Autonomic Computing on iSeries Learning Guide

Autonomic computing -- it's one of the buzz phrases in the IT world. But what is it exactly? And how does it apply to the iSeries?

According to IBM, many of the foundation technologies encompassed by autonomic computing manifest themselves in the iSeries. From day one, the company says, the iSeries has contained many autonomic capabilities, including the ability to automatically phone for service in anticipation of a failure and the ability to automatically allocate data to all available disk drives while self-optimizing disk drive utilization.

What other autonomic features does the iSeries contain? We did some digging and found a wealth of resources to get you up to speed and even help you use the features.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
   Autonomic Computing Quick Start
   Case Studies
   Articles
   The Four Components of Autonomic Computing on iSeries
   Learn more

Autonomic Computing Quick Start
[ Return to Table of Contents ]

• Autonomic computing brings the healing touch to IT



• iSeries V5R2 and IBM's autonomic computing initiative (.pdf)
  This document explains how OS/400 exploits IBM's blueprint for self-managing systems.



• Autonomic Computing - IBM eServer iSeries (IBM web site)



• Autonomic computing: IBM's perspective on the state of information technology (.pdf)
  This document is a call to action, created with the input of scientists and industry experts in the IBM Research headquarters in New York. Published in October of 2001, it contains an overview of autonomic computing systems along with their eight defining characteristics. In it you will find examples of this concept at work in the real world. In other words, it demonstrates how autonomic computing will affect you and the world of business.



• Autonomic computing FAQs

Case Studies
[ Return to Table of Contents ]

• Indiana University Medical Center (.pdf)



• Nintendo of America Inc.

Articles
[ Return to Table of Contents ]

• Tivoli extends autonomic capabilities, ups ante for ISVs



• IBM tackles network troubleshooting



• At conference, IBM pushes on-demand



• IBM offers details on autonomic software



• IBM to push on-demand computing in 2003



• Tivoli plants seeds of autonomic computing in its platform



• The Making of an IBM Software Powerhouse



• Toward Autonomic Computing with DB2 Universal Database (.pdf)

The four components of autonomic computing on the iSeries
[ Return to Table of Contents ]

1. Self-configuring features

• CPU capacity upgrade on demand, providing instant access to reserve processors (.pdf)
  News story: IBM improves its capacity on demand for iSeries servers



• Hot plug disk, I/O



• SAN-like dynamic storage add for Windows (Intel) workloads (IXS, IXA)



• EZSetup Wizards, easing installation capabilities in servers and software iSeries Navigator wizard
  Internet setup wizard



• iSeries Access for Wireless, providing systems management from anywhere



• Connect for iSeries, providing automated B2B connection services
  Expert Q&A: iSeries access for the Web



• Enterprise Identity Mapping, improving enterprise-wide security and integrity
  News story: IBM to open source EIM single sign-on



• Virtual I/O for Linux partitions and Windows (Intel) workloads



• Switchable auxiliary storage pools (independent ASP) (.pdf)



• NetServer support for Windows clients
  White paper: Support for Windows Network Neighborhood (AS/400 NetServer)
  Expert Q&A: Connect to NetServer from Windows 2000

2. Self-healing features

• Auto-fix defective PTFs



• Chipkill Memory, dynamic bit steering



• Service director



• Performance Management/400 (PM/400)



• Tagged storage



• RAID
  Article: Much-Improved Disk Storage Launched for iSeries



• Concurrent maintenance
  IBM article: Process your DB2 for iSeries Indexes in Parallel



• Dynamic IP takeover, clustering



• Independent auxiliary storage pools (switched disks)
  Redbook: Moving Applications to Switchable Independent ASPs



• Electronic Service Agent - "call home" support



• Automatic performance adjuster



• Domino auto restart, clustering
  Article: AS/400 partitioning for Domino servers



• Agent-building learning environment (ABLE engine) for problem management

3. Self-optimizing features

• Dynamic LPAR for OS/400 and Linux
  Administrator tip: LPAR features you don't want to let slip under your radar screen
  Redbook: LPAR Configuration and Management Working with IBM eServer iSeries Logical Partitions



• Adaptive e-transaction services
  Article: WebSphere keeps on rolling with OS/400 V5R2



• Integrated database optimizer (.pdf)



• Automatic Index Advisor for DB



• Graphical database monitor



• Dynamic load balancing for disk capacity and arm utilization



• Single-level storage, Expert Cache option
  Expert advice: Single-level storage dilemma
  Expert advice: Storage pools paging options



• Quality of service



• Global resource manager, heterogeneous workload manager



• Automatic performance management/workload balancing
  Expert advice: Speeding up the iSeries

4. Self-protecting features

• Self-protecting object-based kernel



• Digital object tagging, automatic object retranslation (virus removal)



• Tagged storage, RAID, ECC, dual line cords



• IP takeover (also known as IP address takeover): the ability to transfer a server IP address from one iSeries to another, causing the two machines to appear at different times as the same server to a client application.



• Enterprise identity mapping
  iSeries ADMINISTRATOR: The hows and the whys of EIM
  Article: IBM to open source EIM single sign-on



• Built in support for Kerberos [authenticates requests for service in a network], LDAP [aids in the location of network resources], SSL [manages Internet transaction security], VPN [manages Internet transmission security], Digital Certificates [provides identity authentication]

Learn more
[ Return to Table of Contents ]

• Delaware Valley Computer Users Group (DVCUG) meeting
  Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2003
  "Autonomic Computing"
  Speaker: Ed Rivkin - eServer Manager, IBM



• Attend Tivoli on demand: Turn your business into an on demand business



• Data Center Futures Conference
  How will on-demand computing affect the IT departments of the future? Top IT experts and analysts tackle that subject in the upcoming Data Center Futures conference to be held June 4-6 in Chicago. Get information on virtualization, grid computing and more.