insignificant changes are the name that appears on the Object Tree, the Joined Object description and the Mode (RT, LI, DC, DI, and so on) that is used for both the Base and Candidate Objects. If you need to make other (significant) changes you can create a new Joined Object using the Joined Object Designer wizard, and use the existing one as a model so you do not have to create the entire definition again.

Delete

Displays the Deleting Joined Object dialog. Use this dialog to delete the Joined Object definition from the host and Windows Client repositories.



Distribute

Starts the Joined Object Distribution wizard. Use this wizard to copy selected Joined Objects to other z/OS hosts.

Note: Only Joined Objects that have a value of Y in the Dist field are eligible for this action. Also, you must be connected to the targeted hosts before you start the distribution process.

Observe the following when creating Joined Objects:

■ The Base object and the Candidate objects in the join must have a common field.

■ You can use Source Objects, Summary Objects, and existing Joined Objects as Base objects and Candidate objects. User Views cannot be used for the creation of Joined Objects.

■ Consider the impact of creating a Joined Object when millions of rows of data are collected for either the Base or Candidate object (such as specifying a "More" object for the Base or Candidate). Placing millions of records in memory can require a large amount of virtual storage that must be backed by real storage and page space. If this demand creates a shortage of page space, you can experience a system degradation and possibly an outage. A simple way to reduce the memory and page space demand is to create a filter for the Base object, the Candidate object, or both when using the Joined Object Designer wizard. CA Vantage SRM also has a built-in safety check to prevent page space usage from exceeding 62% during a Join process. But to support the ability to join very large objects it is important to do appropriate planning and preparation of page space as discussed in the section Memory and Paging in the Reference Guide.

More Information:

See the chapter "Working with Joined Objects" in the User Guide.

See the section Memory and Paging in the Reference Guide.

Use Delta Objects

Create delta objects using the Delta Object Designer wizard in the Windows Client to generate customized statistical and management-level reports about your system.

Business Value:

Delta objects extract information from large amounts of logged data and help you measure business impacts and costs. You can produce trend reports on metrics that are not available from the original raw data.




Defining and using delta objects has the following benefits:

■ You create the delta objects using the Delta Object Designer wizard.

■ You can quickly process large amounts of data.

■ Delta Object view creates a new object. You can use the object in automation. You can log information for the new object over time.

■ Delta objects have unique names. You can distribute delta objects to any system using the Delta Objects Distribution wizard in the Windows Client.

■ Delta Object report shows changes in numeric values for object key values over time and if key elements have been added or deleted during a selected period.

A delta object defines key values within an object table and it provides statistics about changes in numeric values for the key value. The statistics include counts, maximum values, minimum values, average values, and totals. These statistics are provided for each group of records, and for all the records.

You can process any object table and can customize management-level reports.

Delta objects that you create using the Delta Object Designer also become source objects within the z/OS subsystem. You can see and manipulate the statistical data. You can also collect trend data or automate trend data collection for delta objects.

To initiate those processes for the delta object, right-click the newly created delta object and select Object Logging or General Object Automation.

The following configuration item is required:

DELTADEF data set

Contains one member for each defined delta object. You create and maintain delta objects in this data set. The DELTADEF system parameter points to the data set.

The All Delta Objects object displays a list of all the delta objects registered on the z/OS host. This object is found in the CA Vantage Internal Management folder in the z/OS Object Tree.

Observe the following guidelines when creating, modifying, distributing, or deleting Delta Objects:

■ To create delta objects, use the Delta Object Designer wizard.

■ To modify delta objects, use the Delta Object Designer wizard or the Modify Delta Object dialog.

■ To copy delta objects to other systems, use the Delta Object Distribution wizard. Ensure that you are logged on to all systems that you want to copy the delta object to.



■ To delete a delta object, use the Delete action available from the All Delta Objects table. You can also right-click the delta object in the object tree and select Delete Delta Object. If you delete an object, the log script for the delta object is removed and the log data set is deleted. Any automation scripts that are based on the delta object are deleted. You cannot delete the default delta objects.

■ To prevent memory issues, use a system parameter DELTAMAX. The default value of this parameter is 100000. If the number of records in a delta object reaches the value in this system parameter, a message is written to the MSG file and the process creating the delta object stops.

Note: For more information, see the User Guide.

Avoid CPU and Memory Constraints

Configure CA Vantage SRM to avoid burning CPU cycles and using more memory than is necessary.

