Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter
2024 Tuning Letters
No. 1 (92 pages)
Management Summary
- Cheryl’s Last SHARE
- Ransomware? On z/OS? Surely not!
- User Experiences and Tips
- Introduction to Altair SLC
- SMF’s Many I/O-related Fields
- News You Can Use
- “IntelliMagic, an IBM Company”
Cheryl’s Last SHARE Conference
Recovery at Scale – Part 3 (Ransomware)
- Introduction
- What Exactly Is a Ransomware Attack?
- Stages of a Ransomware Attack
- Initial Access
- Post-Exploitation
- Understand and Expand
- Data Collection and Exfiltration
- Ransomware Deployment
- What To Do Now?
- References
- Summary
User Experiences and Tips
- Synchronizing Your Type 23 and Type 7X SMF Records
- Speaking of SMF Records and zEDC
- Sending SMS Texts from z/OS
- zPCR Tip
Introduction to Altair SLC
- Introduction
- Questions and Answers
- References
- Summary
Making Sense of the Many I/O Count Fields in SMF
- Introduction
- SMF 70 Fields
- SMF 78 Fields
- SMF 72 Field
- SMF 74 Fields
- SMF 42 Fields
- References
- Summary
News
- IBM Z Hardware Alerts
- Red Alerts
- Preparing for z16
- Upcoming Withdrawal from Marketing Dates
- Preparing for z/OS 3.1
- Recent APARs
- z/OS Quarterly Continuous Delivery Announcements
- New Function APARs Website
- Using the Information in This Section
- New Function APARs
- News from IBM Techdocs
- Conferences
- GSE Nordic Region Conference
- SHARE
- IBM TechXchange 2024
- GSE UK
Acknowledgments
Cheryl’s List Blog Posts
- Blog Entries
No. 2 (94 pages)
Management Summary
- Passing the Baton
- What’s New in SMF?
- IOPs – the ‘Shrinking Violets’ of I/O Processing
- User Experiences and Tips
- News You Can Use
Letter from Cheryl Watson
Introduction Letter from Planet Mainframe
What’s New in SMF in z/OS 2.5 and 3.1?
- General Changes in SMF
- Changes to z/OS-based SMF Records
- SMF Type 0 (IPL)
- SMF Type 7 (SMF Data Lost)
- SMF Type 14/15 (Data Set Activity)
- SMF Type 23 (SMF Status)
- SMF Type 26 (JES2 Job Purge)
- SMF Type 30 (Common Address Space Work Area)
- SMF Type 42 (DFSMS statistics and configuration)
- SMF Type 61 (Integrated Catalog Facility Define Activity)
- SMF Type 62 (VSAM Component or Cluster Opened)
- SMF Type 70-79 (RMF Records)
- SMF Type 70 (RMF Processor Activity)
- SMF Type 71 (Paging Activity)
- SMF Type 72 (Workload Activity, Storage Data, and Serialization Delay)
- SMF Type 74 (RMF Reporting on Several Resources)
- SMF Type 79 (RMF Monitor II)
- SMF Type 82 (ICSF Record)
- SMF Type 84 Subtype 21 (JES2 Monitoring Facility)
- SMF Type 88 (System Logger Data)
- SMF Type 89 (Usage Data)
- SMF Type 90 (System Status)
- SMF Type 92 (File System Activity)
- SMF Type 98 (High Frequency Throughput)
- SMF Type 99 (System Resource Manager Decisions)
- SMF Type 100 (Db2 Statistics)
- SMF Type 113 (Hardware Capacity, Reporting, and Statistics)
- SMF Type 119 (TCP/IP Statistics)
- SMF Type 122 (IBM Developer for z/OS Products)
- SMF Type 123 (IBM z/OS Connect EE)
- SMF Type 125 (Generic Tracker Data Persistence)
- SMF Type 1153 (JES2 Resource Monitoring)
- SMF Type 1154 (z/OS Compliance Evidence)
- References
- Summary
User Experiences and Tips
- Distributing DFSMShsm Java hbackup Requests
- DDF Considerations for Migration to a Sub-cap CPC
- Have You Tried This Yet?
- Identifying Unique Job Instances
Upcoming Tuning Letter Changes FAQ
SAPs, the ‘Other’ Specialty Engine
- Introduction – So What Is an IOP?
- What Are IOPs Used for and How Are They Defined?
- References
- Summary
News
- IBM Z Hardware Alerts
- Red Alerts
- Preparing for z16
- Upcoming Withdrawal from Marketing Dates
- Preparing for z/OS 3.1
- Recent APARs
- z/OS Quarterly Continuous Delivery Announcements
- New Function APARs Website
- Using the Information in This Section
- Performance APARs
- APARs Delivering New or Enhanced Functions
- High lmpact Pervasive APARs
- Miscellaneous Other Helpful Information
- News from IBM Techdocs
- Conferences
- SHARE
- Zeit fur Z – z/OS Kundentage 2024
- IBM TechXchange 2024
- GSE UK
Acknowledgments
Cheryl’s List Blog Posts
- Blog Entries
No. 3 (117 pages)
Management Summary
- Frequently Asked Questions About the Transition
- Guide to Using the New Publication Site
- Review of IBM Telum II Announcement
- Performance Management 101
- Coupling Facility Configuration Options
- User Experience and Tips
- News You Can Use
Tuning Letter Transition FAQ
Analysis of IBM Telum II Announcement
- ‘Speeds and Feeds’
- ‘New Stuff’
- Data Processing Unit
- Spyre Accelerator Card
- Power Savings
- References
- Summary
Guide to New Publication Website
- Navigating the New Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letters Site
- Accessing Material
- W&W Public Material
- Accessing Subscriber-Only Material
- Other Functions
- Summary
Performance Management 101 - Transaction Processing Workloads
- Introduction
- ‘The Lay of the Land’
- Normal Behavior
- Isolating Anomalous Behavior
- Optimizing Performacne and Efficiency
- Workload Distribution and Balancing
- Using SMF to Visualize Topology
- References
- Summary
User Experience and Tips
- Investigating SIIS Activity
- Correcting Coupling Facility Volatility States
- SHARE Emeritus Program
Coupling Facility Configuration Considerations
- Background
- What We Found
- What To Do About It
- How Many Drawers Should a Standalone CF CPC Have?
- z16 CFCC Performance and Scalability Improvements
- References
- Summary
News
- IBM Z Hardware Alerts
- Red Alerts
- Preparing for z16
- Upcoming Withdrawal from Marketing Dates
- Preparing for z/OS 3.1
- Recent IBM Z-Related Announcements
- Recent APARs
- z/OS Quarterly Continuous Delivery Announcements
- New Function APARs Website
- Using the Information in This Section
- Performance APARs
- APARs Delivering New or Enhanced Functions
- High Impact Pervasive APARs
- News from IBM Techdocs
- Conferences
- Computer Measurement Group (CMG)
- SHARE
- Guide SHARE Europe 2025
- Internation Db2 User Group (IDUG)
- GSE Nordic 2025 Conference
- IBM TechXchange
- GSE UK
Acknowledgments
Cheryl's List Blog posts
- Blog Entries
- July 11 2024 – Big News for Fans of Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter
- August 4 2024 – W&W Guide to SHARE n Kansas City (Part 1)
- August 5 2024 – W&W Guide to SHARE n Kansas City (Part 2)
- August 7 2024 – W&W Guide to SHARE n Kansas City (Part 3)
- August 13 2024 – Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter 2024 No 2 Now Available