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A DOZEN
REASONS YOU SHOULD
MIGRATE TO z/OS NOW
1. If you’re running any level of OS/390 except
OS/390 V2.10, you’re running an operating system that is no longer
supported by IBM. This means if you have any problems with OS/390, IBM
will charge you for support, and it may be difficult to find someone
with expertise on your release. OS/390 V2.10 will be supported until at
least 9/30/2004. For all availability and support dates, see http://www.ibm.com/
servers/eserver/zseries/zos/support/zos_eos_dates.html.
2. z/OS V1.4 is the last release to provide
coexistence/fallback support for OS/390 V2.10, and that’s the only
OS/390 release z/OS V1.4 provides this support for (one exception:
OS/390 V2.9 running standalone). This means that if
you’re still running a release of OS/390 below V2.10, you will very
likely need to first upgrade to OS/390 V2.10, and then to z/OS V1.4,
before you can upgrade to higher releases of z/OS. The lack of fallback
support means you can’t upgrade, then fall back to your old release
with a guarantee it will still work. For a definitive explanation of IBM’s
fallback/coexistence policy, please, see z/OS V1R4 Planning for
Installation, Chapter 5 - Ensuring Coexistence and Fallback,
at http://publibfp.boulder.ibm.com/
cgi-bin/bookmgr/BOOKS/e0z2b131/5.0.
3. When you decide to upgrade to z/OS, you DO
NOT have to upgrade to z/Architecture (ARCHLVL 2) at the same
time that you upgrade to z/OS. Starting with z/OS V1.4, IBM offers the
Bimodal Migration Accommodation Offering, which allows you to first
upgrade to z/OS, then within a 6 month time period, to convert your
system(s) to z/Architecture. You must be running on a z/Series processor
(z/800 or z/900) to implement z/Architecture. For more information on
the z/OS Bimodal Migration Accommodation Offering, please visit
http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/zos/installation/bimodal.html.
4. z/Architecture provides 64-bit addressing, and
eliminates the need for Expanded Storage by providing the capability for
an LPAR to use up to 64 gigabytes of Central Storage (as opposed to 2
gigabytes when running in ESA/390 mode). This can reduce paging and
allows products like DB2 to exploit Data-In-Memory capabilities that can
reduce I/O response time by making data immediately available to
applications. Data-In-Memory techniques also can reduce the CPU time
necessary to process channel programs. For more information on
z/Architecture, please visit http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/rd/464/plambeck.html.
5. Speaking of performance, z/OS provides
extensive enhancements in the area of dynamic tuning through the
Intelligent Resource Director (IRD). IRD extends Workload Manager (WLM)
goal mode processing to include the ability to react to changing
workload requirements without human intervention, to be self-optimizing,
to dynamically self-configure, and to enable autonomic computing. IRD
also provides Dynamic Channel Path Management, LPAR CPU Management,
Channel Subsystem Priority Queueing, and a variety of other real-time
tuning capabilities. IRD requires that you run in z/Architecture mode.
For more on IRD, please visit either
http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/library/techbriefs/irdtechbrief.html
or http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/zos/wlm/documents/ird/ird.html.
6. Not only are there performance reasons to
migrate to z/OS, there are also cost reasons. z/OS introduced the
concept of Workload Pricing. Workload Pricing means you pay for what you
use, not for the size of processor you’re running (workload pricing
requires that you run in z/Architecture mode). Shouldn’t you pay for
what you use? But you should also be forewarned: many Third Product
vendors still charge based on the size of the processor, so you need to
check with them, too. For more information on Workload License Pricing,
please visit
http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/swprice/wlc.html.
7. z/OS Managed System Infrastructure (msys) can
greatly simplify and streamline system administration in a z/OS
environment (as well as OS/390 V2.10). msys for Setup provides
self-configuring, self-optimizing, self-healing, and self-protecting
capabilities that make product configuration and customization easier
and simpler. For more on msys for Setup, please visit http://www-1.ibm.com/
servers/eserver/zseries/msys/setup.html.
msys for Operations can simplify operations
(especially in a Parallel Sysplex), and also provides self-healing
capabilities for Couple data sets, the System Logger, and WTO buffers.
msys for Operations improves both system and application availability by
reducing operational complexity, improving awareness of system status
and problems, and reducing operator errors. msys for Operations can be
downloaded from the web. For more on msys for Operations, please
visit
http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/msys/msysops/.
8. msys exploits another advantage offered by z/OS
called autonomic computing. Autonomic computing greatly advances the
notion of self-managing systems, and has its roots in IBM’s Project
eLiza. Not only is autonomic computing provided on the z/OS mainframe
server platform, it also runs on UNIX, midrange, and Intel server
platforms. Autonomic computing is an enabler of dynamic e-business
processing. For more on autonomic computing, please visit
http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/autonomic/.
