Client added an HBA to a TSM server, but this causes problems that needed to be anticipated with Windows servers.  TSM Device names for tapes and the library itself will change as Windows does not keep names consistent as hardware changes.   The TSM server thus lost communication with the tape library and tape drives, as the device names changed to the Operating System.

This was diagnosed by remote tech support as a faulty Library controller board, and IBM was dispatched to change it.

In all the up/down with the situation somehow now TSM and DB2 is not coming up correctly.

So your plan of attack should be:

1) Get TSM and DB2 resolved.  This does NOT include library/tape communication.  This comes later, after TSM will function.

2) Fix the tape paths.

Here is a document that goes over the steps in good detail:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21190124

Title
Potential DS8100/DS8300/DS8700/DS8800 loss of access issue when running VMWare 4.1 or higher with vStorage API for Array Integration ( VAAI ) enabled

Abstract
The extended features of VAAI are not yet supported by DS8000, but are enabled by default on ESX 4.1 or higher.  

Mitigation
To avoid any issues, use the following to disable them.  All OTHER non VAAI features of VMWare ESX 4.1 or higher are certified with DS8000 (all models) and function normally.

Here’s a KB for disabling: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1033665 
Here’s a description on VAAI: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1021976 

VAAI uses these fundamental operations:

* Atomic Test & Set (ATS), which is used during creation of files on the VMFS volume
* Clone Blocks/Full Copy/XCOPY, which is used to copy data
* Zero Blocks/Write Same, which is used to zero-out disk regions
* Thin Provisioning in ESXi 5.x and later hosts, which allows the ESXi host to tell the array when the space previously occupied by a virtual machine (whether it be deleted or migrated to another datastore) can be reclaimed.

The IBM System Networking SAN24B-5 Switch is designed to provide outstanding price/performance value, combining flexibility, simplicity and enterprise class 16 Gbps Fibre Channel functionality. The SAN24B-5 is configurable in 12 or 24 ports and supports 2, 4, 8, or 16 Gbps speeds in an efficiently designed 1U package. It comes standard with a single power supply or dual power supplies with integrated fans.

A simplified deployment process and a point-and-click user interface make the SAN24B-5 both powerful and easy to use. Moreover, the SAN24B-5 offers low-cost access to industry-leading Storage Area Network (SAN) technology while providing “pay-as-you-grow” scalability to meet the needs of an evolving storage environment.

Learn more about the IBM System Networking SAN24B-5:

IBM recently announced IBM SmartCloud Enterprise Object Storage Cloud service. This new IBM/Nirvanix partnership allows companies to manage unstructured and object data such as documents, spreadsheets, presentations, audio files, email and text messages at very cost effective pay-as-used prices. This gives clients the ability to upload a file of any size once, from virtually anywhere in the world and access it from virtually anywhere; with availability from 99.9% to 99.99%.

Are you interested in finding out how can you leverage this powerful capability?

1. Do you have infrequently accessed unstructured content that you need to keep or retain for regulatory compliance?
2. Do you need a storage option that automatically replicates data across multiple geographic locations so it can be accessed locally by the users in other geographies?
3. Do you need a storage option that dynamically scales up (or down), support billions of objects, and has no file size limitations?
4. Do you want to ensure you only pay to for the storage you actually use?
5. Do you have a need for an onsite private or hybrid (public and private) storage cloud?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, you should explore this Enterprise-Grade Storage capability within the IBM Cloud today.

Getting started is easy and just like IBM SmartCloud-Enterprise, you only pay for what you use.

Please contact thinkASG to find out more information.

The days were filled with thrilling driving, trading off between driver and passenger every hour, catered hot lunches that miraculously appeared in the middle of the remote Baja trails, and closed with beach front and mountain high resorts to recoup in at night with delicious dinners at fine Mexican restaurants.  Our guides lead us flawlessly across this desolate and stunning Baja penninsula and the support crew catered to our every need while also making any necessary repairs to the vehicles at a moments notice on the trail.

While no one got hurt and no cars were damaged, save a couple flat tires, we had many moments where our hearts were pounding, had a death grip on the “Oh SH*!” bar, and held our breath praying our CFO didn’t roll her car when her and her husband raced across a river bed, clipped the embankment on the other side, tossed their 3000 lb. car up on two wheels, thankfully landing back on all four wheels and came to a screaming stop after spinning around in a dough-nut at the entrance to Mike’s Sky Rancho!  Now, what other IBM partner has a CFO that can pull that off?  All business partners have a CFO, but I challenge anyone to prove theirs is as cool as ours!

thinkASG sends a huge shout out to the Wide Open crew.   The team at thinkASG enjoyed every moment of this trip and looks forward to hosting another adventure with Wide Open in the near future!  Check out the video Wide Open created of our trip.  This is all us and could be all you!  Contact thinkASG to find out how!