Business Value:

Configuring CA Vantage SRM appropriately ensures it optimizes CPU and memory usage which can help to reduce costs.


System defaults attempt to optimize CPU cycles and memory usage, but review the following items to avoid CPU and memory constraints:

■ Review your settings for the following system parameters and ensure they are set to appropriate values:

– AUDITNUM

– AUDITOUT

– CDSNMBRS

– DSNNMBRS

– DTCINTVL

– DTOCMOPT

– GENNMBRS

– GRPOVLAP

Note: For more information about these system parameters, see the chapter "System Parameters" in the Configuration Guide.



■ Avoid accessing objects in real-time (RT) when last interval (LI) is available

Using the RT version of objects affects your use of CPU and memory. In some cases, user created scripts (automation or log scripts) request an object in RT mode and essentially recreate the same data already available in the LI version of the object. In some situations, requesting RT needs to be done, but you should always ask yourself if you could reschedule the activities that need an object, such that they can simply use the existing LI version of the object. Consider the interval time required for the creation of the LI object and see if you are able to synchronize other activities that need that object such that they can request the LI version at the same interval time or shortly after the LI version is created.

Note: The log scripts that run against LI objects will not log duplicate records. At each logging interval they detect if the LI data has already been logged, and if so, will not log it again until they detect that the LI data has been refreshed.

■ Avoid running environment scans too frequently

Be aware of the following impacts:

– Do not scan to create the DTOC (Data Set Table of Contents) too often. Normally, the data set environment does not change too frequently. Consider whether or not you really need to run a full DTOC scan every hour or so. For example, if your DTOC has several hundred thousand data sets or more, do not set the DTCINTVL parameter to a low value such as 30 minutes because it will be difficult to justify the resources consumed by such frequent scanning. If your DTCINTVL value is less than the default setting, be sure to consider if the value added by that lower setting justifies the additional cost in resources.

– Do not scan to create Primary and Secondary Groups (application groups) too frequently. High CPU usage occurs when logical collections of data set groups (applications) have been defined to be monitored too often. This means that every data set must be matched (or assigned) to its groups, and its usage statistics added to the group’s statistics. The difference in CPU usage for processing 10,000 data sets versus 1,000,000 data sets into 5 group definitions versus 100 group definitions is very wide. Because the number of data sets is not a variable that can be controlled (unless an installation decides to exclude several volumes or large groups of data sets), the ability to control CPU usage lies with the number of groups (applications) that are defined and how often the data is collected. CPU usage can also be reduced significantly if group definitions do not overlap; that is, no data set belongs to more than one group, and the largest groups (those groups with the highest number of data sets) are defined first in the GDEFS member in PARMLIB.



Practical experience, as well as common sense, tells us that the number of groups should be kept as small as possible to achieve truly useful analysis. As with most things, over-defining the environment usually consumes considerably more resources for very little added benefit or insight. Similarly, refreshing the application group data three to six times a day (every four to eight hours) is usually more often than is needed for enterprise-wide online analysis and logging for historical trends. Refreshing the application group data every thirty minutes is simply a waste of resources in all but the most unusual circumstances.

Run System and Audit Scripts Appropriately

Run system and audit scripts appropriately.

Business Value:

Running system and audit scripts appropriately can minimize the amount of I/O, memory, CPU, and elapsed time they consume which can help to reduce costs.


Many sample System and Audit scripts are delivered with the system. However, the appropriate ones need to be selected, configured, and then actively used to meet the needs of your installation. Several of them are quite intensive regarding the amount of I/O, memory, CPU, and elapsed time that can be consumed. Observe the following:

■ If you run scripts that are not needed, or run them more often than needed, you waste valuable resources.

■ If you run scripts at the wrong time, they consume resources that may be needed by other workloads.

■ If you run scripts at the same time, you not only cause contention for the I/O, memory, and CPU resources, but you also cause the I/O, memory, and CPU usage to spike at a much higher value. If I/O and CPU are already constrained, these spikes can hurt both CA Vantage and system performance, but things will still run. However, if CA Vantage memory is constrained or already in use for other functions, the memory spikes caused by running scripts concurrently can cause needed functions to fail due to the lack of sufficient memory.

To improve performance and keep all functions running smoothly, it is important to ensure that the appropriate scripts are being run at the appropriate times with the appropriate frequencies, such that they overlap as little as possible. That is, you need to ensure that these scripts are scheduled to execute at different times of the day and only as frequently as needed. For example, run them perhaps just once a week or once a month rather than every day or several times a day. Consider running audits at inactive times, such as on weekends or late at night.



