Category: IBM i
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Masterclass: how to monitor VIOS vSCSI disk performance
In my previous article I showed how you can use nmon in VIOS to display the performance statistics of hdisks that are mapped to client LPARs. This is achieved by creating a file which nmon reads and then displays the relevant performance data. Let’s look at a script I created to automatically generate the file…
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7.2 Things I Love About IBM i 7.2 (Part 1)
I recently gave a presentation at an i-UG event in England on some of the new features in IBM i v7.2. In an attempt to make it a little more fun (and in tribute to Friday nights as a young lad), I delivered this in the style of a Top of the Pops-type countdown. If…
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Is the new HMC interface enhanced or not?
IBM has rather quietly brought out a new interface to its Hardware Management Console (HMC). This became an option in V8R8.1 Service Pack1 of the HMC. IBM has called it the enhanced interface and you will have an option to select it at log in. Don’t worry, you’ll know it when you see it. Before…
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IBM i 7.2: How to look into the future with Batch Model
Continuing my recent system performance theme, the next IBM i 7.2 function I’d like to discuss is called Batch Model. Perhaps not the most descriptive of names but, mercifully, it is short. And, despite its name, it does in fact analyse all types of workload, not just batch. When I first heard about it, I…
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IBM i 7.2: Finding the job that is killing your system
In my last article, I mentioned that it would be nice if there was tool that you could use to find the cause of performance problems on your system. I knew that IBM had been improving the Performance Tools that came with IBM i but I hadn’t realised just how much it had packed in.…
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Masterclass: VIO Server Networking Tips & Techniques
Over the past few years, I have picked up a number of tips and techniques to help when working with LPARs on Power Systems that use VIOS for networking. VIOS can provide highly performant, resilient and redundant networking capabilities to IBM i, AIX and Linux LPARs. While customers are comfortable with VIOS networking capabilities once…
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Exclusive: IBM i 7.2 delivers 17x performance gain with zero change
When Steve Bradshaw decided to test an assertion made in his previous piece for PowerWire, he made a rather pleasing discovery… In my last article, I mentioned how surprised I was that in v7.2 of IBM i, the SQL Query Engine (SQE) now supported Query/400 and Open Query File (OpnQryF). This simple fact meant that…
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How to make IBM i work with VLANs
Prior to its 7.2 version, IBM i had no concept of VLANs. They had to be managed externally. However, I am going to show you how to get IBM i to cooperate in a VLAN environment pre-v7.2. I am also going to demonstrate how simple it is to set up a v7.2 IP interface to…
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Top Ten user interface design tips, part 1
Back in the summer of 2013, PowerWire ran a three-part series by looksoftware’s Nick Hampson on the pitfalls of app interface modernisation that was very well received. Now we welcome Nick back for some more essential UI advice. To be an app design hero, read on…. In my top 10, I have resisted the urge…
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What can I do with v7.2?
Steve Bradshaw explains some of the cool enhancements to speed, security and temporary storage management in the latest update to the IBM i operating system. IBM i v7.2 has arrived and the press is full of news on how its new functionality relates to IBM’s major targets – mobile, cloud and availability. But less has…