Author: Rob McNelly

Edit: In the first paragraph I was able to download the audio presentation and the movie. I wonder how long that will last. The whitepaper links no longer work. The report is still available to download but I imagine the link will go away in the future. Instead of downloading the report, I included it … Continue reading “Gauging the Benefits of AME”

Edit: The links still work. I do not think I know anyone still running IBM Systems Director. Originally posted May 11, 2010 on AIXchange You may be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but getting him to remember them is another matter. More than a year ago I wrote about an IBM Redbook and passed … Continue reading “Finding the Good in GUI”

Edit: The wiki link no longer works. Originally posted May 4, 2010 on AIXchange If you haven’t had a chance yet to work on POWER7 hardware, I thought I’d pass along something I’ve learned from my introduction to the 750 and 770 models: When selecting the DVD device from the HMC, the controller that it’s … Continue reading “Getting Hands On With POWER7”

Edit: The first two links do not work. The Netview link no longer works. The first ganglia link no longer works. I still called it an AS/400. Originally posted April 27, 2010 on AIXchange It seems like every customer I talk to has a different method for managing their servers. For a large data center, … Continue reading “Managing Servers a Unique Challenge for Small Shops”

Edit: I am living even further in the future now. The 2nd ad no longer works. Originally posted April 20, 2010 on AIXchange I’ve appropriated the Wil Wheaton line more than once, but once again I’m reminded that we really do live in the future. Those in the U.S. may recall the 90s-era AT&T television ads (here and here) … Continue reading “Living in the Future”

Edit: This was when we first knew about AIX 7. Originally posted April 12, 2010 on AIXchange Today IBM is making more announcements around AIX and POWER7. I’ll go through a few highlights here, and, I’m sure, cover these topics in greater depth as time goes on. (Note: Some of the information that follows is … Continue reading “A Look at Today’s POWER7, AIX Announcements”

Edit: How many people do you run into that do not know AIX details? The market share link no longer works. Originally posted April 6, 2010 on AIXchange Recently I was on the phone with a customer who had an issue with the memory utilization on one of his LPARs in his blade server. His … Continue reading “Spreading the Word of AIX”

Edit: I love Dean’s scripts. Originally posted March 30, 2010 on AIXchange I just saw this on a mailing list: It’s a tip about (default) Ethernet configs written by Dean Rowswell. This is great information, so, with Dean’s permission, I’m passing it along: The default value for *physical* Ethernet adapters is to enable largesend. This … Continue reading “An Ethernet Configuration Tip”

Edit: Customer service is still a thing. I changed the blizzard link to a working one. Originally posted March 23, 2010 on AIXchange Providing excellent customer service is one way to stand out from your competition. The old line about it being far easier to maintain a relationship with an existing customer than it is … Continue reading “Two Tales of Customer Service”

Edit: These are still being updated and added to, some of the specific ones I linked to are no longer there. Originally posted March 15, 2010 on AIXchange On a recent visit to the IBM Techdocs library I saw some documents that might interest you. I sorted the view by date, but you can also search by … Continue reading “My Trip to the Techdocs Library”

Edit: The link to the press release still works. Green is an even bigger deal now. Originally posted March 9, 2010 on AIXchange More and more companies are becoming sensitive to their energy costs. Though the idea of going green inspires some jokes (if the walls in my datacenter are painted green, does that make … Continue reading “Energy Efficiency Another POWER7 Benefit”

Edit: The things I used to complain about. Originally posted March 2, 2010 on AIXchange I’m not looking for work, but I know several people who are, so I like to keep an eye on AIX opportunities and pass along relevant leads to the job seekers I know. One thing that I’ve noticed with AIX … Continue reading “My Pet Peeves, Twitter Edition”

Edit: The first link no longer works. The Youtube video no longer works. The links to the insight tool no longer works. The facts and features takes you to POWER8 hardware. The link to the replay no longer works. Originally posted February 23, 2010 on AIXchange Check out this comparison of IBM Power systems to systems from … Continue reading “IBM Power Systems vs. the Competition”

