SupportConnect - Unicenter NeuMICS Resource Management Newsletter, Version 06.02
  

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E-News
Unicenter® NeuMICS® Resource Management Newsletter
Version 06.02
August 28, 2006

In This Newsletter
Product News
> zIIP Support Now Available
> Heads Up for z/OS Version 1 Release 8
> DB2 ACCUMACC SMF Record Roll-up
> Unicenter® NeuMICS® Q&R Workstation Option Announcement
> Unicenter® NeuMICS® Q&R Workstation Beta Candidates
> Beta Programs

General Information
> Combining Information From HARCPU and HARLPC Files
> Did You Know?

Special Events
> CA WorldSM

Product News
zIIP Support Now Available
The System z9 Integrated Information Processor (zIIP) support is now available for the following products:
  • SMF - Unicenter® NeuMICS® Resource Management Batch and Operations Analyzer
  • RMF - Unicenter® NeuMICS® Resource Management Hardware and SCP Analyzer
  • DB2 - Unicenter® NeuMICS® Resource Management Analyzer Option for DB2
  • ACT - Unicenter® NeuMICS® Resource Management Accounting and Chargeback Option
IMPORTANT! If you are currently using zIIP processors, contact support immediately for assistance with the following issues:
  • For RMF, zIIP processor data is not correctly recognized. In addition, when a logical partition is configured with zIIPs, some data elements related to standard CP processors' management time, as well as total processors' up time and busy time, will be incorrect.


  • For the SMF, DB2, and ACT components, the zIIP related metrics are not available without zIIP processor support solutions.
If you are currently evaluating the potential benefits of zIIPs with your existing applications, new data elements are available that show how CPU time could be executed on zIIP processors.

The r11 SP3 current maintenance level is required for the installation of the NeuMICS zIIP support.

More information about zIIP processor support, including problem details and solution information, can be found on SupportConnectSM, or by contacting CA Technical Support.

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Heads Up for z/OS Version 1 Release 8
If you have upgraded, or are considering an upgrade to z/OS Version 1 Release 8, please contact CA Technical Support. We would like to review your data and are always looking for early release candidates to partner with us for field testing.

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DB2 ACCUMACC SMF Record Roll-up
With DB2 Version 8.1, IBM provided a means to reduce the number of DB2 records generated for DDF and RRSAF transactions using the DB2 ACCUMACC ZPARM. The new DB2 parameter permits consolidation with up to three key fields: User ID, Workstation ID, and Transaction Name.

The IBM DB2 ACCUMACC implementation uses the same bit to indicate an ACCUMACC roll-up record that is used to indicate a parallel transaction child roll-up record. Consequently, the Unicenter® NeuMICS® DB2 Analyzer misidentifies ACCUMACC roll-up records as parallel transaction child roll-up records, and some NeuMICS data elements are in error for the ACCUMACC records. Metrics widely used for accounting and chargeback, such as CPU time, are not impacted by this misidentification.

More information on ACCUMACC support, including problem details and solution information, can be found on SupportConnectSM or by contacting CA Technical Support.

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Unicenter® NeuMICS® Q&R Workstation Option Announcement
We have great news for our Unicenter NeuMICS customers. Effective with the r11 release of Unicenter NeuMICS Q&R Workstation, it will be changed from a separately priced option to a component of the Unicenter NeuMICS base product. Customers will now be able to expand the use of Unicenter NeuMICS information using the Q&R Workstation at no additional cost.

Unicenter NeuMICS is a comprehensive IT resource utilization management solution designed to fulfill the information needs of today's enterprise IT service providers. The Q&R component is a workstation-based facility for accessing information in the Unicenter NeuMICS database for on demand and production reporting. The Q&R component provides a unique and effective desktop reporting tool for resource management functions including performance management, capacity management, and financial accounting. It delivers the ability to automatically publish Unicenter NeuMICS information as well as any mainframe-based SAS database information over the Web.

If you would like to receive an early copy of r11, register for the Beta program. (More information on beta candidates is available later in this E-News). Once r11 is GA, it will be available on request to all customers. The Q&R Workstation will be shipped to all customers with the July 2007 release of Unicenter NeuMICS.

If you would like additional information or have any questions, please direct them to George Cusson at George.Cusson@ca.com.

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Unicenter® NeuMICS® Q&R Workstation Beta Candidates
The Beta site is now open for all Unicenter NeuMICS customers who want to sign up to participate in the latest release of the Unicenter NeuMICS Q&R Workstation. We would greatly appreciate getting your feedback and support in our efforts to ensure the quality of r11.

