- An EPS Seminar -

Dates and Location:

None scheduled at this time. Available for in-house instruction.
For a similar seminar, enroll in Essential z/OS Performance Tuning.

Hardcopy of Abstract and Outline:

EPSSeminarDASDPerformanceandArchitecture.pdf

Additional Information:

Click here to visit our seminar schedule page for currently scheduled class dates and locatio ns.
Click here for registration and pricing information.
Click here for travel information.

Seminar abstract and Outline

Audience:

This 3-day seminar is for any performance analyst, capacity planner, or systems programmer responsible for performance measurement, monitoring, and tuning of their S/390 or z/Architecture I/O storage subsystems.

The following information can be found on this page:
Locations
Instructor
Seminar Abstract
This seminar is for you...
Prerequisites
Seminar Highlights
Seminar Objectives
Seminar Outline
Analysis of Your Own Installation Data

Seminar Instructor:

Thomas Beretvas

Seminar Abstract:

Are you concerned with the performance of your storage (DASD) subsystem? Do you have a problem in understanding the complexity of DASD architectures? Do you want to be able to identify DASD performance problems in your system and find appropriate remedies for them?

In this seminar Tom Beretvas will teach you about the latest DASD architectures. You will learn in detail how to look for, and what to look for when fixing DASD performance problems. You will learn the jargon and the know-how involved in storage subsystem architectures and performance. And most importantly, your own system's performance data will be analyzed as part of your in seminar exercises for problems and solutions by you and the others participating in the seminar.
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This seminar is for you…

• if you are a storage specialist or manager who wants to understand the operation and performance impact of storage subsystems.
• if you are responsible for capacity planning and/or performance management of DASD subsystems for an z/OS environment.
• if you are a systems programmer, systems analyst or performance analyst who desires in-depth knowledge of DASD operation and performance whether just beginning or wishing to deepen your understanding.

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Prerequisites:

A basic understanding of z/OS, RMF, workload manager, and parallel sysplex is assumed.
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Seminar Highlights:

After completing this course, each student should be able to:

• Describe and understand DASD and cache operations
• Describe DASD channel and control unit architectures
• Master the art and science of DASD performance.
• Understand and analyze RMF DASD performance reports. (channel, cache, “device” activity reports, etc.)
• Understand what is considered good and bad DASD performance, how to recognize it and how to fix the problems that arise
• Understand response time, its components and the factors influencing them
• Understand the use of some performance analysis tools available in the marketplace (RMF, RMF Spreadsheet Reporter, RMFMagic)
• Acquire practice in the use of the RMF Spreadsheet Reporter performance tool
• Understand DASD performance problems (if any) in his own installation based on analyzing your performance data
• Suggest ways to improve/tune DASD performance in his own installation on the basis of above analysis.

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Seminar Objectives:

In this seminar

• You master the art and science of DASD performance
• Understand response time, its components and the factors influencing them
• Understand what is considered good and bad performance, how to recognize it and often how to fix the problems
• You learn how to make intelligent selections among the various DASD subsystem alternatives based on the functional and performance capabilities of the alternatives.

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Seminar Outline:

The following is a high level outline for this seminar. Since the seminar is constantly being updated, actual seminar content and flow may vary slightly from this outline.

Remember, throughout the seminar you will be actively analyzing your own DASD I/O performance measurements and installation configuration.

Introduction:

• An Introduction to performance management tasks and processes
• An Introduction to capacity planning tasks and processes

Basic DASD Architectures:

• A review of device characteristics
• Understanding basic DASD structure and geometry and CKD and ECKD architectures
• The anatomy of an I/O operation
• Understanding cache usage and operations
• A review of two stage storage processors

Introduction to DASD I/O Performance Analysis:

• DASD I/O response time and the response time components.
• Estimating DASD response times
• Traffic intensity calculations.

Storage Processor performance calculations:

• Estimating DASD and path utilization
• Understanding acceptable industry guidelines for healthy DASD I/O response times
• Sizing "storage processors". Increasing cache sizes.

Modern Storage Processor Technology:

• Evolution of the modern storage processor
• RAID concepts
• Remote copy facilities
• The latest advances in storage processors
• Parallel Access Volume, Multiple Allegiance, and Intelligent Resource Director
• The impact of FICON channels

Understanding the DASD RMF Reports:

• A detailed explanation and interpretation of the relevant RMF and CMF DASD I/O measurements
• What is an interesting DASD and associated data reduction techniques
• I/O intensity, queuing intensity and their significance.

I/O Tuning Process:

• When to tune you DASD I/O subsystems
• What to look for while performing a DASD storage subsystem performance analysis and tuning exercise.
• DASD I/O tuning analysis hints
• Using the RMF Spreadsheet Reporter
• Multi-system analysis
• Looking for apparent bottlenecks
• Logical volume and control unit analysis
• Case studies

Current z/OS I/O Performance:

• Statistics are presented and evaluated showing I/O performance from dozens of installations.

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Analysis of Your Own Installation Data:

Our seminars are unique since incorporated into their design are exercises that provide you with the opportunity to analyze your own installation’s data. So our seminars not only provide you with a week of education, but also a week of working on your own data to allow you to perform a performance analysis during the week of instruction. Students not only leave our seminars with a wealth of practical information, but also with a completed analysis.

• Open Enrollment Seminars
  In an open enrollment seminar the seminar participants from each installation work together with other installations (or solo) to analyze performance data from your and other installations for problems and solutions. An exceptional benefit obtained is the exchange of performance information, problems and solutions among the several installations.
  
• In-house Seminars
  We ensure the seminar revolves around the analysis of YOUR OWN installation's DASD I/O subsystem performance. During in-house instruction of this seminar your multidisciplinary team of storage analysts and managers, performance analysts and capacity-planners work together to analyze performance data from your installation for problems and solutions.

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