Systems Management

Introduction to the new mainframe:Large-Scale Commercial Computing

© Copyright IBM Corp., 2006. All rights reserved.

Chapter 7: Systems Management

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Introduction to the new mainframe


Chapter objectives

After completing this chapter, you will be able to:• Understand system management disciplines• Understand the different data types z/OS uses• Understand how errors are handled

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Introduction to systems management

Systems management is a general term that is widely used, and whose meaning is context dependant. In some cases systems management means the operator interface, while in others, it means provisioning capacity.

In a large-scale commercial system, systems management usually is considered to be “A collection of disciplines aimed to monitor and control a system’s behavior.”

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Introduction to systems management

Performance management Workload management Configuration management Operations management Problem management Network management Storage management Security management Change management

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System Data

Accounting

Reporting• Performance• Errors

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Data Collection in z/OS

Routines (SMF, system, product, installation-written) collect and format data into records and then pass the records to the SMF writerRoutines Providing Data to SMF

SMF Writer Routines and Buffers

SMFDatasets

Dumpdata set

User-written Analysis/Report Routines

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Z/OS component SMF

Collect info concerning: Billing users Reporting reliability Analyzing the configuration Scheduling jobs Summarizing direct access volume activity Evaluating data set activity Profiling system resource use Maintaining system security

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Workload management

WLM retains the following data: CPU time used Memory used + pages/sec I/Os done + I/O rate Transaction rate Goal achievement

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WLM RMF report

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Performance management

Performance management is a key discipline in the systems management area. It includes measuring, analyzing, reporting, and tuning the performance of IT resources.

Two categories: Real-time monitoring, alerting, problem identification,

and problem resolution.

Bench marking, modeling, rerunning problem scenarios, and trending performance metrics feeding capacity planning.

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Performance management

Objectives: Optimize response time and throughput of IT resources

Take corrective actions to alerts and problem requests

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Performance management : z/OS implementation

Resource Measurement Facility (RMF): Batch monitoring

CPU

Storage

Workload

I/O Activity

Other

Online monitoring

Delay monitoring

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Configuration management

In a large-scale commercial system, the number of hardware devices, system software items (compiled modules, source modules, data items, etc.), and application software items has been large since the first days of the mainframe.

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System Software configuration management

SMP/E characteristics:

Large number of components.

Great packing flexibility.

A backward compatibility need.

Different software developers and vendors.

Long-supported versions.

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System Software configuration management

4 types of SYSMODs:

PTF

APAR

FUNCTION

USERMOD

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Hardware configuration management

Hardware Configuration Definition (HCD) becomes useful after:

It is written in a system file.

Must be split between the hardware and the software.

Has to be tested.

Has to be activated sysplex-wide

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Application configuration management

Application configuration management is a discipline that is common to any platform. On a IBM System z platform these tools must be able to manage Java (WebSphere Application Server) as well as COBOL applications. IBM’s tool is named Software Configuration and Library Manager (SCLM).

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Operations management

Operations in a large-scale commercial operating system is crucial for performance and availability.

Operations means 2 related activities: Batch scheduling

Console operations

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Problem management

Problem management is a discipline that can be viewed from various angles:

How problems are solved

How problems are reported

How problems are tracked

What is system managed: Trend reporting

Master console

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Network management

z/OS participates as any other node on the network and complies to the standards in this area (SNMP communication, for instance). On such networks, the z/OS network management subsystem usually acts as the focal point.

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Storage management

In z/OS the software that manages the external storage devices is called DFSMS.

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Security management

IBM System zIBM System z

TIVOLITIVOLISecureWay DirectorySecureWay Directory

INTERNET

Users

FireWallFireWall

LPARLPARDMZ InternetDMZ Internet



PolicyPolicyManagerManager

INTRANET

Intrusion Intrusion DetectionDetectionSystem System

WebSealWebSeal

BtB Users

IDS......

Policy Policy Director Director ManageManage

rr

Switch

WebSealWebSeal

Production LPARProduction LPAR

WebSealWebSeal

SwitchSwitch

FireWallFireWall

Legend

FireWallFireWall

Web Services Web Services Web Services

VPNVPN

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Change management

Change management is a discipline that is meant for the whole infrastructure. z/OS does to manage changes applied to software through SMP/E asking for prerequisites and logging changes.

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Summary

9 system management disciplines Service Level management is not covered Security management is special Tools are available Pay attention to all the system components !

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Key terms in this chapter

• APAR• Change management• Configuration

management• FUNCTION• HCD• Network management• Operations

management• Problem management• PTF

• RMF• Security management• SMP/E• Storage management• System management• System Data• USERMOD• Workload management

Documents

Systems Management