An In-Depth Look at POWER9

Edit: Still love new hardware. Originally posted March 2018 by IBM Systems Magazine The POWER9 era is upon us. As you undoubtedly know, IBM announced six new POWER9 servers in February to go along with the initial POWER9 server that was unveiled in December. Following up on the introduction of the S914, L922, S922, S924, H922 and H924 boxes, IBM released rperf and CPW numbers on … Continue reading “An In-Depth Look at POWER9”

The Value of Performance Data

Edit: Are you tracking your system performance? Originally posted December 2017 by IBM Systems Magazine At the most recent IBM Technical University event in New Orleans, I was talking with Randy Watson of Midrange Performance Group (MPG). He mentioned that many customers don’t keep any performance data whatsoever. Randy’s words surprised me. Everyone should carefully track … Continue reading “The Value of Performance Data”

IBM Debuts Hyperconverged Servers

Edit: Have you tried this yet? Originally posted August 2017 by IBM Systems Magazine In May, IBM announced it was partnering with Nutanix to “bring new workloads to hyperconverged deployments.” In July IBM unveiled two new hyperconverged systems. So what does IBM’s move into the hyperconverged infrastructure market mean? For that matter, what is a hyperconverged infrastructure? Per Wikipedia, … Continue reading “IBM Debuts Hyperconverged Servers”

Getting a Handle on Entitled Capacity and Virtual Processors

Edit: Some links no longer work. Entitled capacity and virtual processors frequently come into play when you’re working with shared processor pools, and multiple virtual machines are using that shared processor pool. Originally posted July 12, 2012 by IBM Systems Magazine Entitled capacity and virtual processors aren’t new to Power Systems. They frequently come into … Continue reading “Getting a Handle on Entitled Capacity and Virtual Processors”

Reliable Restores

Edit: Some links no longer work. Originally published on IBM Systems Magazine mksysb backups make AIX recovery easy February 2011 | by Anthony English If you ever need to restore your AIX system, you’ll need a reliable OS backup. You can create this via the mksysb command, which, as the name implies, makes a system backup. … Continue reading “Reliable Restores”

Tape Storage: An Oldie but a Goodie

Edit: Good information. Originally posted August 2011 by IBM Systems Magazine As much as we like to tell ourselves that older technology is becoming obsolete, I still see fax machines, dot-matrix printers, dumb terminals, and tape drives out in the wild. Some will argue that we should be doing disk-to-disk backups and eliminate tape entirely, … Continue reading “Tape Storage: An Oldie but a Goodie”

Storage Migration Tips

Edit: Still good stuff. Some links no longer work. Move data without downtime using AIX Originally posted April 2011 by IBM Systems Magazine Organizations change storage vendors all the time, for many different reasons. Maybe a new storage product has come out with new features and functionality that will benefit the organization. Maybe the functionality … Continue reading “Storage Migration Tips”

Backing Up Cloud

Edit: Other people’s computers. Considerations on security, data ownership Originally posted February 2011 by IBM Systems Magazine I miss the good old days when I had maintenance windows that were long enough that I could bring my machine down to single user mode and back up the whole system. These backups contained all of the … Continue reading “Backing Up Cloud”

AIX 4 admins website

Nice site by Balazs Babinecz http://aix4admins.blogspot.com/ This blog is intended for anyone who is working with AIX and encountered problems and looking for fast solutions or just want to study about AIX. This is not a usual blog, it is not updated every day. I tried to organize AIX related subjects into several topics, and … Continue reading “AIX 4 admins website”

IBM Systems Magazine videos on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/user/ibmsystemsmag/videos Videos by Rob McNelly Solving dependency issues with rpm Running screen Running HMC Scanner Running System Planning Tool to Document Servers vncserver

To VIOS or Not to VIOS

Edit: I assume the VIO server is right for you. Some links no longer work. Consider whether the Virtual IO Server is right for you Originally posted September 2010 by IBM Systems Magazine I attended an OMNI user group meeting a while ago and during the meeting, someone mentioned the difference between attending an education event where … Continue reading “To VIOS or Not to VIOS”

Seamless Transitions

Edit: Have you upgraded yet? The upgrade to AIX 7 is hassle free and benefit rich Originally posted September 2010 by IBM Systems Magazine Last month, IBM announced AIX* 7 and its general availability date of Sept. 10. Companies with current IBM software-maintenance agreements receive this upgrade at no charge, meaning adoption should be swift. … Continue reading “Seamless Transitions”

The Importance of the Academic Initiative

Edit: Some links no longer work. Originally posted May 18, 2009 by IBM Systems Magazine In a previous blog entry titled, “Some New Virtual Disk Techniques,” I said that I usually learn something new whenever I attend or download the Central Region Virtual User Group meetings from developerWorks. For instance, at the most recent meeting, Janel Barfield … Continue reading “The Importance of the Academic Initiative”

An LPAR Review

Edit: Some links no longer work. Originally posted September 2009 by IBM Systems Magazine To learn more about this topic, read these articles:Software License Core CountingTrusted Logging Simplifies SecurityTools You Can Use: Planning and MemoryImprove Power Systems Server Performance With Virtual Processor FoldingNow’s the Time to Consider Live Partition MobilityImprove Power Systems Server Performance With … Continue reading “An LPAR Review”

Tips for Gaining Practical Systems Administrator Knowledge

Edit: Winning this contest opened doors for me. When an individual seeks additional experience, the whole company may benefit as a result. Originally posted April 2007 by IBM Systems Magazine Note: As part of a collaboration between PowerAIX.org and IBM Systems Magazine, guest writers were invited to submit Tips & Techniques articles to be considered for … Continue reading “Tips for Gaining Practical Systems Administrator Knowledge”

Establishing Good Server Build Standards, Continued

Edit: Still useful information. Standards and checklists can take effort to maintain but, once in place, all of your builds look identical. Originally posted January 2007 by IBM Systems Magazine Note: This is the second of a two-part article series. The first part appeared in the December, 2006 EXTRA. In my first part of this … Continue reading “Establishing Good Server Build Standards, Continued”