Edit: I must have really liked this Redbook. Facts and features seem harder to find, you can search for smarter system for a smarter planet videos. I could not find a working link to the POWER7 article about not validating SPARC. None of the links at the end still seem to work. Originally posted February … Continue reading “More on Migrating to Virtual Storage”

Edit: People still want an iPad. People still run POWER7. Edited the link to the POWER7 Unveiled article at the end. Originally posted February 8, 2010 on AIXchange Apple’s just-announced iPad has, predictably, attracted tons of attention. People want to know about the operating system it runs, the hardware specifications and when the hardware will … Continue reading “POWER7 is Here”

Edit: It is even easier these days. And I still would not advise joining in on games at work. Originally posted February 2, 2010 on AIXchange Today’s video game players are spoiled. Connectivity is no longer an obstacle. Many homes have high-speed Internet or broadband service, and in most towns, wireless Internet access points are … Continue reading “Gaming Wasn’t Always This Easy”

Edit: Hopefully none of you are running this version these days. Updated the link to Chris’ blog. Updated link to Chris’ blog post. Only one of the POWER7 links at the end still works. Originally posted January 26, 2010 on AIXchange Chris Gibson, who blogs about AIX at IBM developerWorks, recently wrote about some issues he encountered … Continue reading “VIOS Fixpack Installation Issues”

Edit: This is still a useful method to know about. Originally posted January 19, 2010 on AIXchange Last week I noted that the soon-to-be completed IBM Redbook, “PowerVM Migration from Physical to Virtual Storage,” lays out the available options for migrating to virtual storage. In chapter 2 of the Redbook, the authors provide what they call “core procedures”: … Continue reading “The Handy mkcd Command”

Edit: I love talking about Redbooks. Originally posted January 12, 2010 on AIXchange A new Redbook, “PowerVM Migration from Physical to Virtual Storage,” is coming out soon. The concepts covered here are critical to understand. Whether you’ve been virtualizing for years or you’re just getting ready to take the plunge, you need to know all … Continue reading “Migrating to Virtual Storage”

Edit: The technology may be different, but the principles are the same. Originally posted January 5, 2010 on AIXchange When I previously wrote about using my BlackBerry, I mentioned how it helps me in my travels. I use my phone as my GPS, having it give me turn-by-turn audio directions to the different places I go. I … Continue reading “Think of Our Users”

Edit: The replay link worked, the materials did not, I imagine a search engine may be able to find them if you really want them. The chart link does not work either. Originally posted December 22, 2009 on AIXchange Another great Central Region Virtual users group meeting was held on Dec. 10. IBM’s Jay Kruemcke … Continue reading “AIX 6 Update”

Edit: Nobody knows it all. Surround yourself with smart people. Originally posted December 14, 2009 on AIXchange Recently a customer was trying to repurpose an old POWER5 machine. It had been connected to an HMC, but the customer wanted it to run in standalone mode in a data center that lacked an HMC to connect … Continue reading “The Value of an Open Mind”

Edit: With automated builds and golden images it is even easier to have standards. Originally posted December 8, 2009 on AIXchange This fall I attended the RedHat conference. The conference hosted a break fix challenge, and the outcome was interesting. Consider two particular teams of administrators that participated in the challenge. One team came from … Continue reading “The Case for Standardization”

Edit: This still rings true. Originally posted December 1, 2009 on AIXchange Having previously written about management in “A Tale of Two Managers,” I really liked this Computerworld article. Some quotes: “Geeks are smart and creative, but they are also egocentric, antisocial, managerially and business challenged, victim-prone, bullheaded and credit-whoring. To overcome these intractable behavioral deficits … Continue reading “In IT, Right is Might”

