Author: Rob McNelly

Edit: Some links no longer work. Originally posted July 2017 by IBM Systems Magazine How do you go about determining what fixes you need for your system to remain up to date? Do you use FLRT or FLRT LITE? Do you just log into IBM Fix Central and start looking at what is available? What if you had a dashboard … Continue reading “Project Monocle Will Simplify Patching”

Edit: I talk about this all the time. Originally posted May 2017 by IBM Systems Magazine In computing circles that I’m involved with, the debate rages on: AIX versus Linux. Administrators wonder, “Why would anyone want to keep running an OS that’s supported by one single vendor? Why wouldn’t you want to move everything to … Continue reading “The Great Debate: AIX Versus Linux”

Edit: Still a good post. Originally posted April 2017 by IBM Systems Magazine I still find customers that are unsure of how to download fixes, so I want to cover the steps that I use when I download fixes for AIX 7.2 as an example use case. When I download fixes from IBM, I go … Continue reading “How to Download Fixes”

Edit: Some links no longer work. Originally posted August 2015 by IBM Systems Magazine Back in 2012, I wrote a blog post titled “The Case for Documentation.” Then just recently, a reader made a comment: “I see in 3 years there has not been a single comment on this article. I’ve been so deep into … Continue reading “Tools for Documentation”

Edit: Still worth considering. Originally posted September 2014 by IBM Systems Magazine In 2010, I wrote an article that covered the pros and cons of the virtual I/O server (VIOS). It’s still a topic that I run into today, especially as more IBM i customers consider attaching to SANs. In the article, I mentioned some of the … Continue reading “To VIOS or Not to VIOS Revisited”

Edit: And now I wait for POWER10. Originally posted April 2014 by IBM Systems Magazine POWER8 technology created some buzz when it was first discussed at the Hot Chips conference and slides that describe the chips could be found online before today. But now we have more information about the actual systems that will be shipping when they become … Continue reading “IBM Delivers With POWER8”

Edit: Still good stuff. Originally posted June 2013 by IBM Systems Magazine The AIX* operating system continues to be a leader in the UNIX* marketplace. AIX celebrated 25 years in 2011, and users have every reason to expect that the operating system will continue to evolve and move forward for the next 25. Businesses of … Continue reading “Top 10 Reasons AIX Will Endure”

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”

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”

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”

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”

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”

Edit: Some links no longer work. Originally posted August 30, 2011 by IBM Systems Magazine This information has been circulating for awhile, and Anthony English covers the topic here and here. But I want to make sure HMC users are aware of this important update and the need to make sure you have the fix loaded if you’re … Continue reading “HMC Users: Important Fix Available”

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”

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”

Edit: Still a good topic. Originally posted November 30, 2010 by IBM Systems Magazine Working on virtualized systems as much as I do, and talking to people about virtualization as often as I do, I tend to forget a couple things: Not all IBM Power Systems users have virtualized systems. Not all of them use … Continue reading “Those Who Do Without Virtualization”

Edit: Link no longer works. Originally posted June 29, 2010 by IBM Systems Magazine As more companies migrate to IBM Power Systems hardware, the need for education grows. It may be hard for us long-time users to imagine, but every day, seasoned pros are just getting started on POWER hardware. While I’ve provided customer training, … Continue reading “The Evolution of Education”

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”

Edit: Link no longer works. Originally posted February 24, 2009 by IBM Systems Magazine I recently read this iDevelop blog post and it got me thinking. I too have been involved in these discussions with a local IBM i user group that recently had a conference planned. The group was forced to cancel the event due to … Continue reading “AIX and i Worlds Can Learn from Each Other”

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”

Edit: Another good one. Originally posted December 1, 2008 by IBM Systems Magazine I started my IT career in 1988 as a computer operator, specializing in AS/400 servers running OS/400. It was love at first sight. The commands made sense, I learned to love WRKACTJOB and WRKJOBQ and QPRINT and QBATCH. I’d happily vary on … Continue reading “My Love Affair with IBM i and AIX”

