Author Archives: Martin Packer

(Originally posted 2007-05-12.) Now I know why, as previously reported here, there’s a new power meter on the HMC. See this blog entry and the links from it for more details of the “Big Green” energy efficiency initiative. And this goes way beyond the “packets of grass seed” campaign of last year – which highlightedContinue reading “Big Green”

(Originally posted 2007-05-12.) Here’s a nice BSOD from a ticket machine on the Nürnberg U-Bahn. 🙂

(Originally posted 2007-05-09.) Whenever I talk about zIIPs and zAAPs I’m reminded of Zip Zap miniature radio-controlled cars. But (to get past the censors I have to say) zIIPs and zAAPs are not toys. Here’s an extract from a post on MXG-L that Bernie Pierce made. (I reproduce it with his kind permission.) If thereContinue reading “When Good Work Doesn’t Go To zIIP / zAAP Heaven”

(Originally posted 2007-05-08.) Occasioned by some recent enhancements to MXG I thought it high time I talked about a couple of Coupling Facility commands that DB2 Version 8 can take advantage of: (And thanks to Barry Merrill for the MXG information and the sample data I’m using here.) MXG Version 25.04, May 7, 2007 providesContinue reading “DB2 Data Sharing Performance and Coupling Facility Enhancements for DB2 Version 8”

(Originally posted 2007-05-08.) Thanks to Margaret Koppes of the European Patent Office for this picture of me and Glenn Anderson hard at work at the “main tent session” 🙂 in München:

(Originally posted 2007-05-02.) I’ve just submitted my three presentations for this great conference: Much Ado About CPU Memory Matters in 2007 DB2 Data Sharing Performance For Beginners UKCMG is – for me – a great chance to catch up with customers, vendors and others in the industry. Its prime focus is Performance – multiplatform inContinue reading “UKCMG Conference, June 25-27, Whittlebury Hall, Northants”

(Originally posted 2007-04-27.) Hmmm: IBM press release on the gameframe. I’d like to see a lot more detail on this before I go “whoopie!” but it does sound like an intriguing idea. It would be the first “specialty” engine to actually feature different hardware. Reminds of me of the 3090 Vector Facility but it’s reallyContinue reading “Gameframes”

(Originally posted 2007-04-26.) I was pleasantly surprised to see my conference evaluations so soon – given the European System z Technical Conference was only last week. Very professional to have the feedback straight away. All the people who filled in the evaluation forms – and that exceeded 50% of the attendees in every session –Continue reading “What I Learned From My Conference Evaluations”

(Originally posted 2007-04-26.) Here’s a salutary item from the BBC: The legacy of Guernica.

(Originally posted 2007-04-20.) Marna Walle: Recent Installation Enhancements and Directions Marna gave a very good presentation, covering a wide range of topics in this area. Here are some highlights – at least from MY perspective: In z/OS R.7: z/OS R.7 UNIX introduced Dynamic Service Activation for SELECTED corrective PTFs. Only works for PTFs marked asContinue reading “European System z Technical Conference – End of Day 5”