Edit: The migrate DVD is no longer there. The fixpack is no longer there. Originally posted November 17, 2009 on AIXchange I had some VIO servers running 1.5.2.5-FP-11.1 SP-01 that I wanted to upgrade to 2.1.2.10-FP-22. The machines were in a remote location and consisted of both blade and “regular” servers. While I could have … Continue reading “Migrations Made Simple with NIM”

Edit: The links at the end no longer work. Originally posted November 10, 2009 on AIXchange For a while now customers have been asking me how to identify the filesystems and physical and logical volumes that are good candidates to move to solid state drives (SSDs). Given these drives’ I/O characteristics and the higher prices they currently … Continue reading “A ‘Hot’ New Option for Dealing with SSDs”

Edit: This is all still good stuff I use. Originally posted November 3, 2009 on AIXchange AIX pros have been using VNC and Screen for a long time. Years ago I wrote about these handy tools. For a more recent and more in-depth look at Screen’s capabilities, check out this article from IBM developerWorks. I literally use … Continue reading “Tools Gold”

Edit: The developerworks link no longer works. Originally posted October 27, 2009 on AIXchange Every now and again I like to present a grab bag of links that I find to be interesting, even if they don’t warrant their own post. For instance, some weeks back I wrote that more people are talking about AIX … Continue reading “More From the Grab Bag”

Edit: The statement of direction is no longer working. The POWER7 link no longer works. Originally posted October 20, 2009 on AIXchange I know that many of you have been upgrading from older technology to POWER6 servers. As one customer recently told me, “The machine is working great. Performance is better than I expected.” That … Continue reading “Migrate When the Time is Right”

Edit: This should still be useful. Originally posted October 13, 2009 on AIXchange Recently I worked with a customer who was frustrated with the VIO server. When he logged in as padmin, he was faced with a $ prompt. When he ran oem_setup_env and became root, he had a # prompt. Whenever he switched users, … Continue reading “Changing the padmin .profile”

Edit: The first link has been changed to a new location. Originally posted October 6, 2009 on AIXchange Although this is written about mainframes, I think that many of its arguments also hold water when discussing Power Systems servers. From the article on mainframes: “Joe Clabby, who leads the analyst firm Clabby Analytics, said the trend off mainframes … Continue reading “With Virtualization, Nothing Compares to Power”

Edit: It is even easier now to run Linux on Power. The link to the Lx86 site no longer works. The link to the whitepaper no longer works. The link to the supercomputing site does not work, but I added a link to the ibm newsroom that looks like the origin of the information. The … Continue reading “The Case for Linux on Power”

Edit: AIX is still a hidden gem, and people still need access to test machines. Originally posted September 14, 2009 on AIXchange While wandering around Chicago recently, I discovered a little museum along the Chicago River. Admission to the McCormick Tribune Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum was only $3, so I figured, “why not?” I went down … Continue reading “Finding a Hidden Gem”

Edit: I cannot imagine anyone needs to do this now, but you never know what is still running out there all these years later. Originally posted September 8, 2009 on AIXchange Over lunch recently, a customer told me about the frustrations he incurred while trying to migrate his server from the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) … Continue reading “IVM to HMC Migrations”

Edit: The links seem to work for now. I think this is my first reference to seeing a link from twitter that I shared with readers, I do that all the time these days. Originally posted September 1, 2009 on AIXchange Like I wrote in AIXchange a few weeks ago, I was minding my own business when … Continue reading “Active Memory Sharing Takes the Guesswork out of Partitioning”

Edit: They tried. The workshop link is not active. The schedule / ibmquicklinks link is not active. The links to download and install are no longer active. Originally posted August 25, 2009 on AIXchange As complexity increases, we find that we need better tools to manage our machines. If we’re only responsible for one or … Continue reading “Revisiting IBM Systems Director”

Edit: The developerworks and VUG links no longer work, but the survey information is still there. Originally posted August 18, 2009 on AIXchange To the surprise of some, users think highly of AIX. This recent IT Business Edge blog post cites an annual ITIC survey on enterprise server platforms. “IBM AIX won in virtually every major category, … Continue reading “AIX Tops in ITIC User Survey”