Audit scripts generate reports showing the discrepancies between entries in files and catalogs. To avoid using too much CPU and memory running the audits, do the following:

■ Run audit scripts only if you are going to respond to the reported errors.

■ Use the Include/Exclude facility (member INCLEXCL in your user PARMLIB) to limit audit reports to the appropriate catalogs, volumes, and so on.

Note: To find specific information related to each audit type, see the topic INCLEXCL – Local Parmlib Member in the Reference Guide.

■ For the HSM audits, review the following system parameters and ensure they are set to appropriate values:

– AUDITERR

– AUDITNUM

– AUDITOUT

More Information:

See the section Running Audit Scripts Appropriately in the chapter "Working with Audit Scripts" and the section Running System Scripts Appropriately in the chapter "Working with System Scripts" in the User Guide.

Use the Warmstart Facility

Use the CA Vantage SRM Warmstart facility.

Business Value:

Warm starts can save time and resources which can result in cost reductions, and makes last interval (LI) objects immediately available for either online access or automation scripts.


The Checkpoint and Warmstart ability for LI objects gives you the ability to warm start these objects at system startup or restart time. This means that data for an LI object data is reloaded to memory from its checkpoint copy, as long as the system has an eligible copy in the checkpoint data set. Normal processing does not begin until the warm start process finishes. As a result, any warm started LI object is immediately available for either online access or automation scripts. Warm starts can also save time and resources.



As an example, the DB2 objects built by system script DB2NAMES will benefit from this. DB2NAMES may normally take a long time to complete, and because of DB2 catalog contention, may only be allowed to run at night. By using the Warmstart feature for these objects, DB2 data will be available immediately after a system restart, without waiting for DB2NAMES to be run the next night.

The INCLEXCL member in the CCTUSAMP library contains a recommended list of LI objects to be included for Warmstart. The list is in the START-WARMSTART-OBJ section of this sample member.

To configure and activate the Warmstart feature

1. Ensure that the JCL for your CA Vantage SRM STC uses symbolic parameter START.

The PROC statement must contain START=WARM.

The EXEC statement must contain PARM='START=&START, . . .

If your current JCL does not contain these, then look in your CA Vantage SRM CCTUSAMP library, member SAMS, to see if it contains them. If it does, copy it to your PROCLIB, configure it, and use it. If neither your current JCL nor the model in the CCTUSAMP library contains the START parameter, then you must upgrade CA Vantage SRM to a supported release.

2. Set last interval (LI) objects to be warm started.

By default, no LI objects are warm started. To indicate an LI object is to be warm started you must add a section called START-WARMSTART-OBJ in your already existing INCLEXCL member that resides in your user PARMLIB.

Note: For instructions on how to set LI objects to be warm started, see the section Specify Warmstart Objects in Parmlib Member INCLEXCL in the chapter "Working with Warmstart of Last Interval Objects" in the User Guide.

3. Restart CA Vantage SRM to implement the changes.

CA Vantage SRM LI objects are now configured to Warmstart.

Monitor CA Vantage SRM and its Resource Usage

Use the Internal Status Monitor to monitor both resources and automation scripts.

Business Value:

CA Vantage SRM has many functions and features, and it is important to know the status of certain services if they are being depended upon to perform mission-critical tasks. For example, storage group usage, scratch tape availability, and the status of certain HSM tasks should be known prior to performing a production run. In order to maintain an overview of what is active and what the status is for different resources, customize and use the Internal Status Monitor. It can be set up to monitor both resources and automation scripts.




The Internal Status Monitor issues console message VAN1545I whenever there is a state change in any monitored resource. In addition, if a resource actually fails, console message VAN1546E is issued. CA Vantage SRM Message Automation scripts or an automated operations product outside of CA Vantage SRM, such as CA OPS/MVS EMA, can be used to monitor when these messages are issued, issue alerts, and take actions such as attempt to restart the failed resource. The affected resource and status information can be extracted from these messages for use by the alerts and actions.

Note: For an explanation of how to do this, see the chapter “Working with Message Automation” in the User Guide.

Consider the following when monitoring CA Vantage SRM and its resources, as appropriate:

■ Decide what resources are the most important for you and create user-view objects from the CA Vantage SRM Internal Status Monitor object that includes those resources.

■ Alternatively, you can set a filter and update the factory-supplied Internal Status Monitor object to show only the resources you are interested in. The Internal Status Monitor object has a Help for Object help system topic, which contains an explanation of what each resource in the ResName field represent.

