Certifications

• Unicenter® NSM r11 has been certified to run on newly released vendor operating systems, including Linux Intel SLES 10.0, Linux x86_64 SLES 9.0 and 10.0, HP PA-RISC 11i v3 and HP Itanium IA-64 11i v3, and VMware ESX Server 3.0.x and 3.5. For information about this and other certifications, visit Unicenter Network and Systems Management r11 Release Certification.
• Unicenter® ASM r11.1 has been certified to run on VMware ESX Server 3.0.x and 3.5 For information about this and other certifications, visit Unicenter Advanced Systems Management Release Certification.
• CA is pleased to announce certification of CA Job Management for OpenVMS I64 r3 when used on Japanese OpenVMS. This is an English only product, there is no double-byte support for non-English characters. The following PIB is required: QI89041.

No other PIBs/PTFs are required. Please refer to the support matrix for product patches or version support for OpenVMS Alpha and OpenVMS I64. All English OpenVMS product patches would be required on Japanese OpenVMS.

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Unicenter® NSM Cumulative Image
CA Technical Support is making available for download NSM r11.x Cumulative Images.

Windows NSM r11.1 SP1 Cumulative Image, CUM2, is now available for customer download. This image is created by applying all published fixes (up to QO94552) to a Windows NSM r11.1 SP1 Master Image. This image should not be used for upgrades from NSM r11.0 GA or r11.1 SP1. This Cumulative Image may be used for new installations or upgrades from NSM 3.x or NSM r11.1 GA.

Linux and UNIX NSM r11.0 Cumulative Images, CUM2, are now available for customer download. These images are created by applying all published fixes (up to QO96589) to a Linux or UNIX NSM r11.0 Master Images. These images should not be used for upgrades from NSM r11.0 GA, however they may be used for new installations, or upgrades from NSM 3.x.

To download these images, go to Support Online Download Center, choose Unicenter NSM (formerly Unicenter® TNG) and select r11.1 or 11.0, then CUM2 and click Go. This will bring you to a Support Online page where links to your product download will await you. The download process instructs users to download a .zip file first, which contains the images. There will also be a .txt file which will identify the name of the iso images.

The UNIVER information has been updated on each image. For more information, see PIBs QI94749 and QI92441.

Updated Cumulative Images will be posted periodically, but will not be posted each time new published maintenance becomes available. Only the latest Cumulative Image will be posted on Support Online. Upon posting, previous images will be removed because they should no longer be used.

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Beta Programs

• OPEN: CA Unicenter® Network and Systems Management r11.2
  The recruitment process has started for the CA Unicenter Network and Systems Management (CA Unicenter NSM) r11.2 beta. CA Unicenter NSM r11.2 is focused on reducing the Mean Time to Repair (MTTR). This focus will produce a reduction of unnecessary costs. Integration between Unicenter® and other CA solutions like eHealth & SPECTRUM will enable a simplified workflow for operators reducing the time spent looking for the root cause of issues.
  Some other features of the CA Unicenter NSM r11.2 beta are:
  • Single control point for all operational activity, with enhanced and extensible system monitoring.
  • A scalable architecture that accommodates enterprises of all sizes.
  • Role-based security for limiting management authority according to individual user roles.
  • IPv6 Support has been added to the extensive integration capabilities to consolidate support for the wide variety of vendor platforms and standards-based interfaces and functions.
  • A trap editor for adding SNMP traps into the CA Unicenter NSM knowledge base and for making cryptic SNMP messages more intelligible.
  • Advanced event correlation through a simple policy editor with a Web-based front end and set of policies.

  For more information on this beta and how to register, please visit supportconnectw.ca.com/public/beta/nsm112/nsm112beta.asp.

• OPEN: CA Performance Management for OpenVMS r3.1 on ALPHA and I64 platforms
  The recruitment process has started for the CA Performance Management for OpenVMS r3.1 beta. We are looking for beta sites on both ALPHA and I64 platforms. Clients who are using this product and are interested in signing up for the beta can do so at supportconnectw.ca.com/public/beta/pmopenvms31/pmopenvms31beta.asp
  
  (NOTE: You need to log into your Support Online account to reach the beta site.)
  
  This 3.1 release of CA Performance Management will bring all the new and exciting things it did in the first I64 release back to ALPHA along with new features on both ALPHA and I64. For a list of new features, visit the benefits section of supportconnectw.ca.com/public/beta/pmopenvms31/pmopenvms31beta-description.asp.
  
  This limited beta is filling up fast, so don't delay putting in your application. If you have questions or need more information, please contact Robert.Puishys@ca.com.

• COMING SOON: CA Cohesion® Application Configuration Manager r5.0 (CA Cohesion ACM) automates the configuration management of complex and distributed applications to ensure security, performance, availability, consistency and compliance.