Edit: Still one of my favorite topics. I am still a Model M Bigot. Mechanical keyboards seem to have made a bit of a comeback. The PC world link no longer works. The article talking about why Model M went away no longer works. Originally posted August 11, 2009 on AIXchange Some years ago I … Continue reading “Confessions of a Model M Bigot”

Edit: This is still an interesting dilemma. Maybe more organizations would just be more cloud centric and not worry about any of it these days. Originally posted August 4, 2009 on AIXchange I was recently talking with someone who works for a non-profit organization. He was tasked with being the AIX administrator. He didn’t necessarily … Continue reading “The Cost of Unprotected Data”

Edit: Pretty crazy to see how this evolved, and who ended up using it, and for what purposes. Originally posted July 28, 2009 on AIXchange  You may not be able to say much in only 140 characters, but you can still do plenty via Twitter. I’m a late adopter when it comes to social networking. … Continue reading “Twitter: A Toy and a Tool”

Edit: Edited some links to Tom’s articles and the location of nstress. Originally posted July 20, 2009 on AIXchange As I noted in last week’s AIXchange blog entry, Ken Milberg has a soon-to-be-released book on understanding AIX performance. Blogging about Ken’s book got me thinking about performance, and how challenging it is for AIX administrators to … Continue reading “Learn by Studying, Then by Doing”

Edit: powertco.com link is not active. Updated the author page. The developerworks page no longer works. Originally posted July 14, 2009 on AIXchange I’ve known Ken Milberg for about three years. You may know him from the numerous articles he’s authored for IBM Systems Magazine. Ken is the president of PowerTCO, a New York-based IBM … Continue reading “‘Driving the Power of AIX’”

Edit: Still seems to be a reasonable discussion to have. Originally posted July 7, 2009 on AIXchange I’ve worked for numerous companies that were IBM customers. For several years I worked for IBM in Boulder, Colo. I currently work for an IBM business partner. Through all this time, I’ve been happily using IBM racks with … Continue reading “IBM Hardware Fits in the Big Picture”

Edit: I cannot believe that the demo video is still available for download. and the index still works! Inconceivable. Also amazing how cheap commercial SSDs are, I try to run them in everything these days, and would not go back to spinning rust for anything. Originally posted June 30, 2009 on AIXchange Nigel Griffiths has … Continue reading “SSD is Something to See”

Edit: Presentation skills are still valuable to work on. Originally posted June 23, 2009 on AIXchange I often wonder how many readers of this blog are hard-core technical people. You live and work heads-down on the raised floor, doing the “real” work. You generally don’t deal with bean counters or management types because your immediate … Continue reading “Communication Matters, Even for Techies”

Edit: This post is back from the dead. Power still needs more love. They may not be in as many consoles these days. They currently run the fastest supercomputers in the world. The marketwire link no longer works. Originally posted June 16, 2009 on AIXchange You catch a TV advertisement for a PC. At the end … Continue reading “Power is Everywhere — Except in the Public Eye”

Edit: Hopefully by now you have everything in sync. Originally posted June 9, 2009 on AIXchange How many physical machines or virtual partitions do you have in your environment? One? Ten? Hundreds? How often do you verify that the time is set correctly on each of your servers? I’ve seen customers set the time on a … Continue reading “Clock Synching is Worth Your Time”

Edit: I cannot remember the last time I encountered IVM. The publib link no longer works, but your search engine will lead you to this link. Originally posted June 2, 2009 on AIXchange Most readers of this blog are command line-savvy. Had we wanted to use a GUI on our servers, we would have become … Continue reading “Remember the Alternatives to GUI”

Edit: The links still work. I still like simplicity when I can find it. Originally posted May 26, 2009 on AIXchange In a recent e-mail exchange, a friend and I were debating which was a better characteristic of a computer system, the capability to scale up or scale out? Would you rather have one machine … Continue reading “Keep it Simple? If Only”

