Search390.com Web Enabling Tip June 27, 2001 ======================================================== SPONSORED BY: Postmaster Direct ======================================================== Get free offers from reputable merchants for products that you are interested in. Pick from over 50 categories of interest, modify your profile at any time to suit your needs, and receive only the email that interests you when you subscribe today. Just click on the link below and get your account up and running: http://search390.techtarget.com/postmasterDirect/ ======================================================== The OS'es in the Web desert Jim Keohane --- Ode to VSE/ESA OS/390 (z/OS, MVS) sucks up most of the oxygen in any discussion of S/390 operating systems. Bad enough that it heralds from a long line of rock solid OS'es, it also crossdresses as Unix via its USS (Unix System Services). Linux is a current hot topic somewhat to the detriment of other S/390 unix variants (defunct AIX/ESA, Amdahl's UTS, Hitachi?s OSIRIS, AT&T's moribund System V, etc.). VM, the original client/server, is a highly regarded interactive OS with unix-like abilities. Often it is seen as the critical linchpin in a multi-OS shop. TPF is still the fastest transaction processor as is evidenced by the speed at which hundreds of flights can be simultaneously overbooked. Used by airlines and banks. What little it does it does very, very well. Then there's VSE (VSE/ESA), the kid brother to OS/390. Long thought of as a low-capacity batch environment it has blossomed of late. It runs on the same S/390 hardware with all the power and capability that means. VSE doesn't do the fancy bazillion task management and dispatching that OS/390 does nor is there a Work Load Manager concept. That means there's much less operating system overhead. Lean and mean. Lines of Code (LOC's) is an extremely rough gauge of operating system complexity and overhead but it is also not to be dismissed. ACTS Research estimates LOC's for Linux as 2M, VSE 3M, VM 5M and OS/390 25M and growing. See http://www.actscorp.com/Tech_Papers___Articles/vitality.htm. ACTS Research is also not the only one to state of VSE that "IBM has repeatedly tried to terminate it and motivate the users to migrate to OS/390." Of late, IBM appears to be recognizing the synergies of VM and VSE and putting serious development effort into VSE. There is significant common code to both VSE and OS/390. Someone used to OS/390 CICS, DB2, MQSeries would have little adjustment to make for VSE's versions of same. The 20K or so VSE sites worldwide often address some VSE limitations by coupling it with VM. VSE virtual machines serve specific purposes in a sea of VM clients. What VSE has somewhat lacked until recently is Web support. Things have improved. There's not just plain vanilla web support but full blown Java, EJB, CICS Web Support, ECI, DL/1, SSL, HTTP Server, DB2, Websphere App Server, CORBA, IIOP, MQSeries, etc. IBM has blessed Connectivity Systems' TCPIP For VSE. See http://www.tcpip4vse.com/cf140a.pdf. Barnard Software has TCP/IP-Tools & IP Pack for VSE. See http://www.bsiopti.com/products.html. Get all GUI over legacy-to-web with CrossPlex for VSE http://www.softouch.com/cpx_prod/#. See IBM VSE Partners http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/os/vse/partners/tcpvens.htm. Lean and Meaners love Data21.com's IPServer. See http://www.data21.com/products/default.asp. Here's the kicker. If you recall my earlier tip about IBM's Project eLiza you know that WLM concepts are leaching from OS/390 and permeating the Web. That means OS'es without WLM (VSE) that serve specific needs efficiently can have WLM concepts superimposed via VM or Web/Net Management. Think of HiperSockets (another recent tip) as the medium through which the workloads are managed, failover is implemented and resources allocated. Now try to come up with any dire forecast for VSE's future! C'mon. I dare ya! For extra credit: IBM eBusiness Connectors http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/os/vse/pdf/fa2wsmm0.pdf. VSE/ESA Software Newsletter http://www1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/os/vse/pdf/vsenew21/vsenl21.pdf. Intelliware.com http://www.intelliware.com/home_vse.htm. IBM VSE Hints & Tips 5/2001 http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/os/vse/pdf/vseesaht.pdf. IBM VSE/ESA Performance http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/os/vse/library/vseperf.htm. Xephon VSE Update http://www.bimoyle.com/biminfo/default.htm. World Alliance of VM & VSE http://wavv.org/wavv.shtml VSE-L at Lehigh http://www.lehigh.edu/~wsm0/vse-l/vse-l_vendors.shtml About the author: Jim Keohane ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) is president of New York consulting company Multi-Platforms, Inc. His company specializes in commercial software development/consulting with emphasis on cross-platform and performance issues. ======================================================================= DID YOU LIKE THIS TIP? Why not let us know? Email your comments to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED], or scroll to the bottom of http://www.search390.com/tip/1,289483,sid10_gci751573,00.html ======================================================================= ==================================== SPEAKING OF OSes AND LINUX... ==================================== Tomorrow, Thursday June 28, IBM's Jan Lahmann will be live in our Operating Systems Discussion Forum! We've arranged for Jan, who is also search390's Linux on S/390 Expert, to patrol the Operating Systems forum to respond to your Linux-related posts instantly. Jan will be available from 1pm to 3pm EDT (or longer if necessary)to answer your questions and share some of his most valuable tips and advice! Don't miss this golden opportunity to pick the brain of a leading 390 and Linux expert for a couple hours. This is also a great way to see what's on your colleagues' minds. On Thursday at 1:00 PM EDT go to the Operating Systems Forum: http://search390.discussions.techtarget.com/WebX?[EMAIL PROTECTED]^[email protected]!viewtype=&skip=&expand= ======================================= Additional Resources: * For a list of the latest Web enabling tips on Search390.com, go to http://search390.techtarget.com/tipsIndex/0,289482,sid10_tax286022,00.html While you're there, check out some of the great tips submitted by search390's registered users. Please take a minute to rate them too. Hey, why not submit a tip of your own? You could win a Palm Vx ultra-slim handheld! To submit a tip, go to: http://search390.techtarget.com/tipsSubmit/1,289485,sid10,00.html * Got a specific Web integration question? Why not try to stump our expert (who just happens to be Jim Keohane) at http://search390.techtarget.com/ateQuestion/0,289624,sid10_tax285032,00.html ======================================================== The Learning Zone Related Book ======================================================== The Eternal E-Customer Author: Bryan Bergeron Summary: The Eternal E-Customer focuses on getting e-businesses to the next level of customer loyalty. In the competitive world of e-commerce, the winners know that the key to success is customer appreciation and retention. Emotionally intelligent interfaces (EII) are driven by data from previous customer interactions, explicit customer preferences, and based on customer profiles. EIIs build trust and customer loyalty by offering shoppers the intimacy and individual attention they expect from the corner store. In this groundbreaking book, Harvard professor Bryan Bergeron provides a roadmap to get readers up to speed on all crucial business and technology aspects of EIIs, and explains how to create the information infrastructure needed to support EIIs tailored to their businesses. http://www.digitalguru.com/dgstore/product.asp?isbn=007136479X&ac_id=54 ========================================================= ======================================================== If you would like to sponsor this or any TechTarget newsletter, please contact Gabrielle DeRussy at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ======================================================== If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter simply reply to this message with "REMOVE" in the subject line. Or, visit http://search390.techtarget.com/register and adjust your subscriptions accordingly. 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