  • Features
    • Discover servers, software components, application services
    • Extract detailed configurations and relationships between software components and applications
    • Capture and save configurations as Baseline or Gold Standards
    • Provide a comprehensive changed detection that covers inventory, file, and parameter level changes across applications and servers.
    • Detect and notify deviation from best practices, compliance and/or gold standards
  • Benefits
    • Simplifies configuration management of complex applications involving many tiers of interdependent components.
    • Resolves problems due to changes in configuration settings at very granular levels.
    • Enables meeting internal and external compliance & regulatory requirements.
    • Accelerates Time-to-Production through better coordination of configuration states of an application as it moves into production.
  • What is New in CA Cohesion ACM r5.0
    • Ability to synchronize blueprints and profiles across multiple Cohesion servers
    • Improved UI and management scalability by 3X to 7X (depending on OS and Hardware)
    • Improved the performance of rules compliance by 5X
    • Provided a tabular view of Change Detection and Comparison results
    • Added support IPV6
    • Enhanced the CMDB Integration:
      • Provided the option of installing CMDB Optimized Component Blueprints for CMDB customers
      • Improved server and software component discovery process by 10x to 30x
      • Provided the ability to export Clustering and Virtualization relationships to CMDB

For information on all of CA's beta programs, please go to CA Beta Program.

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CA Unicenter® NSM Integrations
IBM Upward Integration Module (UIM)
The IBM Upward Integration Module (UIM) for NSM r11.x and NSM 3.1 are now available from the IBM website at www-03.ibm.com/systems/management/director/downloads.html. Instructions on how to download can be found at nsmintegrations.ca.com. Simply mouse over the "+" sign in the description field of the IBM r11.x entry to see the instructions and the description of the integration.

This integration allows management of systems installed with the following IBM hardware and software through the use of the NSM MCC, Event/Alert Management, as well as Agent technology:

• IBM Director Core Services
• IBM Director Agent software
• Systems equipped with an IBM Remote Supervisor Adapter or a BladeCenter chassis equipped with a Management Module.

Dell Hardware Monitor Integration
CA Unicenter NSM system agents can extend their monitoring capabilities to include hardware device monitoring of system voltage, current, fan status, and temperature. This is a powerful mechanism of multiple resource instance monitoring and dynamic watcher creation.

The Dell Hardware Monitor Integration sets up "hardware watchers" using the NSM system agent to monitor Dell PowerEdge Server sensors. These Dell specific sensors are available through Microsoft's Windows interfaces if the Dell Open Manage Server Administrator component is installed.

The integration supports NSM r11.1 and is available on: support.ca.com/phpdocs/0/common/impcd/r11/FieldDevUtilities/tools/fielddev_tools_DellHW Mon.htm.

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Service Availability Management Green Book Version 2.0
Please note that there are new chapters and other changes:

• Systems Management Integration with Client Management Solutions
• CA Unicenter® NSM Integration with CA Insight™ Database Performance Management Agent
• CA Insight Integration with eHealth
• Updated SAM Pack information

For the latest version, visit:
support.ca.com/irj/portal/phpdocs?filePath=0/common/greenbooks.html.

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Implementation Best Practices
Formerly known as the r11 Implementation CD, these EITM Best Practices are located
support.ca.com/irj/portal/anonymous/phpdocs?filePath=0/common/impcd/r11/StartHere.htm
and include information on:

• Scalability
• Best Practices on a number of topics
• SAM Packs
• Working with the MDB
• Troubleshooting

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Butler Group Press Release
The following Unicenter® Network and Systems Management r11.1 Press Release was generated by the Butler Group:
www.ca.com/files/IndustryAnalystReports/ca_unicenter_network_and_systems_management.pdf.

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CA's Daylight Saving Time Statement
CA's official Statement regarding the new Daylight Saving Time Change can be found:
support.ca.com/irj/portal/anonymous/phpsupcontent?contentID=133364.

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Key Findings of Global Virtualization Study
Worldwide, 54 percent of large enterprises rate management of their virtual server environment as a critical or high IT priority. Nevertheless, a recent independent survey documents that only 45 percent think their companies are doing an effective job in this important area. This is indeed a key finding on virtualization management in the global study sponsored by CA.

Also noteworthy in the study is that 68% of the respondents rate the importance of centralizing the management of multi-platform virtualized or physical environments as critical or very important. This bodes well for CA, as we offer the industry's first and only platform-neutral, centrally-managed solution for virtual, physical and clustered server environments. CA's Dynamic & Virtual Systems Management solution is designed to reduce complexity, improve operational efficiencies, and ensure that IT investments are optimized.

The study surveyed 300 CIO's and other top IT executives at companies in the U.S., EMEA and APJ with more than $250 million in annual revenue. It revealed that servers, storage and applications are the most important areas to virtualize.

CIO's searching for more efficient and flexible ways to harness process power are increasingly turning to virtualization technology. Virtualization essentially hides the characteristics of underlying hardware from the operating system and the applications that run them - delivering the kind of resource energy, agility and cost savings that CIO's and their organizations need to stay competitive.

For more information, here is the press release on this Global Virtualization Management Study. If you are interested in the entire study results, please visit: www.ca.com/about/virtual_survey.

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Virtualization "All Star"
Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) published their "All Star" report in Jan 2008 where CA was featured in three categories, taking the "All Star" spot in the Virtualization category.
CA Named "Best of the Best" in Three Systems Management Categories by Enterprise Management Associates

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