Edit: The VUG link no longer works. Edited the link to the IBM Academic Initiative. Added current link to the FAQ. The links to courses no longer work. The link to the discounts no longer works. I still think it could be useful to pair up with your local schools to help learn more about … Continue reading “Take the Initiative”

Edit: I updated the links. Originally posted May 12, 2009 on AIXchange Live partition mobility is a topic I’ve covered previously in an AIXchange blog post titled, “Getting Hands-On with Live Partition Mobility.” More recently, Chris Gibson wrote a great Web exclusive article for IBM Systems Magazine titled, “Using the Command-Line Interface for LPM,” that talks … Continue reading “Another Case for Using the Command Line”

Edit: The link to the announcements and overview and blade no longer work. The link to the updated Redbook works. The link to the facts and features no longer works. Originally posted May 5, 2009 on AIXchange IBM made some new announcements last week. Take the time to get familiar with this information. From the overview: “IBM announced … Continue reading “A Look at Recent IBM Announcements”

Edit: I am still talking about diet and exercise. The link to peruseit.com no longer works. The link to sydiproject seems to work, that site has a link to https://networklore.com/ Originally posted April 27, 2009 on AIXchange I like to eat. That’s a good thing too, since going too long without eating will kill you. … Continue reading “Documentation Worth the Effort”

Edit: A mention of Systems Director. Yikes. The literature page link still works, but there is not much there anymore. Originally posted April 21, 2009 on AIXchange I’m a big NIM fan. I’m also a big fan of installing VIOS (along with regular AIX LPARs) using NIM, which is described in the IBM Redbooks publication, … Continue reading “NIM Benefits, Power Systems Whitepapers”

Edit: Not sure this would work these days. Originally posted April 14, 2009 on AIXchange Sometime back, I wrote a blog entry about using the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) to access POWER5 processor-based machines for customers that don’t have an HMC. In the era of POWER6 processors, ASMI remains an option for smaller shops with one … Continue reading “Using ASMI as an Alternative to HMC”

Edit: VIOS 1.5! VIOS 2.1! POWER6 blade! Changed the old publib link for lpcfgop to a knowledgecenter link. Originally posted April 7, 2009 on AIXchange Recently I needed to replicate a customer environment. So I took my blade, which was successfully running VIOS version 2.1, and loaded VIOS 1.5 with the latest service pack. I … Continue reading “Reverting to an Older VIOS Level”

Edit: If I thought 2009 was the future, what do I think I am living now? This was when I was first getting used to GPS, I do not know how to live without it now. Wil Wheaton’s blog has moved. Originally posted March 31, 2009 on AIXchange I’ve owned a BlackBerry smartphone for a … Continue reading “Living in the Future”

Edit: The link where authorities might step in no longer works, I found a working link to the same article. Originally posted March 24, 2009 on AIXchange Some people love a good mystery. Others enjoy a challenging puzzle. Working in IT, many times the task at hand involves solving mysteries and working out puzzles. In the … Continue reading “IT Has its Mysteries”

Edit: I still think that there is much to be learned when we make mistakes. Originally posted March 17, 2009 on AIXchange The above image is the work-safe version of a popular problem-determination flowchart. (The more widely circulated NSFW version can be found by searching on “flowchart no problem” or “problem solving flowchart.”) Why bring … Continue reading “Knowledge Flows From Mistakes”

Edit: The troubleshooting link no longer works. Changed the tshirt link from thinkgeek to amazon. Originally posted March 10, 2009 on AIXchange As I noted in a recent AIXchange blog post, IT pros are natural targets for family members and friends looking for free assistance with their home computers. When cornered, some of us will say … Continue reading “Karma and the Home PC”

Edit: The first link no longer works, though this one looks similar. The publib link for mount options no longer works. The online course no longer works. I added the original ending back into the post. Originally posted March 3, 2009 on AIXchange Though I’ve yet to try running HMC code in VMware, it sounds interesting. … Continue reading “More From the AIX Grab Bag”

