1. CMG in December
2. HFS on Non-SMS Volumes
3. SURVEY Results
1. CMG in December
Installations seem to feel secure enough with Y2K that they aren’t staying away from important conferences at this time of the year. The registrations for the CMG conference scheduled in Reno for December 6-10 are higher than anticipated. Over 1000 people have pre-registered for the conference, which has over 100 sessions devoted to performance, capacity, and chargeback issues.
Tom and I have decided to catch the action this year at CMG. Please look us up if you have a chance. See you there!
2. HFS on Non-SMS Volumes
In our 1999, No. 3 issue (page 20), I stated: “DFSMS releases after 1.5 will be OS/390 exclusive. Prior to this release, HFS files had to reside on SMS-managed volumes. With DFSMS 1.5 and R7, they do not need to be SMS-managed.” I neglected to mention that this support was not made available in the initial release of R7. This facility is only supported with PTFs that will not be made available until 1Q2000 (possibly January). IBM will issue a system center flash that will provide the APAR numbers.
3. SURVEY Results
Many, many, thanks to everyone who took the time to respond to our survey. Here are some pretty interesting answers. Note that things won’t always add up to 100%; some people provided multiple answers; others didn’t respond to all questions.
1. Are you running any system, even test, in goal mode?
190 responses; 57% are in goal mode
2. If not in goal mode, what is the PRIMARY reason?
45% - not enough staff or time
21% - waiting until after Y2K
18% - concerned about potential problems with goal mode
18% - see no apparent benefit
16% - other
(Note: This was a VERY interesting response since in question 3a, 47% of the sites implemented goal mode within two weeks and 18% took less than a week!)
2a. If not in goal mode, are you using a WLM service policy for managing DDF or to collect information for CICS or IMS transactions?
7% - DDF
7% - CICS or IMS
5% - DDF AND (CICS or IMS)
3a. How long did it take to convert your first (test) system?
18% - less than a week; some said hours or one day (especially when using my Quickstart Policy!)
13% - one week
16% - >1 to 2 weeks
26% - >2 to 4 weeks
11% - >4 to 8 weeks
17% - >2 months to 12 months
3b. How long did it take to convert the next system?
45% - less than one week; most were hours, not days
28% - 1 to 2 weeks
11% - >2 to 4 weeks
15% - over 4 weeks
3c. What is the largest benefit that goal mode gives you?
Increased throughput, better control, better reporting, operators like it better, better management
3d. What was the largest problem in going to goal mode?
Understanding WLM, waiting for PTFs, getting management approval
3e. Which facilities have you implemented in goal mode?
61% - OMVS
49% - DDF
35% - ASCH
26% - Application environments
24% - DB2 (sysplex queries)
20% - WLM managed initiators
16% - Stored Procedures
12% - IWEB
11% - MQ
1% - SOM
0% - LSFM
0% - CB (CORBA)
3f. Are you running goal mode with multiple systems using the same policy?
67% - Yes
3g. Are you using region velocities or response goals for CICS/IMS?
55% - velocities
45% - response goals
4. Are you running a production sysplex (either base or parallel)?
56% - Yes
5. Are you running a production parallel sysplex?
49% - Yes
6. Which parallel sysplex facilities are being used?
(unfortunately, the survey neglected to list VTAM Generic Resource)
31% - logger (console or logrec)
25% - GRS Star
23% - JES2 Checkpoint
22% - shared tape
22% - DB2
18% - logger for CICS
17% - RACF
14% - XCF Star (I don't think everyone understood that this is the term for using XCF in the coupling facility)
10% - IMS
8% - VSAM RLS
5% - ECS (Enhanced Catalog Sharing)
1% - Oracle
0% - Adaplex
7. DB2 status?
73% - installed in production
4% - installed in test
7% - plan to install within next year
15% - no plans to install within next year
8. MQSeries status?
36% - installed in production
1% - installed in test
10% - plan to install within next year
47% - no plans to install within next year
9. WebSphere status?
11% - installed in production
21% - installed in test
19% - plan to install within next year
49% - no plans to install within next year
10. Domino Notes status?
(Note: I forgot to qualify with S/390; so some of these answers are for other platforms)
9% - installed in production
9% - installed in test
9% - plan to install within next year
74% - no plans to install within next year
11. Business Intelligence (warehousing) status?
(Note: I forgot to qualify with S/390; so some of these answers are for other platforms)
24% - installed in production
1% - installed in test
5%- plan to install within next year
64% - no plans to install within next year
12. Are you running production work on UNIX System Services (not including TCP/IP and WebServer)?
19% - Yes (SAP, Notes, ADSM, custom applications, many others)
13. What is the most current level of MVS or OS/390 running in your site?
0% - older than SP 5.2
3% - SP 5.2
0% - OS/390 R1
2% - OS/390 R2
8% - OS/390 R3
7% - OS/390 R4
17% - OS/390 R5
39% - OS/390 R6
20% - OS/390 R7
4% - OS/390 R8
14. What is the earliest level of MVS or OS/390 still running in your site?
1% - older than SP 5.2
7% - SP 5.2
2% - OS/390 R1
7% - OS/390 R2
12% - OS/390 R3
13% - OS/390 R4
20% - OS/390 R5
24% - OS/390 R6
7% - OS/390 R7
1% - OS/390 R8
15. What size site(s) have you been describing (in total MIPS)?
3% - 1 - 50
17% - 51 - 200
24% - 201 - 500
55% - over 500
Again, many, many, thanks for taking the time to fill out this survey. We really appreciate it!
That’s all for now. Stay tuned!