Monitor Disk & Replication Performance with IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS

    IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS enables performance analysts to manage and optimize their z/OS Disk and Replication environment more effectively and efficiently.

    View the video for an example of those capabilities.

            
        

            
        

    Monitor and Optimize Disk & Replication Performance with Built-In Health Insights and AI

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    Proactively Analyze and Prevent Risks

    Utilize built-in health insights and artificial intelligence to proactively identify risks, ensure availability, and optimize your z/OS storage environment. 

            
        

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    Save Time and Quickly Resolve Issues

    Quickly spot and resolve issues using thousands of out-of-the-box reports, built-in live edit, compare, share, and drill down features. 

            
        

    expedite learning icon

    Expedite Learning and Enhance Domain Expertise

    Detailed built-in explanations, guided drilldown options, and end-to-end z/OS support facilitates easy system understanding and knowledge transfer. 

            
        

    Built-In Intelligence at Your Fingertips

    Daily Health Insights

    Daily zOS Disk Health Reports

    Health insights and exception reports alert you to any aspects of your storage systems that need attention. Hundreds of metrics are automatically assessed for each time interval, and they are highlighted if they are not within acceptable bounds.

    In this example, we have a mixture of IBM and HDS storage systems. We see alerts for one HDS system for excessive disconnect queueing and delays and alerts on two IBM systems for throughput higher than recommended by best practices.

    IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS also provides recommendations on what actions to take depending on what specific alert is encountered.

    Compare LPAR and FICON Topology Time Intervals

    Compare LPAR topologies between two selected time intervals separated by one week

    Figure 1: Comparing two views, with the benefit of color coding changes, gives the user an easy to understand identification of configuration changes.

    z/OS topology's (FICON and LPAR) are incredibly complex and difficult to visualize. Traditional methods of viewing these topology's have involved manually printing the topology out on paper and pasting it to physical walls in order to understand the configuration and spot errors.

    IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS's interactive LPAR and FICON topology viewers allows analysts to interact with, drill down into, and compare time intervals for their FICON and LPAR topology's - crucial for spotting errors and changes that may impact costs.

    Time Charts for Deeper Insight

    DASD Time Charts for Deeper Insight

    From the exception reports, it is a simple matter to drill down to see a detailed time chart of the metric that has been flagged.
    This helps you narrow down the time frame when the behavior occurred and correlate this to any application impacts that may have resulted.

    Comparison Charts and Change Detection

    Disk Comparison Charts and Change Detection

    Comparison charts are very useful for determining when a particular behavior began and if this is a one-time anomaly or part of an ongoing trend.
    In this example, we compare the Disconnect Queuing and delays to an earlier period, and it is easy to see that this is a new behavior. Any further investigation may be limited to the time frame that has been established.

    Drill Down to Specific Volumes, Datasets, or Address Spaces

    Disconnect Queueing and Delays

    From a time chart, there are many drill downs available to see the metric at a more detailed level of granularity.

    Here the drill down has too many active volumes. We can see that all the affected volumes are Db2. Thus, it is likely that any application impact may be Db2 related.

    Track Key Metrics for Synchronous and Asynchronous Replication

    Average RPO over interval rating for all global mirror sessions

     

    The need for continuous availability has made replication a critical aspect of disk storage. Monitoring the health of your data replication is key to meeting both business and regulatory requirements. IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS tracks key metrics for both Synchronous and Asynchronous replication methods.

    For example, with Asynchronous replication, it is important that your remote data does not fall too far behind your production site. The chart to the right illustrates how IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS can show you your RPO and diagnose when your replication is struggling to keep up.

    Trend Analysis for your Key I/O Measurements

    IO Rate and Response Time for Disk Storage Systems

     

    It is difficult to do proper long-term planning without data to inform you of where things stand and where your operations are heading. IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS provides you with numerous trending charts that help you get a handle on this.

    The example to the left shows how the overall I/O Rate and I/O Response Time have been trending over the last year. In this case there has been a modest increase in I/O Rate and a decrease in response time. This can be very helpful when deciding if a storage hardware upgrade is necessary or may be deferred.

    AIOps via SaaS Delivery

    Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS) icon

    Advantages to adopting a cloud model include rapid implementation (no lead time to install and setup the product locally), minimal setup (only for transmitting SMF data), offloading staff resources required to deal with SMF processing issues or to install product maintenance, and easy access to IntelliMagic consulting services to supplement local skills.

    Daily Health Insights

    Daily zOS Disk Health Reports

    Health insights and exception reports alert you to any aspects of your storage systems that need attention. Hundreds of metrics are automatically assessed for each time interval, and they are highlighted if they are not within acceptable bounds.

    In this example, we have a mixture of IBM and HDS storage systems. We see alerts for one HDS system for excessive disconnect queueing and delays and alerts on two IBM systems for throughput higher than recommended by best practices.

    IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS also provides recommendations on what actions to take depending on what specific alert is encountered.

    Compare LPAR and FICON Topology Time Intervals

    Compare LPAR topologies between two selected time intervals separated by one week

    Figure 1: Comparing two views, with the benefit of color coding changes, gives the user an easy to understand identification of configuration changes.

    z/OS topology's (FICON and LPAR) are incredibly complex and difficult to visualize. Traditional methods of viewing these topology's have involved manually printing the topology out on paper and pasting it to physical walls in order to understand the configuration and spot errors.

    IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS's interactive LPAR and FICON topology viewers allows analysts to interact with, drill down into, and compare time intervals for their FICON and LPAR topology's - crucial for spotting errors and changes that may impact costs.

    Time Charts for Deeper Insight

    DASD Time Charts for Deeper Insight

    From the exception reports, it is a simple matter to drill down to see a detailed time chart of the metric that has been flagged.
    This helps you narrow down the time frame when the behavior occurred and correlate this to any application impacts that may have resulted.

    Comparison Charts and Change Detection

    Disk Comparison Charts and Change Detection

    Comparison charts are very useful for determining when a particular behavior began and if this is a one-time anomaly or part of an ongoing trend.
    In this example, we compare the Disconnect Queuing and delays to an earlier period, and it is easy to see that this is a new behavior. Any further investigation may be limited to the time frame that has been established.

    Drill Down to Specific Volumes, Datasets, or Address Spaces

    Disconnect Queueing and Delays

    From a time chart, there are many drill downs available to see the metric at a more detailed level of granularity.

    Here the drill down has too many active volumes. We can see that all the affected volumes are Db2. Thus, it is likely that any application impact may be Db2 related.

    Track Key Metrics for Synchronous and Asynchronous Replication

    Average RPO over interval rating for all global mirror sessions

     

    The need for continuous availability has made replication a critical aspect of disk storage. Monitoring the health of your data replication is key to meeting both business and regulatory requirements. IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS tracks key metrics for both Synchronous and Asynchronous replication methods.

    For example, with Asynchronous replication, it is important that your remote data does not fall too far behind your production site. The chart to the right illustrates how IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS can show you your RPO and diagnose when your replication is struggling to keep up.

    Trend Analysis for your Key I/O Measurements

    IO Rate and Response Time for Disk Storage Systems

     

    It is difficult to do proper long-term planning without data to inform you of where things stand and where your operations are heading. IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS provides you with numerous trending charts that help you get a handle on this.

    The example to the left shows how the overall I/O Rate and I/O Response Time have been trending over the last year. In this case there has been a modest increase in I/O Rate and a decrease in response time. This can be very helpful when deciding if a storage hardware upgrade is necessary or may be deferred.

    AIOps via SaaS Delivery

    Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS) icon

    Advantages to adopting a cloud model include rapid implementation (no lead time to install and setup the product locally), minimal setup (only for transmitting SMF data), offloading staff resources required to deal with SMF processing issues or to install product maintenance, and easy access to IntelliMagic consulting services to supplement local skills.

    See Why IntelliMagic is Trusted by Some of the World’s Largest Mainframe Sites

    It's one of the best products we found at the offering to help us in reporting for our mainframe environment
    Anonymous-06 | Financial Services Company
    Read our case
    We use [IntelliMagic] Vision [for z/OS] to provide information for our mainframe disk environments. [IntelliMagic] Vision [for z/OS] provides many reports to help us understand our disk performance activity. This insures that we provide the best response time to the mainframe. It also provide us insight to capacity planning as well
    John Virzi | TIAA
    Read our case
    It has provided realistic performance statistics so [that] we can order new hardware that meets our needs without having to pay for more hardware than we actually need.
    Anonymous-02 | Banking Company
    Read our case
    Compared to other software houses, IntelliMagic reacts quickly and competently. In the event of errors, we have interim solutions and corrections were often made available within a few weeks
    Walter Auerochs | DATEV
    Read our case
    IntelliMagic is used by our systems programmers, capacity and performance engineers, DB2 systems programmers, CICS/MQ technicians, and Storage Management (disk and tape) engineers in our mainframe infrastructure teams
    Anonymous-04 | Insurance Company
    Read our case
    IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS support is first class. The 'IntelliMagicians' are both experts in the use of their product AND experts in the data that is being reported on. They have many years of experience, excellent relationships with their customers, and a real enthusiasm for analyzing and understanding what is happening in the z/OS systems they are analyzing. We couldn't ask for better partners
    Frank Kyne | Watson & Walker
    Read our case

    End-to-End Infrastructure Analytics for z/OS Performance Management

    zSystems Performance Management

    Optimize z/OS Mainframe Systems Management with Availability Intelligence

    Benefits

    Optimize z/OS Systems performance management using AI-driven analytics to proactively monitor and manage your z/OS environment, prevent disruptions, reduce costs, and preserve the reliability and availability that mainframes are known for.
    Explore z/OS Systems Performance Analytics

