VitalSigns for VM Highlights
VitalSigns for VM provides performance information regarding VM hardware and operating systems.
Use VitalSigns for VM as your solution. Get…
- Customized exception reporting
- Modeling and “what if” analysis
- Online graphs and tables to show real-time and recent performance data.
- VitalSigns for VM also has its own archiving to tape system.
- The ability to extract data for use by other software.
VitalSigns for VM Specifications
VitalSigns for VM provides:
- Customized exception reporting. You know your system better than anyone. We let you set the exceptions to be the best for your situation.
- Modeling and “what if” analysis to determine the best location for VSE files and CMS minidisks.
- Online graphs and tables to show real-time and recent performance data. This provides IS personnel with easier-to-see information that can help them resolve trouble reports.
- VitalSigns for VM also has its own archiving to tape system. This allows you to retain a great deal of history for analysis in a static media with an easy recall system.
- The ability to extract data for use by other software.
Online Displays and Controls
The VitalSigns online system creates online reports of current and recent performance. It provides for operational controls for VitalSigns and for executing CP and CMS commands.
You can view performance data in both tables and graphs. Users control the time periods reported, the refresh intervals, recall of recent history, automatic cycling through multiple displays, how data is sorted, the resolution or level of summarizing, and more.
Many report displays allow you to drill down to details regarding individual devices and user IDs over the previous hour.
The online system is navigated via a mouse and menus. The menus can be bypassed with “fastpath” commands at any VitalSigns or CMS command line.
3270 terminals using VitalSigns for VM to display online reports have access to Power Windows, PC-style windows, so multiple reports can be viewed simultaneously.
Reporting, Storing, and Transferring Historical Data
The Performance Database Reporting Facility (PDB) is a batch utility that reports, archives, and restores historical data for VitalSigns for VM.
The PDB archives performance data to tape and maintains a tape catalog so that it can issue mounting requests when asked to use the data again.
To report performance over long-term history, the database facility calls up data from disk and tape to create graphs and tables that describe system activity over weeks, months, quarters, years, or any other interval. Report formats are defined in procedure files that users can edit to suit their needs.
The database facility can restore data from tape to the performance database on disk. The facility can also extract data from tape to standard CMS files, or dump data from the performance database on disk to CMS files. The CMS files can then be used as input for other analysis software, Lotus 1-2-3®, SAS®, and Excel®, for example.
SEEKMISER/ESA
SEEKMISER/ESA is a tool for minimizing seek time on your DASD devices, thus speeding I/O response on your system. Controlled via windows and menus on the Online Subsystem, it reports and analyzes seek data collected by the Process Subsystem.
SEEKMISER/ESA displays provide information about:
- Optimizing minidisks on a DASD volume.
- Balancing I/O activity over multiple volumes.
- Obsolete minidisks that can be deleted.
- Over- and under-allocated minidisks that should be reduced or enlarged.
- Fragmented minidisks that should be compressed.
- How VSE files can be moved to speed seek time.
What-if modeling allows you to try different DASD devices or minidisk layouts before making changes.
VitalSigns for VM uses three service machines:
- VITALMON collects the data from the MONITOR system and passes the data to the VITALBM machine for storage.
- VITALBM saves the data and summarizes it for use by the online and historical reporting systems. VITALBM also monitors for exceptions, and can executes a routine (or EXEC) to handle the exception.
- VITALSXA contains all of the programs to run the online system and produce the historical reports.
The three service machines interact as a single virtual machine. VITALMON and VITALBM can also operate as disconnected service machines. IUCV is used for communication between the three service machines. Online and historical data can be accessed from the VITALSXA user ID or from any user ID with a read-only link to the VITALSXA minidisk.
The VITALMON machine requires at least 4 Mb of virtual storage.
The VITALDBM machine requires at least 6 Mb of virtual storage. Depending on the device, the 192 minidisk needs 55 to 75 cylinders or 72,000 blocks to store two to three days’ worth of data. Automatically logging off idle users requires privilege class A.
The VITALSXA machine requires at least 4 Mb of virtual storage. Depending on the DASD device, VITALSXA requires 24 to 34 cylinders or 36,000 blocks for the 191 minidisk.
Installation of VitalSigns VM
VitalSigns for VM operates on any installation of VM that includes IBM’s *MONITOR system service. To gather data, VitalSigns for VM uses one to two percent of a processor’s resources. IUCV is required for communications among the VitalSigns for VM subsystems, *MONITOR, and MONWRITE.
VitalSigns for VM is distributed on tape in VMFPLC2 format. To install it: Define the *MONITOR saved segment in your system. Add CP user directory entries to define the service machines and format the minidisks. Load the software from tape and let the menus guide you through the installation. Set up the service machines and verify installation.
Free Demo/Trial
We offer individualized product demonstrations by request. Your organization can also try SDS Software on your system for 30 days, free of charge.