Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter

2025 Tuning Letters

Access the 2025 Tuning Letter Downloads

No. 1 (61 pages)

Welcome to the latest edition of the Cheryl Watson's Tuning Letter
Pardon the Interruption: CPENABLE and Interrupt Delay
  • Processing Interruptions
  • CPENABLE
  • Exceptions and conflicting rules
    • zHyperLink
    • HiperDispatch
    • Capping
  • Recommendations
  • Conclusions
From APARs to PTFs: SMP-E Deciphered
  • Keeping a mainframe updated without SMP/E is like patching a spaceship mid-flight
  • Trust me, it’s easier now than it ever was
  • The building blocks of SMP/E: SYSMODs, PTFs and other mysterious creatures
  • The nitty-gritty: how SMP/E works
  • Global Zone
  • Target Zone
  • Distribution Zone
    • 1. RECEIVE command – “ordering your parts”
    • 2. APPLY command – “testing the fit”
    • 3. ACCEPT command – “finalizing the upgrade”
  • What on Earth is FIXCAT?
  • When keeping it real goes wrong: hidden “gotchas” and horror stories
  • IBM is making this easier
  • Why SMP/E matters more than ever
  • SMP/E Survival Guide: Cracking the Code of z/OS Jargon
An Introduction to System Exits
  • Let’s start at the beginning: what is a system exit?
    • Some areas where exits can be used
    • How system exits work
  • Example:
    • Example exit flowchart
    • JES2 exits
    • SMF exits
    • RACF exits
  • In conclusion: a word to the wise
Back to the Future: From the Archives
  • From July 1991: Increasing DASD Blocks
Let me be Frank
  • Automate your RACF management with pyRACF
  • What is pyRACF and why do you need it?
  • Use cases
z17 - A Quick Look
  • Useful Links
Conferences & Events
  • Mighty Mainframe Conference
  • GSE BeLux Conference 2025
  • IDUG NA 2025 | Atlanta
  • GSE Nordic Region Conference 2025
  • VM Workshop 2025
  • Broadcom Virtual Mainframe Technical Exchange 2025 – Global Virtual Event
  • SHARE Cleveland 2025
  • IBM TechXchange Conference 2025
  • Broadcom Mainframe Technical Exchanges – IDMS & Datacom User Group Workshops
  • Broadcom Mainframe Technical Exchanges – North American In-Person Mainframe Technical Exchange
  • GS UK In-Person Conference 2025
  • Open Mainframe Project – Mainframe Open Education (MOE) Student User Group
News & Updates
  • New Function APARs
  • Hardware Alerts
  • Red Alerts
  • Security Bulletins
  • News From Techdocs
  • HIPER APARs

No. 2 (71 pages)

Welcome to the latest edition of the Cheryl Watson's Tuning Letter
z17 aka 9175 – highlights
  • System, Processor, Memory
  • I/O Subsystem, Parallel Sysplex, STP, Security
  • PR/SM
  • Speeds and feeds: highlights
z/OS 3.2 innovations: what’s new and improved
  • System management enhancements
  • Sysplex Management Plugin
  • SDSF enhancements
  • Simplified security management
  • Security Configuration Assistant (SCA)
  • Storage management and efficiency
  • New storage management interfaces
  • Software management
  • Software update APIs
  • Operational efficiency with modern interfaces
  • Remote actions
  • SMF Explorer with Jupyter and Python
  • Conclusion
How to not buy the wrong CPC/CEC - and what if you did?
  • Mainframe CPC replacement risks: cost and performance
  • Software savings
  • More slower
  • Migration to sub-capacity
  • Purchase not an option
  • HiperDispatch Tuning
  • z16 6## cost and performance risks/opportunities
  • z16 or z17Advantages
  • z16+ 6## lateral move
  • zIIP and ICF speed advantage reduced
  • Sub-capacity upgrade viability for previous 7## customers
Don’t let breaking changes break you
  • What are breaking changes?
  • What problems do breaking changes cause?
  • What are the cultural differences?
  • What can you do?
Managing capacity, improving performance, and reducing mainframe running costs
  • What do you want to achieve?
  • Who are “the loved ones”?
  • What are you monitoring?
  • Do you know your workloads?
  • Do you know your software contracts?
  • What now?
  • Extending the life of an asset
z/OS Management Facility (z/OSMF): Then and Now
  • Back when I was a mainframe operator…
  • How z/OSMF has evolved
  • What changed?
Let me be Frank
  • Why simplification matters for the mainframe
  • The case for simplification
  • A changing landscape
  • History repeats itself
  • Removing friction to reveal value
  • Questioning complexity
  • Why simplification can’t wait
  • Looking forward
Jargon Buster Reference for Z (JBRZ) — first edition
New Function APARs
  • Hardware Alerts
  • Red Alerts
  • Security Bulletins
  • News From Techdocs
  • HIPER APARs
Mainframe Conferences And Events
  • 2025 Conferences
  • 2026 Conferences
  • Events
  • User Groups
Contributors
Home
Login
Register