9. z/OS also provides a number of key enhancements
in the area of IP networking and security. HiperSockets is a
high-performance, highly secure mechanism for inter-partition
communications, and significantly simplifies the network configuration
involved. For more on HiperSockets, see
http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/networking/hipersockets.html.
Secure Sockets Layer performance compares
favorably with other processing platforms and provides comprehensive
cryptography support. z/OS has also been expanded to support Digital
Certificate management (a.k.a. PKI Services). For more on IP security,
see http://www-1.ibm.com/
servers/eserver/zseries/zos/pki.
IPv6 protocols expand the possible number of
network addresses to 340 billion billion billion billion, simplify
configuration and administration, and expand security capabilities. IPv6
requires a z/Series processor, using an OSA-Express adapter running in
QDIO mode and when the zSeries is at driver level 3G (GA3 code) or
above. For more on Ipv6, see http://publibz.boulder.ibm.com/cgi-bin/bookmgr_OS390/BOOKS/F1A1F100/CCONTENTS.
For more on z/OS network capabilities in general,
see http://www-1.ibm.com/
servers/eserver/zseries/networking and http://docs.share.org/proceedings/sh100/s3404.pdf.
10. z/OS also provides extensive application
flexibility and expandability. Of course, z/OS still provides robust
support for legacy COBOL applications using Language Environment under
CICS, DB2, and IMS, plus Assembler has been expanded to provide 64-bit
addressing capability. But z/OS also provides the same robust support
for such "new world" application capabilities as Java
(including Java Beans and Java SDK V1.3/4), and most significantly, XML.
C++ is supported at the ISO ’98 level, the Simple Network Time
Protocol is now in z/OS, Unicode is now supported, as are CORBA business
objects. UNIX file performance has been significantly improved, as have
Websphere tuning capabilities. For more on the application capabilities
that z/OS provides, please see
http://publib-b.boulder.ibm.com/Redbooks.nsf/RedbookAbstracts/sg245664.html.
11. IBM has developed a number of deliverables to
simplify and streamline migration to z/OS. A key feature in this area is
that IBM changed its release interval from 6 months to a year while
maintaining its policy of providing support for 3 years after a release
becomes available. IBM also intends to align its
coexistence/migration/fallback support with that service policy
(starting with the release after z/OS V1.5 in 9/2004). This halves the
number of releases you have to cope with while simplifying migration
planning and scheduling. As part of a phaseover period, z/OS V1.5 will
be available in 3/2004, and the first annual release will be available
in 9/2004. For more information on this policy change, see the Statement
of Direction and Service Policy sections of http://www.ibmlink.ibm.com/usalets&parms=H_202-190.
IBM has also produced a z/OS V1.4 Migration –
From OS/390 V2.10 to z/OS V1.4 manual (at http://publibfp.boulder.ibm.com/
cgi-bin/bookmgr/BOOKS/e0z2m101/CCONTENTS) that consolidates the
information from the many Migration Guides that existed for
OS/390 components, plus more. This document works with the z/OS V1R4 and
z/OS.e V1R4 Installation Planning Wizard
(at http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/zos/wizards/ipw/ipwv1r4).
These facilities greatly simplify the planning phase of a migration. For
a list of all the z/OS Wizards, see http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/zos/wizards.
Taking this concept a step further, the z/OS
Migration Starter Kit, from Best Customer Solutions, Inc., incorporates
the information in the above manual/wizard into a Microsoft Project
plan. This plan includes most z/OS and ServerPac migration and
installation tasks, and couples these tasks with hundreds of hyperlinks
to information across the Internet. These hyperlinks connect not just to
relevant IBM and Third Party manuals, but also presentations and White
Papers by SHARE, IBM, and other vendors and consulting firms to provide
technical guidance at the click of a mouse. For more information on the
z/OS Migration Starter Kit, see http://www.mainframehelp.com/upgrade_plan_templates.htm.
12. Are there more reasons to migrate to z/OS?
Literally dozens! Perhaps not to the degree of the reasons listed above,
but depending on your configuration and the nature of your applications,
other new z/OS functions may be key to your operation. This includes z/OS.e,
which provides a unique, powerful platform for running e-business
applications on the z/800, and the capability to develop and run legacy,
UNIX, and LINUX systems in parallel, all communicating and sharing data
within a common environment. Take some time to go to the z/OS Home Page,
at
http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/zos, and browse through
some of the pages. You’ll be impressed with what you find.
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