    Db2 Performance Management

    Prevent Availability Risks and Optimize Db2 Performance

    Benefits

    The volume and complexity of Db2 Statistics data and Db2 Accounting data creates a major challenge for analysts who want to derive value from the rich metrics available.
    Easy visibility into key Db2 metrics through SMF records is crucial to proactively prevent availability risks and to effectively manage and optimize performance.
    Explore Db2 Performance Analytics

    CICS Performance Management

    Monitor and Profile CICS Transactions and Regions with IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS

    Benefits

    CICS SMF Transaction data is a rich source of performance insights, but its volume can make analysis challenging using traditional approaches that rely on static reports. Proactive assessment of key Statistics metrics across all regions is essential to identify potential risks to availability.
    IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS enables performance analysts to manage and optimize their z/OS CICS transactions more effectively and efficiently, as well as proactively assess the health of their CICS regions.
    Explore CICS Performance Analytics

    Virtual Tape Performance Management

    Proactively Manage Virtual and Physical Tape Environments

    Benefits

    With tape virtualization, tape storage became easier and more economical, but at the same time, more difficult to understand which changes or hardware upgrades are the best choices. With tape libraries being shared across multiple z/OS images, the full picture can only be obtained by aggregating workload and tape hardware information from all z/OS LPARs.
    IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS enables performance analysts to manage and optimize their z/OS Virtual Tape environments more effectively and efficiently.
    Explore Tape Performance Analytics

    Disk & Replication Performance Management

    Automatically Detect DASD Performance Risks & Quickly Resolve Issues

    Benefits

    As DASD speeds and throughputs have increased, z/OS applications have come to rely on fast and consistent storage performance. To respond quickly to unexpected disk and replication issues, it is essential that you have insight into the health of the various components in your storage environment.
    IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS enables performance analysts to manage and optimize their z/OS Disk and Replication environment more effectively and efficiently.
    Explore Disk Performance Analytics

    MQ Performance Management

    Optimize and Analyze MQ Activity and Performance

    Benefits

    MQ is widely used across z/OS environments, but sites often find it challenging to derive the valuable performance insights potentially available from MQ SMF Statistics and Accounting data due to limitations in existing reporting and available tooling.
    IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS enables performance analysts to manage and optimize their z/OS MQ configurations and activity more effectively and efficiently, as well as proactively assess the health of their queue managers.
    Explore MQ Performance Analytics

    z/OS Network Performance Management

    Automatically Monitor Mainframe Network Security and Protect Your Data

    Benefits

    TCP/IP is the core of the communication for the z/OS mainframe, both for traffic into and out of the mainframe and internal communication among z/OS images and processor complexes. Proper management is necessary to secure and protect system availability.
    IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS automatically generates GUI-based, interactive, IBM best-practice compliant rated reports that proactively identify areas that indicate potential upcoming risk to TCP/IP health, performance, and security.
    Explore z/OS Network Performance Analytics

    z/OS Connect: Modern Mainframe API Environment

    Optimizing Mainframe API Monitoring for Improved Resource Management

    Benefits

    IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS enhances mainframe API monitoring and profiling, providing crucial visibility to address issues at the API or service level, ultimately aiding performance analysts in better resource planning and management reporting.
    Explore z/OS Connect Analytics

    Flexible Deployment and Monitoring

    In the Cloud

    Cloud based deployment can be accessed from everywhere in the world and is easy to share with colleagues

    Services & Support

    Take advantage of IntelliMagic's experienced performance experts for standalone custom services or daily monitoring

    On Premise

    Install the software on premise and use it offline for total control of your installation

    Book a Demo or Connect With an Expert

    Discuss your technical or sales-related questions with our mainframe experts today

    Automatically Detect z/OS Disk Performance Risks & Quickly Resolve Issues

    As Disk speeds and throughputs have increased, z/OS applications have come to rely on fast and consistent storage performance. To respond quickly to unexpected disk and replication issues, it is essential that you have insight into the health of the various components in your storage environment. Although RMF offers extensive performance measurements for your Disk, it is very difficult to proactively use this data without the intelligence provided by IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS.

    IBM Z IntelliMagic Vision for z/OS provides continuous assessment of the health of your disk and replication systems. Thus, if there is an incremental degradation in any aspect of your system, you will be able to address it before it causes any business impact. This will reduce risk and save you time and money.

    Of course, not all problems occur gradually. If there is a sudden change caused by a hardware failure, or a change in resource utilization or workload pattern, IntelliMagic will help you rapidly zoom in on what happened. Instead of wasting precious time searching for the cause, you can move directly to a solution.

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    Discuss your technical or sales-related questions with our mainframe experts today