For additional information about the Unicenter NeuMICS Q&R Workstation Beta Program and to register, log in to SupportConnectSM. Once logged in, click the following link. If you are not redirected to the welcome page, copy and paste the URL into your browser.

Unicenter NeuMICS Q&R Workstation Beta: supportconnectw.ca.com/public/ca_common_docs/cabetas-programlist.asp.

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Beta Programs
We are always seeking customers to participate in our Unicenter® NeuMICS® Beta Program.

Candidates should be willing to communicate any concerns regarding the installation process, product documentation, or new product features.

Direct feedback from the Unicenter NeuMICS Development team is provided to answer any questions you may have. This is a good opportunity for you to get early support for any new or updated product releases and to exploit any new features.

Are you interested? If so, contact CA Technical Support at (703) 708-3700 and ask to be placed on the list of Beta candidates.

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General Information

Combining Information From HARCPU and HARLPC Files
Although most of the performance metrics related to a logical partition's activity can be found in the PR/SM LPAR Configuration/Activity (HARLPC) file, some statistics, such as the 4-hour rolling average of consumed MSUs (CPUAVLAC), only exist in the CPU Activity (HARCPU) files. You may have to combine this unique information with the metrics from the HARLPC file to get a complete view of the activity of a partition.

So, how can you find in the HARCPU file the observation that correlates with a particular HARLPC file observation?

Both files are created from the SMF type 70 CPU Activity record, and the field that uniquely identifies the system (z/OS partition) that created the record is carried in each HARLPC observation (one per logical partition) built from the SMF record. This element is the System Identifier (SYSID). This is the first key element that you need to match because the HARLPC file can contain measurements collected from multiple SYSIDs running in the LPAR complex.

The second and last (yes, that simple!) key element required to correctly merge data from the HARCPU and HARLPC files is the Logical Partition Number (PRSMLPNO). For the HARCPU file, PRSMLPNO is read from field SMF70PTN in the RMF Product Section of the SMF type 70 record. It is the PR/SM partition number of the logical partition that wrote the SMF record. For the HARLPC file, PRSMLPNO is read from field SMF70LPN in each PR/SM Partition Data Section of the SMF 70-1 record. It is the logical partition number of the partition whose activity is described in the data section. Both fields, SMF70PTN and SMF70LPN, are always equal for the partition that wrote the SMF 70-1 record.

In summary, the two required key elements to accurately combine data from the HARCPU and HARLPC files are SYSID and PRSMLPNO. For more detailed information about PR/SM concepts and data analysis, see Section 6.8 of the Unicenter® NeuMICS® Hardware and SCP Analyzer Guide.

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Did you know?
Did you know you can download the How to Use the PSP, the PIOM, and the System Administrator's Guide in PDF format and the other Unicenter® NeuMICS® guides in HTML format from SupportConnectSM onto your PC? To download these guides, log in to SupportConnect, click Documentation under Downloads, and select Unicenter NeuMICS Resource Management. Then, just click ZIP and follow the directions in the Download Instructions file. The guides for the Q&R Workstation are also in PDF format and available from SupportConnect.

Did you know you can convert any Unicenter NeuMICS mainframe guide to HTML yourself when you are viewing the doc under MWF on TSO? Just select Document Print on the Document Access menu. Then type C next to the guide you want to convert.

Did you know that you can convert your Unicenter NeuMICS mainframe guides to Portable Document Format (PDF) by using another CA product? CA-Spool™ can convert guides to PDF from Text or Advanced Function Printing (AFP). AFP is used by the majority of large enterprises for printing guides. The PDF version of the guide is viewed on your PC using Adobe Acrobat. The downloaded NeuMICS guide looks exactly like its printed counterpart. Each page of a NeuMICS guide is fully displayed on the screen. Using the search functions in Adobe Acrobat, you can quickly research a topic and locate data in the guide.

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Special Events
CA WorldSM
It is official! CA World will be held in Las Vegas from April 22 - 26, 2007.

Now is a good time to give some thought about presenting an overview of how Unicenter® NeuMICS® is used in your environment. CA World is a great opportunity to share your interests and ideas. If you would like to participate as a speaker, you can follow this link to go to the "Call for Speakers" area to submit your ideas: ca.com/caworld/.

If you do not want to be a speaker but have an interest in a specific topic, take a minute to send your ideas to George.Cusson@ca.com.

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