■ Familiarize yourself with the Internal Status Monitor display. Check the field name descriptions in the Help About Object help topic for this object. Notice the Current and Previous state fields and the difference between those. Also check the State and the Substate Minutes fields which indicate the elapsed time since the Current state or Substate were changed. This is a good indicator of the activity for the resource.

■ Color code the Current State field, for example use red so that it will stand out in the display.

■ For important resources or scripts, create Message Automation scripts to monitor for the different messages issued by the Internal Status Monitor when a state changes to Failed or Warning, or when a state is now different from the previous state.

Note: To create Message Automation scripts, you must have the CA Vantage SRM Automation Option.

More Information:

To configure and use the Internal Status Monitor, see the chapter "Working with the Internal Status Monitor" in the User Guide.



Perform Routine Maintenance to Remove Uncataloged Duplicate Data Sets

Remove duplicate data sets that are not cataloged.

Business Value:

Removing duplicate data sets that are not cataloged, reduces costs and saves time associated with excessive space usage and unexpected job processing errors.

Duplicate data sets (two or more data sets with the same name) have a way of creeping into any system. The cataloged versions are usually the correct ones, and the uncataloged versions are usually the invalid ones created when something went wrong, and are now left over and can cause more trouble. One problem is that they build up over time and can occupy (waste) a significant amount of disk space. Another problem is that they can cause allocation errors even though the requests are perfectly valid, but they just happen to select volumes where the old uncataloged data sets with the same names are found. If such allocation failures are within very important applications, the impact and recovery can be quite severe.

Note: If you have multiple z/OS systems available, most of your z/OS system data sets will appear as duplicates; at least one set for each system. The ones connected to the running system appear cataloged to that system, while all others do not. Intended duplicates such as these must be excluded from analysis and cleanup.


The Duplicate Data Sets object identifies all of the duplicates. With the check catalog option turned on (the system parameter default value of DTOCDUPS(Y)), the catalog status of every duplicate is checked such that the uncataloged ones can be identified for cleanup. If the duplicate system data sets are not excluded when creating this object, moderate CPU and elapsed time are wasted making all of the unneeded catalog checks. After the Duplicate Data Sets object is properly configured, it runs very efficiently, and makes it easy to routinely reclaim wasted space and avoid the problems caused by the unintended duplicates.



To cleanup your invalid duplicate data sets

1. Identify the system volumes containing the intended duplicate data sets.

You may already know these by volume naming conventions, but if not, display the Duplicate Data Sets object (found in the object tree under Data Set Management) and visually inspect it for the intended duplicates of system data sets. Note down the volume names where these reside.

2. Exclude all intended duplicates that reside on your system volumes.

Use a filter statement, for example:

Volume EXCL (patrn1, patrn2, patrn3)

and enter the volume names or patterns identified in Step 1.

3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 until all of your intended duplicates are gone from the object.

4. Configure the Duplicate Data Sets object to exclude these volumes.

Even though your filter now removes all the system duplicates from your view, they are still in the object and wasteful catalog checking is done for all of them. To prevent this, you need to put the same list of volumes or patterns into the configuration list for this object.

To do this, log on to the Config Client, retrieve the Include/Exclude lists, and enter the same volumes or volume patterns into the volume exclusion list for Duplicate Data Sets.

After this is done, all subsequent DTOC scans will create the Duplicate Data Sets object using the exclusion list, and resources will not be wasted checking the catalog status of the known and intended duplicates. To force a new DTOC scan, and the creation of the Duplicate Data Sets object, issue the following modify command:

/F SAMS,NEWSCAN,DTOCS

5. Find the unintended duplicates, both the uncataloged and cataloged versions.

After a new DTOC scan has completed in Step 4, retrieve the Duplicate Data Sets object again, without a filter.

Ensure that all of the system data sets that are known to have duplicates are gone from the view. If not, repeat the above steps until they are.



At this point, your view of the duplicates should display both the uncataloged and cataloged versions of each duplicate data set. Ensure the uncataloged version or versions are always shown first by applying a multi-field sort where it is first sorted by the Data Set Name field and then by the Cataloged (Y,N,-) field, as shown in the following example:

Save the view with these sort attributes, or save it as a user view so that you can easily retrieve it again. To do this, use the Save or Save As option under the File menu, as shown in the following example:

6. Rearrange the view to show important fields about duplicate data sets first.

To do this, use the View and Output Definitions option in the toolbar to move the Cat, DaysUn, LastUseDt, Create Dt, A-Trks, Allocated Bytes, and Dup fields up to the front of each row.