Edit: Some links no longer work. POWER technology-based servers allow for consolidation Originally posted December 2008 by IBM Systems Magazine As I wrote in my blog titled “My Love Affair with IBM i and AIX”, I started my career working on AS/400 servers running OS/400 – and I loved it. Then I started working on … Continue reading “Run IBM i and AIX in the Same Physical Frame”

Edit: I remember writing this in the airport. Some links no longer work. Originally posted August 2008 by IBM Systems Magazine I just took off my shoes, took out my laptop, removed the liquids from my carry-on bags and the metal from my pockets. I walked through a metal detector and my belongings filed through … Continue reading “Data Protection Versus Risk”

Edit: This is taken for granted now. Some links no longer work. While I was in Austin, one of the things that IBM demonstrated was how you can move workloads from one machine to another. IBM calls this Live Partition Mobility. I saw it in action and I went from skeptic a believer in a … Continue reading “Analyzing Live Partition Mobility”

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”

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”

Edit: This can be less of an issue when things are more automated, but it is still worth consideration. Server build standards simplifies the process of supporting IT environments. Originally posted December 2006 by IBM Systems Magazine Note: This is the first of a two-part article series. The second part will appear in the January … Continue reading “Establishing Good Server Build Standards”

Edit: I still believe this is true. A system administrator’s take on getting the most from the work day. Originally posted November 2006 by IBM Systems Magazine Last month I looked at reasons why a VPN is a great idea for accessing your network when you are not in the office. This article examines issues … Continue reading “Of Cubes, Offices and Remote Access Via VPN”

Edit: Still good stuff. Originally posted September 2006 by IBM Systems Magazine I always liked the saying that “a lazy computer operator is a good computer operator.” Many operators are always looking for ways to practically automate themselves out of a job. For them, the reasoning goes: “why should we be manually doing things, if … Continue reading “Advice for the Lazy Administrator”

Edit: Hopefully this problem has been solved by now. Originally posted October 2006 by IBM Systems Magazine It’s 2 a.m., and you’ve just been paged. Do you have an easy way to get into your network, or is the pain of waking up going to be compounded by frustrations associated with dialing into work? In … Continue reading “The Benefits of Working Remotely Via VPN”

Edit: One of my favorite articles. Originally posted June 2006 by IBM Systems Magazine Disaster recovery (D/R) planning and testing has been a large part of my career. I’ve never forgotten my first computer-operations position and the manager who showed me a cartoon of two guys living on the street. One turned and said to … Continue reading “Real World Disaster Recovery”

Edit: It has been a while since I needed to mess with SSA disks. Originally posted September 2005 by IBM Systems Magazine Recently, a user opened a problem ticket reporting that copying files back and forth from a server we support was taking an unusually long time. The files weren’t all that large, but the … Continue reading “Network Troubleshooting”

Edit: I still really like Storix. Relax and Recover is pretty popular as well. Originally posted April 2005 by IBM Systems Magazine I’ve been an AIX administrator for a while now, and the mksysb and sysback utilities, which allow me to do bare-metal restores and return my machines to the state they were in when … Continue reading “Exploring Linux Backup Utilities”

Edit: Some links no longer work. Originally posted December 2004 by IBM Systems Magazine A co-worker recently finished the requirements for his IBM pSeries certification. I asked what he’d done to prepare for and pass the IBM eServer Certified Advanced Technical Expert: pSeries and AIX 5L (CATE). What follows are some ideas that came up … Continue reading “Preparing for Your Certification”

Edit: I still use these tools. Although I cannot remember the last time I ran telnet. Originally posted June 2004 by IBM Systems Magazine Have you ever wanted to remotely control your Windows* machine from a machine running AIX* or Linux while you were working on the raised floor? Have you ever started a long-running … Continue reading “Software Provides ‘Remote’ Possibilities”

Edit: Much has changed since this has written, but it is still a great tool to run multiple operating systems on the same machine. Originally posted May 2004 by IBM Systems Magazine So you’ve heard Linux is the wave of the future and you want to try it out, but you don’t have a spare … Continue reading “VMware Provides Virtual Infrastructure Solutions”