They were simpler times back then. “Back when?” You might ask. When PR/SM got started – in the mid 1980’s – a machine might have two or three LPARs. Similarly, when Parallel Sysplex got started the number of members was very small. For reference, a z17 ME1 can have up to 85 LPARs, and aContinue reading “Two Of These Are Not Like The Others”
Tag Archives: performance
Modern Machines, Modern Metrics
Modern Machines, Modern Metrics In z17 Sustainability Metrics – Part 0 I wrote about the new z17 Sustainability Metrics, or “Power Consumption”, if you prefer. This post isn’t part 1 – as I don’t intend to go into much detail about what I’ve learnt so far. I have learnt things, of course. During the SummerContinue reading “Modern Machines, Modern Metrics”
z17 Sustainability Metrics – Part 0
I call this “Part 0” because I haven’t yet seen any data. However I think it useful to start here, rather than waiting for customer data to appear – for two reasons: Sharing what data is available is useful. Showing how “folklore” is built is instructive and useful. As you might expect, I’ve been downContinue reading “z17 Sustainability Metrics – Part 0”
Mainframe Performance Topics Podcast Episode 36 “Telum Like It Is”
We were especially keen to get a podcast episode out on the day z17 was announced, having both worked on the launch project in various capacities. So, for once there was a deadline – which we actually made. It was a pleasure to record this, with almost every piece of it related to z17. SoContinue reading “Mainframe Performance Topics Podcast Episode 36 “Telum Like It Is””
Mainframe Performance Topics Podcast Episode 35 “In Search Of EXCELence?”
As usual it’s taken us longer than we would like. The usual problem of finding planning and recording slots we can both make applies. But I think the episode turned out well. It was certainly fun to make. So here are the show notes. Episode 35 “In Search Of EXCELence?” long show notes This episodeContinue reading “Mainframe Performance Topics Podcast Episode 35 “In Search Of EXCELence?””
Utility Window Detection
It seems to me understanding when an installation’s utilities run is important. Why is this? It’s because utilities can make systems behave differently from how they usually do. And some of these behaviours can represent a challenge. It’s often also valuable to reduce the utility window. What Is A Utility? There is no formal definitionContinue reading “Utility Window Detection”
Engineering – Part 9 – Perhaps Affinity Nodes Are Interesting After All
I’ve tended to think Affinity Nodes aren’t worthy of study – because there’s little you can do to influence them. However, that doesn’t mean one shouldn’t understand them. (In this post I’m going to say “processor” when I mean “logical processor” and “affnode” when I mean “affinity node”. Also “VL” for “Vertical High”, “VM” forContinue reading “Engineering – Part 9 – Perhaps Affinity Nodes Are Interesting After All”
Engineering – Part 8 – Remote Access Detection
The fact we’re up to “Part 8” illustrates there’s a lot to talk about once you take performance analysis down to the individual logical / physical processor level. Many people have talked about the need to avoid LPARs crossing processor drawer boundaries. There are good reasons for this – because access to cache or memoryContinue reading “Engineering – Part 8 – Remote Access Detection”
Engineering – Part 7 – RMF Processor Home Address Fields
I was recently asked where I was getting the home addresses for logical processors from in RMF SMF 70. I will agree the fields I use are not that easy to interpret – so here’s my go at making them more accessible. Along the way I’ll also talk about SMF 74 Subtype 4 Coupling FacilityContinue reading “Engineering – Part 7 – RMF Processor Home Address Fields”
Relating Parked Time To Cores
In Drawers And More I mentioned Parking with the words One day I’ll be able to colour VL’s according to whether they are parked or not – or rather fractions of the interval they’re parked. That’s a not very difficult fix for the python code. Well, that proved as simple as I thought. So, alongContinue reading “Relating Parked Time To Cores”
Mainframe, Performance, Topics 