Using Auto Soft Capping ASC to Manage Your

Using Auto. Soft. Capping (ASC) to Manage Your z/OS Software Bill © 2010 Software. On. Z

Agenda • General Terminology • Quick Review of VWLC • • R 4 H Defined Capacity IMSU Sub. Capacity Report Tool (SCRT) • VWLC with IBM Soft. Capping • VWLC with Auto Soft Capping • Q&A © 2010 Software. On. Z

General Terminology • Technical terms and abbreviations used in today’s presentation. – MSU: (Million Service Units) : reference unit for Software billing. – IMSU (or ACTMSU): instantaneous MSU consumption – R 4 H: Rolling 4 Hours – CPC Capacity: z/Server full capacity – Soft-Capping / WLM • WLM, PR/SM and enforcement the Soft-Capping limit – DC: Defined Capacity – Hardware Management Console (HMC) – Givers/Takers/Crunchable © 2010 Software. On. Z

The 4 Parts of v. WLC ! © 2010 Software. On. Z

The 4 Parts of VWLC Part 1 R 4 H The R 4 H represents the average consumption (in MSU) of the LPAR during the last 4 hours Part 2 DC Artificial number for each LPAR used to control costs by capping usage when exceeded; set on the HMC Part 3 IMSU The instantaneous consumption of MSU for each LPAR Part 4 SCRT a no-charge IBM tool that reports required license capacity for subcapacity eligible products; used to calculate your monthly MLC bill © 2010 Software. On. Z

I’ve got v. WLC ! But where are the savings ? IBM Soft-Capping Feature But I hear that impacts performance ! © 2010 Software. On. Z

IBM Soft-Capping Feature • IBM Soft-Capping is a feature which allows the control of z/OS bill. – This limit is called Defined Capacity (DC) • The Soft-Capping rule: • When Rolling 4 Hours (R 4 H) becomes greater than or equal to DC then the LPAR is capped. That means that the IMSU consumption will not be able to exceed DC anymore until the R 4 H becomes lower than the DC. • The Enforcer • WLM & PR/SM • http: //www. ibm. com/support/techdocs --> WLM Soft Capping Support © 2010 Software. On. Z

IBM Soft-Capping Feature – LPAR activity: varying MSU consumption over time © 2010 Software. On. Z

IBM Soft-Capping Feature – LPAR activity with R 4 H added: © 2010 Software. On. Z

IBM Soft-Capping feature – Adding a DC causes the LPAR to be capped: © 2010 Software. On. Z

An example of how you control your costs with Soft-Capping Defined Capacity = 0 © 2010 Software. On. Z

You don’t ! © 2010 Software. On. Z

An example of how you control your costs with Soft-Capping Defined Capacity = x © 2010 Software. On. Z

IBM Soft-Capping Feature – Adding a DC can cause an LPAR to be capped: © 2010 Software. On. Z

What About GCL? • GCL allows you to set a capacity limit on a group of LPARs – More flexibility and can reduce capping • But problems can occur when you hit the group cap – Does the appropriate LPAR get capped? • Can negatively impact online workloads. – How quick before reverting back to HMC weights? © 2010 Software. On. Z

So How Can You Take Advantage of VWLC and Set Defined Capacity Without Causing a Lot of Administrative Pain and Effort? © 2010 Software. On. Z

The Answer is Auto Soft. Capping (ASC) © 2010 Software. On. Z

Auto. Soft. Capping - Agenda • Just a few more new definitions • v. WLC strategy • ASC – Prerequisites • Auto. Soft. Capping – General Principles – z. Cost ASC - Key points – ASC – Reporting tools • Next Steps © 2010 Software. On. Z

Auto. Soft. Capping - Strategy • What is your v. WLC strategy? – Set Defined Capacity to 0 and forget it? – Set it to Avoid Capping? • Cap the Test, QA environments only? – How do you modify it? • What kind of approval is required? – Follow what the experts say? • Set it low and adjust as required? • Reset at the beginning of the month? © 2010 Software. On. Z

How ASC Works: High Level • ASC optimizes the performance of your system while controlling your Workload License Charge… – ASC uses metrics collected for each LPAR at regular intervals: • Examples include DC, IMSU, R 4 H, capacity, capping, etc. • The interval can be set by the user (usually 5 minutes) – ASC analyzes the collected metrics for each CEC and LPAR involved: • Can control how this is done using various parameters • Can protect specific LPARs from participating • Can dictate activities by timeframe – ASC applies a sophisticated algorithm to determine for the next time interval the partition defined capacity that best fits performance objective and avoids constraints. © 2010 Software. On. Z

General Principle • ASC Optimizes the performance of your system while controlling your Workload License Charge. – It does so by setting the Defined Capacity line using parameters such as those shown here to control DC setting: • CPC: CPCMAX, CPCMIN • LPAR: MSUMAX, MSUMIN • PERIOD statements The general guiding principle of ASC: If IMSU < R 4 H Decrease DC to just above the R 4 H to optimize the SCRT and avoid capping, releasing DC MSUs to the pool. If IMSU > R 4 H Increase DC to just above the R 4 H to avoid capping, taking from the pool or enforce capping as you have defined © 2010 Software. On. Z

What Does ASC Modify? • The only setting that ASC modifies is Defined Capacity (DC) • What about WLM? • ASC adjusts the DC line, WLM handles z/OS resources • With or without ASC: the Soft. Capping activation needs attention on a well-managed WLM policy. • ASC does not interfere with or change your WLM policies © 2010 Software. On. Z

