![search390]() ![This Week]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
|
In this Issue |
![]() |
![]()
| >> |
From the editor:
Do you think it's easier for a mainframe person to learn Unix and Windows technology? Or do you think a Unix guru could easily pick up mainframe skills? |
| >> |
Featured Topic:
Multiplaform job skills |
| >> |
Expert Technical Advice:
Dave Jones, VM system and application programmer, Sine Nomine Associates |
| >> |
Site Highlights:
Crash course: Offshore Outsourcing
Hewlett-Packard Upgrade Assessment Resource Center
Product/Vendor Guide |
![]()
|
|
From the Editor: |
![]() |
![]()
![]()
by Edward Hurley, Editor
![]()
When I got this job, I was hired because I had reporting and writing experience. My editors figured I could learn the technology.
Generally, there are two paths to being a technology journalist. Either you start out as an IT person and learn reporting and writing or you are a journalist who learns technology. I know from personal experience that IT and mainframe technology in particular is hardly an easy subject to learn.
With that learning curve in mind, do you think it's easier for a mainframe person to learn Unix and Windows technology? Or do you think a Unix guru could easily pick up mainframe skills? Let us know your thoughts by clicking here.
Such questions are not academic. In today's world, companies usually run several interconnected platforms. For example, an online application may have a Unix front-end, which pulls data from a mainframe. Finding people who can maintain such applications is something more and more companies are going to face.
So what do you think is desirable in the data center: A highly-specialized and skilled mainframe pro or a somewhat experienced pro with training on multiple platforms? Vote for you choice by clicking here.
|
![]()
|
|
Featured Topic: |
![]() |
![]()
Multiplatform skills
by the editors of Search390.com
![]()
It is a multiplatform world. Heterogenous is the word to describe many a data center. This week's Featured Topic explores multiplatform job skills mainframers should have.
![]()
Read more about this topic
|
![]()
|
|
Expert Technical Advice: |
![]() |
![]()
![]()
Featured Expert: Dave Jones, VM system and application programmer, Sine Nomine Associates
Categories:VM system and application programming
Dave Jones is a member of the technical staff at Sine Nomine Associates, an Ashburn, VA-based network and IT infrastructure consulting organization. He has over 15 years experience in both VM system and application programming on VM/SP, VM/ESA and z/VM systems. He has helped bring several VM-based commercial products to market and he is the author of the VM SNTP Version 4 network timeserver, VM/TimeServ. He has extensive experience with Rexx and CMS Pipelines, HLASM, PL/I and PL/X. He was also
part of the team that wrote the "VM/ESA Network Computing with Java and NetRexx" Redbook, published in November 1998.
![]()
View all of Dave's answers
|
![]()
|
In case you missed it: News and advice from the previous week
|
| >> |
Crash Course: Offshore outsourcing
Few topics are as controversial as offshore outsourcing. To some, it brings to mind images of greedy businessmen sending US jobs overseas to save a buck or two. But outsourcing is not so simple an issue. This Crash Course examines the issue from many angles including the debate over it and how to make oneself outsource-proof.
Mainframe Mishap: The pain of rushing to finish a job
Everyone knows that feeling. You just want to get your work done and
go home for a weekend. Julien Wilkinson found out the hard way that
such thinking can cause more pain than pleasure. He tells his story
in this latest Mainframe Mishap.
Executing Enterprise COBOL properly
A Search390.com user asked Tom Ross, our application development expert:
When trying to execute an Enterprise COBOL 3.3 CICS program, it abends with 4038 (IGZ0013S) on a static call to a subroutine -- the subroutine was compiled in 1999 with COBOL-II 1.4.0. If the subroutine is recompiled with Enterprise COBOL and then the calling program also compiled again, the transaction executes fine. Why is this happening? We thought calls to or from VS-COBOL-II and Enterprise COBOL are not a problem under LE. Currently, we are on z/OS 1.4. Can you please tell us whether we
are missing any parameter?
Deleting unreachable code
Another Search390.com user asked Tom Ross, our application development expert:
Does the "old" COBOL compiler (PP 5668-958 IBM VS COBOL II Release 3.2 09/05/90) actually delete "unreachable code" when the "Optimize" compiler option is selected? Our shop is treating our conversion to LE COBOL as if this is a "new" problem that did not exist with the "Old Compiler"?
SFM and ARM policies are optional
A user asked Gerhard Adam, our systems management expert:
We had three systems running in a Parallel Sysplex at the OS/390 2.10 level. Each system was removed from the Sysplex so it could be upgraded to zOS 1.4. We are now ready to put the systems back into the Parallel Sysplex. At the 2.10 level we had couple datasets for XCF, CFRM, WLM, and LOGR. Is SFM and ARM now required or can we put the systems back into the Sysplex without them?
Weighing in on LPARs
Another user asked Gerhard Adam, our systems management expert:
We are running z/OS V1.4 on a z890 (2086-6160). We have four LPARs (A, B, C, and D) and their respective "weights" are: 29, 43, 14 and 14. SYSB is our "production" LPAR, hence the higher value. These numbers have evolved from "olden" times. In the Workload Management manual, it states: "You give each logical partition an initial LPAR weight, along with a minimum and maximum weight." On the HMC Customize Image profile screen, the value is listed under "Logical Processor Assignment" as a "Not
dedicated central processor" value of 43, for instance. The box next to "Enable workload manager" is NOT checked and there is no value next to minimum and maximum. What is the essence of this box, enabling WorkLoad Manager? Is it a Parallel Sysplex kind of thing? Policy changes or do we simply have to check the box? |
![]()
| Tip of the Week: |
| As budget debates rage on for 2004 planning, most CIOs do not expect to see big increases over last year's funding. Strong ROI analysis is one way to ease the turmoil of project decision-making and approvals. |
| >> |
CIOs demand that vendors get real |
![]()
|
|
Site Highlights |
![]() |
![]()
![]() |
Crash course: Offshore Outsourcing
Take a look at some of the complex issues of outsourcing and get a better understanding of this controversial issue.
Click here
![]()
Hewlett-Packard Upgrade Assessment Resource Center
How do you know whether or not an upgrade will increase your shop's productivity or reduce security vulnerabilities? Check out Hewlett-Packards's Upgrade Assessment Resource Center and read various white papers and case studies that outline how to make the best possible decision.
Visit the resource center
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Product/Vendor Guide
Check it out
The Search390.com Product & Vendor Guide has the mainframe solutions you need. Find performance management, event automation, file management and disaster recovery solutions easily, and contact vendors directly for additional information.
|
![]() |
![]()
|
![]() |
![]()
| Free Newsletters |
| Update your profile today at Search390.com and sign up for free newsletters such as Daily News, CICS Strategies, and Developer Tips. |
![]() Sign up now |
|
![]()
![]()
| S/390 Linux links |
| Check out our collection of links to topics about running Linux on the mainframe. If you need information on anything from installation to troubleshooting, look here first. |
![]() Go to links |
|
![]()
| Daily news |
| Sign up for the Daily News from Search390.com. Get the latest and most relevant news delivered to your inbox. |
![]() Sign up now |
|
![]()
|
![]() |
![]() |
|