Improve storage efficiency and data mobility with IBM SmartCloud Virtual Storage Center

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/tivoli/solutions/storage-hypervisor/

Breach Trends:

• Security breaches are expensive ($5.5M USD on average) and cause damage to the brand. (2011 Cost of a Data Breach, Ponemon)
• According to the IBM 2011 X-Force Trend & Risk Report released in March 2012, 41 percent of all issues reported were Web application related.
• 39% of executives say their companies do not address security issues in application development, waiting until the launch or post-launch phase. (2012 US Business Case for Data Protection, Ponemon)

Why choose IBM for Application Security:

• IBM is in the leaders’ quadrant in Gartner MQ for both dynamic and static application security testing. (Magic Quadrant for Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST))
• IBM supports integration with your key security systems, such as Network IPS and SIEM
• IBM delivers the most effective application security testing by combining advanced testing techniques, such as Glassbox, with thorough application crawling

Due to a known Linux kernel issue, Storwize V7000, Storwize V7000 Unified block node canisters and SAN Volume Controller nodes will reboot after running for 208 continuous days since their last power on or software upgrade.

A widely documented Linux kernel issue will result in a kernel panic occurring after 208 days of continuous uptime, due to an internal counter overflow. For Storwize V7000, Storwize V7000 Unified block or SAN Volume Controller nodes or node canisters running V6.2.0.x, V6.3.0.x or V1.3.0.x, this will trigger a self-recovering reboot event once this amount of time has elapsed.

Although each reboot event is only expected to last between five to ten minutes, for clusters in which both nodes in an I/O group were last booted in close proximity to one another there is a risk that a loss of host access may occur after 208 days. A typical scenario would be if both nodes in a new installation were powered on simultaneously.

The Software Upgrade Test Utility can be used to determine the uptime of all nodes in a cluster which is exposed to this issue. The following URL contains download and usage instructions for this utility:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ssg1S4000585

This issue was first introduced in the V6.2.0.1 release, which shipped on 10 June 2011. For convenience, the following table lists the published date for all code levels that are exposed to this issue, and the date at which 208 days will have elapsed.

Read the full IBM alert

Learn More

IBM System x3650 M4 sets new record for 2-processor server performance on TPC-E

March 6, 2012 … IBM has published a benchmark result that sets a new record for 2-processor

performance on the TPC-E benchmark, which is designed to enable clients to more objectively

measure and compare the performance and price of OLTP systems.

The IBM System x3650 M4 server achieved 1,863.23 tpsE (transactions per second E) at $207.85

USD / tpsE. (1) This result is faster than all the other currently published TPC-E results for 2-

processor servers, and represents a significant performance benefit compared to systems using

previous-generation processors. For example, the x3650 M4’s result is more than 45% faster than the

HP ProLiant DL380 G7 server’s result. (2)

The x3650 M4 achieved this result using Microsoft® SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition and

Microsoft Windows® Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition SP1. The x3650 M4 was configured with two

Intel® Xeon® E5-2690 processors at 2.9GHz with 20MB L3 cache per processor (2 processors/16

cores/32 threads), 512GB of memory (3) and solid state drive (SSD) storage, which can enable faster

database access.

The IBM System x3650 M4 is the IBM flagship, 2-socket, 2U rack server optimized for performance

and uptime for business-critical applications and cloud deployments. The flexible x3650 M4 features

the following:

• Intel Xeon processors with up to 8 cores and up to 768GB of memory capacity for

virtualization and other memory-intensive solutions.

• Optional slotless 10GbE NIC with IBM Virtual Fabric that delivers high performance for

bandwidth-heavy workloads.

• Available with the IBM exclusive high-performance solid state drive technology.

Results referenced are current as of March 6, 2012. To view all TPC results, visit www.tpc.org.

See the details for this result: http://www.tpc.org/tpce/results/tpce_last_ten_results.asp

(1) The total solution availability for this TPC-E benchmark result is May 31, 2012.

(2) HP ProLiant DL380 G7 Server with two Intel Xeon X5690 processors at 3.46GHz (2

processors/12 cores/24 threads), Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition, Microsoft

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition; 1,284.14 tpsE at $250.00 USD / tpsE, total solution

availability of May 4, 2011.

(3) The IBM memory option used in the benchmark is Samsung’s Green DDR3 32GB LRDIMM.

IBM and System x are registered trademarks of IBM Corporation.

Intel and Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.

Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States

and/or other countries.

TPC, TPC Benchmark, TPC-E and tpsE are trademarks of the Transaction Processing Performance

Council.

All other company/product names and service marks may be trademarks or registered trademarks of

their respective companies.