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1. End of Service Dates

IBM issued a very important announcement yesterday (to view #903-149 - go to http://www.ibm.com/news and pick Announcement letters at the left, then pick Announcements search at the left and enter the announcement number).  They announced end-of-service (EOS) dates for OS/390 and z/OS R2 through R4, along with several other products.  The Web site for EOS dates can be found at http://www.ibm.com/zseries/zos/support/zos_eos_dates.html.  This information was also announced on the z/OS Home Page at http://www.ibm.com/zseries/zos or http://www.ibm.com/zseries/announce/august2003.

The most important announcement is the EOS of September 30, 2004 for OS/390 R10.  Some people had hoped that IBM would extend this, but it's official now that they won't.  This essentially marks the end of life for the IBM G3 and G4 machines (9672-Rx4 and 9672-Rx5) running MVS.  This also applies to the IBM 2003, HDS Pilot-x4, x5, x6, x7 and Skyline machines.  There will be NO supported MVS operating system for those machines after that date.  Of course, they can still be used for other operating systems like VM and VSE.  IBM has offered some very attractive options for replacing the G3 and G4 machines with either the z800 machines or the migration offering with z900s and z990s that we mentioned in our last Cheryl's List (#79).  If you currently have one of these older machines, be sure to contact IBM or an IBM partner to evaluate your options.  In some cases, you can save money AND upgrade at the same time.

The next most important part of the announcement is the EOS date for z/OS R4.  IBM extended the scheduled date from September 2005 to March 2007.  This corresponds to the scheduled EOS date for z/OS R5, which remains the same at March 2007.  (Remember that z/OS 1.5 is the last supported release for the IBM G5 (Rx6), G6 (Rx7) and MP3000 machines, for the HDS Pilot-x8, Pilot-x9 and Trinium machines, and for the Amdahl (Fujitsu) Millennium and Omniflex machines.)  The extension was a nice move on IBM's part to keep R4 customers from having to move to R5 for the year and a half.  IBM is encouraging z/OS 1.4 customers to assess the enhancements in z/OS 1.5 to determine whether their next step for migration should be to z/OS 1.5 or to a later release.  z/OS 1.4 customers will be able to migrate to R7 as well as R5/R6.

To summarize the MVS EOS dates, we've listed them below:

OS/390 R10 - 9/30/04
z/OS R2 - 10/31/04
z/OS and z/OS.e R3 - 3/31/05
z/OS and z/OS.e R4 - 3/31/07
z/OS and z/OS.e R5 - 3/31/07

We're glad that IBM has made these dates official now, because many people were waiting to see if either OS/390 R10 or z/OS R4 would be extended.  The migration offering or the various z800 packages should start looking more attractive now.

2.  GRS/MIM Update

We've discussed an overhead problem related to GRS and the GRS exit, ISGNQXIT in the past: Cheryl Watson's TUNING Letter 2002, No. 6 (page 31), Cheryl's List #74 (1/14/03) and Hot Flashes #8 (http://www.watsonwalker.com/hotflashes.html).  Now Scott Fagen (IBM z/OS Core Technology Design team and GRS guru) has written an excellent online paper that explains the history, the problems and the solutions.  This is a must-read, especially for GRS and MIM customers running z/OS 1.2 and later.  Take a look at: http://www.ibm.com/zseries/library/whitepapers/pdf/gm130328.pdf.

3.  Corrections

In Cheryl's List #77 (May 14, 2003), we discussed an announcement about enhancements to z/OS 1.4 and a preview of z/OS 1.5.  We stated that it was announcement 203-133, which was wrong.  The correct announcement letter is 203-131.

On page 20 of Cheryl Watson's TUNING Letter 2003 No. 2, we mentioned APAR OW26883, but it should have been APAR OW26833.  Sorry!

4.  SHARE in Washington, D.C.

Clark and I are both getting ready for SHARE in Washington, D.C. next week (August 10-15).  SHARE provides over 700 sessions of great technical training.  For information about registration or the agenda, see the SHARE Web site at http://www.share.org.

We hope you can stop by one of our sessions to say hello.  A new session is 2541 - Cheryl's Quickstart Policy Update, Tuesday, 9:30 a.m.  I'll describe recent updates to our popular (and free) WLM Quickstart Policy.  I'll also provide updates on Workload Manager itself.  Cheryl's Hot Flashes #10 will be given on Friday, 9:30 a.m. session 2509.  Clark is giving an update of his well-received session 2928 - Tuning z/OS for WAS 4.0.1 on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.

We'd also like invite you to our favorite projects during the week.  Clark is the requirements officer of the MVSO (MVS Open and Distributed Project), which has their project opening on Monday at 1:30 (session 2904).  I'm a project officer of the EWCP (Enterprise-wide Capacity and Performance) Project.  If you might be interested in joining our EWCP project, please come to our closed session Sunday at 3 pm (session 2501) or our official project opening on Monday at 1:30 (session 2500).  (Too bad that it's at exactly the same time as the MSVO opening.)

Brian Peterson and Skip Robinson, SHARE MVS Program Managers, posted the following item on IBM-Main.  We think it's a great collection, especially for those people who are relatively new to SHARE.