ASC Prerequisites • Configuration prerequisites : – Being in v. WLC mode – Using IBM Soft-Capping feature. – HMC: • Must be accessible for the LPAR that support the ASC Started Task. • HMC API must be configured and active (API SNMP) • Data Gathering: one of two ways – RMF: – RMF III started on all LPARs. – RMFDDS (GPMSERVE): at least one active on each SYSPLEX (Multi-system or Monoplex) – CMF: – Mainview Explorer (BMC) started on each server (CPC) • Which data will be used? – ASC retrieves data from RMFDDS or Mainview Explorer such as: • CPC level: serial number, family, type, number of CPs. . . • LPAR level: R 4 H, DC, IMSU, Weight, number of Logical Processors… © 2010 Software. On. Z

z. Cost – Auto. Soft. Capping (ASC) • How does ASC reduce costs? • The LPARs’ DCs (Defined Capacity) are dynamically modified in real time by taking into account the behavior and needs of all the LPARs. • Keeps the total DC (CPCMAX) constant and guarantees software cost optimization • Consider the following: 52 -28 -20 55 -41 -4 72 -8 -20 93 -4 -3 © 2010 Software. On. Z

z. Cost – Auto. Soft. Capping (ASC) • Auto. Soft. Capping: • Web reporting which allows for control on your activity and your System z/resources. • ASC adjusts the DC line, WLM handles z/OS resources • ASC goes after your peaks • 2 different sets of Parameters • ASCGENxx – Manage ASC • ASCLPAXX – Manage at the LPAR level. • Flexibility © 2010 Software. On. Z

Adjusting Factors – ASC Decisions • ASC insure MSUs sharing among the different LPARs and the CPC free space. It takes into account: – – The LPAR activity (current DC, R 4 H, IMSU) LPAR’s claims and giving capabilities The context (behavior of the LPARs in previous intervals…) ASC parameters General - LPAR • • • PRIORITY DFCBASE MSUMIN MSUMAX PROTECTED • CPCMAX • CPCMIN LPAR priority level to receive MSUs Value under which the LPAR can never be forced to go down. LPAR DC Minimum value LPAR DC Maximum value In case of high risk of capping (R 4 H close to DC and IMSU very higher), the LPAR get a high priority level and cannot be forced to give MSUs Maximum value for the SUM of the LPAR’s DCs (for all LPARs running in the CPC) Minimum value for the SUM of the LPAR’s DCs (for all LPARs running in the CPC) © 2010 Software. On. Z

ASC Setting • ASC performs dynamic Settings: – Sends DC modification orders to the HMC, and the DCs are set according to the algorithm decisions. • ASC performs period Settings: – Period Settings allow ASC to modify some settings at predefined date/time. It can: • Modify the DC by setting a predefined value to the parameter DEFCAP • Modify the weight by setting a predefined value to the parameter WEIGHT • ASC Reset Profile: set the DEFCAP and WEIGHT parameters of all LPARs to the initial value (contained in DFCBASE and WBASE) • Modify parameters by taking into account predefined parameters values or by reloading predefined parameters members. © 2010 Software. On. Z

ASC – Product Flow ZCASC Main ASC Started Task ASC Parameters Data Collection RMF or CMF - LPARs (DC, IMSU, R 4 H, WLM Capping, …) - CPCs (capacity, CPs, . . ) oo. COD LPAxx member Period Definitions Market Open and Close LPAR’s behavior analysis Make decisions to modify DCs ASC Commands Grab oo. COD increase Rexx script ASC cmd f, LPAR settings (via HMC API) ZCASCW ASC Web SERVER Web reporting (update HTML files) Sending alarms (WTO, emails) Writing SMF records Operator © 2010 Software. On. Z

ASC – Web Interface © 2010 Software. On. Z

Web Interface – Zooming In © 2010 Software. On. Z

Recall Our Earlier Pros & Cons Chart v. WLC with IBM Soft-Capping: Pros & Cons Allows billing control Low DCs Potential performance problems (capping) IBM Soft-Capping No capping High DCs The bill is not controlled anymore © 2010 Software. On. Z

v. WLC with Auto. Soft. Capping: Pros & Cons Allows billing control Low DCs Allows billing control Auto. Soft. Capping Allows billing control High DCs Allows billing control © 2010 Software. On. Z

Putting ASC into Action • You provide us with: – – Mutual NDA On-site technical discussion of Auto. Soft. Capping SMF records 70 over a significant period The SCRT of the last month for each CPC • We process the data through our simulator. • We schedule a meeting to present: – Review the results of the simulations – Review the Financials, Costs and ROI – Schedule a POC – Run in Simulation mode and validate results – Turn it on © 2010 Software. On. Z

z. Cost ASC – In Summary…. • ASC SAVES MONEY by controlling the z/OS license charge. – Very short ROI: All our current customers got an ROI between 3 and 12 months! – An average of saved MSU between 7 and 15%. • ASC opens new opportunities in how you run your operations • ASC is a simple tool: – Easy to set up on the machine. – Compatible with all existing System z servers. – A sophisticated Web Reporting interface allows more control of the system. • ASC receives excellent customer feedback. © 2010 Software. On. Z

Contact Info • Software. On. Z • http: //www. softwareonz. com • Technical Support • Craig S. Mullins • Craig. Mullins@softwareonz. com • Your US sales contact • Brian Hoare • Brian. Hoare@softwareonz. com © 2010 Software. On. Z

Q&A © 2010 Software. On. Z