To do this, select the Fields option in the View and Output Definitions wizard navigation bar. The Fields dialog is displayed. In the Field column, drag-and-drop the fields so they appear in the desired order, as shown in the following example:

Click Ok. Your user view of the Duplicate Data Sets object is displayed. (Depending on your settings you may need to perform a Refresh in order to update the display.) This will result in the fields appearing in the desired order in your user view of the Duplicate Data Sets object, similar to the example shown below:

Save this view again, as you did in Step 5.

This new view allows you to easily see the catalog status of each data set, the number of days each has been unused, and the number of tracks each is using, without scrolling left and right.



7. Examine this list of duplicates carefully, and scratch the invalid duplicates.

To do this, especially the first time, you may need to confer with several colleagues and do more research on specific cases. Uncataloged data sets that have not been used in a long time are probably safe to just scratch. If they have been used recently, do more research to find out if they are intended duplicate data sets that should be preserved. If they are, create a filter with their names in the exclusion list so they do not show up again. (And remember to save this view definition again because it needs your new filter.)

When the invalid duplicates are identified, select them and use the Scratch action to get rid of them.

8. Repeat this ad hoc examination and cleanup on a daily basis until none are left.

After the cleaned up is complete, new ones can show up sporadically. At this point, consider if manual review is still needed. If not, create a GOA script to select this object, filter for Cat = N and scratch all the invalid (uncataloged) duplicates, and schedule it with a frequency as appropriate to keep your environment clean.

You have now cleaned up your uncataloged duplicated data sets and CA Vantage SRM is now configured to advise you of new uncataloged duplicated data sets.

Monitor the CA Vantage SRM Health Checks

Monitor the health checks generated for CA Vantage SRM.

Business Value:

This feature alerts you of conditions that could prevent CA Vantage SRM from running properly, if left uncorrected, and it guides you to address the problem. Fixing the problems reduces costs by helping to prevent outages and optimize resource consumption. These health checks provide best practices for running CA Vantage SRM.


The following health checks are provided for CA Vantage SRM:

VANTAGE_OLD_AUT_INACT

CA Vantage SRM should not be configured to run with the old threshold automation active. You should be using the General Object Automation (GOA) script automation instead of the old threshold automation option.

VANTAGE_LOG_THRSH

CA Vantage SRM should be configured to have enough free space for log processing. If not enough space is allocated then this might cause the logging scripts to fail with x37 abends, allocation failures, and loss of object trend data. You should configure CA Vantage SRM to have enough free space to handle log processing by adding free disk space to the LOGPOOL storage group selected. Consider archiving data sets or add more volumes to the storage group.



VANTAGE_VANTREL_SYSPARM

CA Vantage SRM should be configured to run with the VANTREL sysparm default setting or with a value greater-than the default. Also, the user override setting for VANTREL should be removed from the VKGPARMS override member if it exists. If CA Vantage SRM is configured to run with an invalid setting of the VANTREL sysparm, the client and host are out of sync which may cause loss of functionality, and if new features or not be able to connect with the User Interface.

VANTAGE_WARMSTART_ACT

CA Vantage SRM should be running with the Warmstart feature activated. If CA Vantage SRM is configured to run without the Warmstart feature active, then the collection of new Last Interval (LI) object data is done each time you start CA Vantage SRM. The new collection of data will take time and resources.

VANTAGE_LOGBREAK_USAGE

Log scripts should be configured to create fewer log data sets. If scripts are configured to run with the value EVERY in the statement SET_LOGBREAK= and multiple times each day, this causes a new trend data set to be created at each interval, it wastes disk space, and uses unnecessary CPU and resources. Use a different value in the SET_LOGBREAK= statement to reduce overhead and save DASD space.

Note: For an overview of the values you can use in the SET_LOGBREAK= statement, see the description of sysparm LOGBREAK in the Configuration Guide.

VANTAGE_STMON_ACT

The Internal Status Monitor should be active. If it is not active then you cannot take advantage of the Internal Status Monitor functions, such as issue alerts on internal resources.

VANTAGE_HELP_DD_IN_USE

CA Vantage SRM should be configured to use a //HELP DD statement in the CA Vantage SRM Started Task JCL Procedure, it should not be using the HELP sysparm. Add a //HELP DD statement to the CA Vantage SRM Started Task JCL Procedure referencing the distributed HELP data set name. If you have a user override of the HELP sysparm in your VKGPARMS member, manually edit (using ISPF) your VKGPARMS member and delete your user override. CA Vantage SRM must be restarted for these changes to take effect.