Introductory Sessions
---------------------
Everyone talks about the greying of SHARE, and it's true that none of us are getting any younger.  As some of the old guard starts to retire, our future systems programmers can get up to speed by attending these introductory sessions:

2550 Introduction to SMF and RMF Performance Data Collection
2605 ISPF Behind the Scenes
2632 Dynamic ISPF: How to Eliminate All Those Datasets in the Logon Proc
2633 Configuring ISPF for Fun and Profit
2661 Introduction to JES2 for New Systems Programmers
2847 Introduction to Parallel Sysplex
2853 GRS 101: Non-Sysplex Ring, Sysplex Ring and Star
2913 WebSphere for Dummies
2915 Basic UNIX Shell Commands for the z/OS Systems Programmer
3011 Become a Storage Administrator in Just 90 Minutes
3020 DFSMS in a Nutshell
3060 Day-to-Day ICF Catalog Management
3068/9 VSAM Performance Tuning and DASD Utilization Tips

System Programmer Topics
------------------------
In an OCO world, where can you go to learn about how things really work?  Why, SHARE of course!  Here is a sample of the down and dirty sessions we offer:

2625/6 ISPF Hidden Treasures
2663/4 JES2 Debugging
2821 Enhancing the TSO Environment
2827 Improvements in z/OS Service
2828 Debugging Using IPCS in z/OS: Hints and Tips
2829 z/OS Virtual Storage Mystery Tour
2835 How Do You Do What You Do When You're a CPU?
2852 Coding z/OS Recovery for Assembler Applications
2881 Coming Soon to a Screen Near You - z/OS 1.4 Console Restructure
2937/8 Diagnosing Problems in a UNIX System Services Environment
2969 Hipersockets in the Round: z/OS, z/VM and Linux on zSeries Perspectives
3015 Learn More About the System Data Mover
3061 CSI: Washington DC - Get the Evidence Using the Catalog Search Interface

Getting to z/OS 1.4
-------------------
If you are considering migrating to z/OS or upgrading from a previous release, SHARE is the place to get the latest information to help plan your migration.  Highlighted sessions include:

2870/1/2 Migrating to z/OS 1.4 (three part session)
2655 JES2 z/OS 1.4 Product Update
2668 Migrating JES2 from OS/390 2.10 to z/OS 1.4 User Experience
2855 Migration Considerations for z/Architecture (64-bit) and User Experience
2879 ServerPac: Enhancements from z/OS 1.1 to z/OS 1.4

WLM and Goal Mode
-----------------
Are your systems running in WLM Goal Mode?  Once you IPL z/OS 1.3 or 1.4, you will be!  Come to SHARE and learn how to implement and refine your Goal Mode policy.  Whether you're still running Compatibility Mode, or have been running Goal Mode for years, at SHARE you will learn valuable tips and techniques for making your systems run even better.

2541 Cheryl Watson's WLM Goal Mode Quickstart Policy Update
2542 Workload Manager Managed Batch Initiators
2543 WLM and CICS/IMS: Getting There and Getting It Right
2544 WLM, DB2, and Enclaves: The Inside Story
2545 WLM 101: Introduction to Goal Mode for Those in a Panic
2546 Washington Systems Center Experiences with WLM
2547 WLM and z/OS WebSphere: A Multi-Faceted Relationship
2548 WLM: Peter Enrico's Cookbook Approach to Revisiting WLM
2549 WLM Best Practices: Meet the Panel of Experts
2665 How We Converted from JES2 to WLM-Controlled Initiators

zSeries Architecture and the new z990 Processor
-----------------------------------------------
z/Architecture and the new z990 Processor are big news from IBM, and SHARE has the latest information.  To increase your knowledge of z/Architecture and the latest z990 Processor, consider the following sessions:

2412 What's New in z/OS
2892 Introducing the z990: Processor, Memory, and System Structure
2893 Introducing the z990: Channel Subsystem, I/O, and HMC
2894 A z/OS Sysprog's Guide to z990 Migration
2895 HCD Update: z990 Support in HCD
2526 Managing z/OS Processor Storage in a 64-bit Environment
2818 Zee Guide to z/Architecture
2824/5 z/OS Architecture and Debugging
2836 IBM zSeries 900 Processor Update
2846 z800 Introduction and Update

Hands-on Lab
------------
In the SHARE "hands-on lab" you will have a unique opportunity to take the controls and actually perform installation and customization activities on a live system under the supervision of an instructor.  Here's a sample of the topics offered:

2556 RMF Spreadsheet Reporter Hands-On Lab
2557 RMF PM Hands-On Lab
2773 (E)JES Live Hands-On Lab
2822 IPCS Tools and Techniques Hands-On Lab
2823 Using IPCS to Diagnose Abends Hands-On Lab
2834 Taming CTC Connections Hands-On Lab
2990 WebSphere Application Server V5 Deployment Hands-On Lab
2991 WebSphere Application Server V5 Configuration Hands-On Lab
2997 UNIX System Services Tools and Toys Hands-On Lab

Don't Miss
----------
In addition to the previously-mentioned sessions, consider these "don't miss":

2514 WSC Short Stories and Tall Tales
2543 Cheryl Watson's Hot Flashes
2680 JES2: Esprit de Corps
2817 Bit Bucket X'1A'
2878 z/OS Sysprog Goody Bag

Stay tuned!

Cheryl Watson
======================================================

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