VANTAGE_MEM_BELOW_THRSH

CA Vantage SRM should run with the appropriate amount of virtual memory below the 16MB line. A lack of virtual memory can cause memory related abends.

The default threshold provided is 5 MB which should be sufficient. However, it can be overriden by the IBM HC parameter THRESHOLD.



VANTAGE_MEM_ABOVE_THRSH

CA Vantage SRM should run with the appropriate amount of virtual memory above the 16MB line. A lack of virtual memory can cause memory related abends.

The default threshold provided is 1 GB which should be sufficient. However, it can be overriden by the IBM HC parameter THRESHOLD.

VANTAGE_SCRIPT_ACCUM

Message Automation (MA) scripts should not accumulate too many messages. If scripts are allowed to accumulate too many messages, this could impact performance due to paging, and result in CA Vantage SRM using all its private storage which could cause storage related abends. This check provides a report of the scripts that are found to be accumulating too many messages. Review the scripts and consider the following:

■ The scripts can be disabled. This stops them from acquiring more memory. To do this, issue the following z/OS modify command:

F SAMS,AUTO,DISABLE=Event,Script

■ The scripts can be deleted. This frees acquired memory. To do this, issue the following z/OS modify command:

F SAMS,AUTO,DELETE=Event,Script

■ You can limit message accumulation by including the script statement MAX_COUNT=, before starting the scripts again. To do this, issue the following z/OS modify command:

F SAMS,AUTO,REFRESH=Event,Script

VANTAGE_ZIIP_ENABLED

zIIP support should be enabled, making selected CA Vantage SRM code eligible to be dispatched on zIIP processors and the CA Vantage SRM code is exploiting zIIP processors efficiently.

Enable zIIP support by setting the CA Vantage SRM sysparm ZIIPIT to (Y), the default is (N).

Note: For an overview of how to enable zIIP support and ensure the CA Vantage SRM code is exploiting zIIP processors efficiently, see the section "Exploitation of the zIIP Specialty Processor" in the chapter "Configuring CA GMI" in the Configuration Guide.

Additional Information:

Note: For more information, see the chapter “Working with the CA Vantage SRM Health Checks" in the User Guide.

Index 43

Index

A

audit scripts, run at different times • 31 audits, how often to run • 29 automated space management, optimizing

• 19 avoid accessing LI (last interval) objects in

real-time • 29

C

CA ACF2 recommended security settings • 15

CA Top Secret recommended security settings • 15

centralized environment scanning and report functions • 17

configuration to avoid CPU and memory constraints • 29

configuring for trapping and monitoring DFSMShsm messages • 20

CPU and memory constraints, optimal configuration to avoid • 29

D

data sets problems, checking for • 19 remove uncataloged duplicates • 35

DFSMShsm messages, configuring for trapping and monitoring • 20

H

health checks • 39 HSM messages, • 20

I

IBM RACF, recommended security settings • 15

installation considerations • 13 installing CA Vantage or CA GMI • 14

J

Joined Objects benefits • 25 considerations when creating • 25 recommended • 25

L

LI (last interval), avoid accessing LI objects in real-time • 29

M

Mainframe 2.0 features • 10 overview • 9

memory optimal configuration to avoid memory

constraints • 29 monitor CA Vantage SRM and its resources

• 33

O

objects avoid accessing LI objects in real-time •

29 use Joined Objects • 25 use Summary Objects • 22

optimizing automated space management • 19

P

parameters that affect CPU and memory usage • 29


R

RACF, recommended security settings • 15 real-time, avoid accessing LI objects in

real-time • 29 reboots, benefits of using the Warmstart

facility • 32 remove uncataloged duplicate data sets •

35 resource monitoring • 33 routine maintenance to remove

uncataloged duplicate data sets • 35 run scans of your environment, how often •

29

S

scans of your environment, how often to run • 29

scripts, run system and audit scripts at different times • 31

security features • 15 security settings, recommended • 15 Status Monitor, monitor CA Vantage and its

resources • 33 summary objects

benefits • 22 considerations when creating,

modifying, or deleting • 22 recommended • 22

system scripts, run at different times • 31 system startups, benefits of using a

Warmstart • 32

W

Warmstart facility, benefits of using • 32 Windows Client centralized setup • 16

Documents

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