Edit: Had to change the tshirt link from thinkgeek to amazon. Originally posted February 24, 2009 on AIXchange You’ve probably seen this. It’s perfect weekend attire for the IT professional. Maybe you don’t go as far as wearing a T-shirt that says, “No, I will not fix your computer.” But do you tell people to leave … Continue reading “No, I Will Not Fix Your Computer”

Edit: This still holds up, and Nick Burns is still a jerk. Originally posted February 17, 2009 on AIXchange I spent a year in high school working as a busboy at Sizzler Steakhouse. You might think that anyone can do that job–and admittedly, the stress level wasn’t high compared to other jobs I’ve had. But when you … Continue reading “We Can Learn from End Users”

Edit: Had to find a link to the article, it is not the exact same place but it looks like the same story. Originally posted February 10, 2009 on AIXchange Do good managers need to watch their backs? That’s the subject of this recent article. The author tells the story of two managers. One gave credit … Continue reading “A Tale of Two Managers”

Edit: I still believe in promoting from within and ongoing training and learning. Originally posted February 3, 2009 on AIXchange As I’ve mentioned in previous AIXchange blog entries here and here, I believe that companies should recruit and promote from the inside, and provide employees with offsite education and training. I like to see companies that have an … Continue reading “You Have to Start Somewhere”

Edit: I miss my reel to reel tape drive. Originally posted January 27, 2009 on AIXchange Twenty years ago the option available to me to back up my machine was reel-to-reel tape drives. I’d bring my machine down to single-user mode to perform the backup, and each tape would take 12 minutes. I remember this … Continue reading “When it Comes to Backups, Move Forward”

Edit: The infocenter site no longer works. It is fun to look back at migrating from POWER5 to POWER6. Originally posted January 20, 2009 on AIXchange I wrote an AIXchange blog entry about mksysb migrations using NIM more than a year ago. At the time I said I’d write more after testing it out. However, after seeing … Continue reading “Revisiting mksysb Migrations”

Edit: I did not realize I had started talking about exercise so many years ago. It took me quite a while to make it a real part of my day. The Tech U link no longer works. Originally posted January 13, 2009 on AIXchange I see that this year’s IBM Power Systems Technical University is set for … Continue reading “Mark Your Calendar for Education, Reorganize Your Day for Exercise”

Edit: Short but sweet. The NIM starter guide is still there. The links to fixes still work, the support best practices no longer works. Chris’s article is no longer at that site. Originally posted January 6, 2009 on AIXchange In this inaugural post of 2009, I bring you a grab bag of links. While none … Continue reading “AIX Grab Bag”

Edit: I imagine even more senior level personnel have retired since I wrote this. The itjungle link is no longer active. The link to subscribe to IBM Systems Magazine still works. Originally posted December 23, 2008 on AIXchange If you’ve been into a computer room lately (and most likely you have if you read this … Continue reading “IBM, DeVry Partnership a Start”

Edit: The link no longer works. Originally posted December 16, 2008 on AIXchange Many of us are familiar with Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). I wanted to see what information I could display from my SNMP agent on a fresh AIX 6.1 install, so I logged into an AIX 6.1 machine and ran the snmpinfo … Continue reading “The Case for SNMP”

Edit: This is still a useful technique to know about. Originally posted December 9, 2008 on AIXchange In last week’s AIXchange entry, I wrote about Janel Barfield’s presentation on file-backed virtual disks. The end of the slides from her presentation included a statement about using mkcd and creating a bootable ISO image from mksysb images. This … Continue reading “A Smart Admin’s NIM”

Edit: Changed to the current Power Systems Virtual User Group link as of this writing. The links to the presentation and replay may or may not work depending on the status of the transition from the developerworks site. Originally posted December 2, 2008 on AIXchange The AIX Virtual User Group (Central Region, U.S.) recently hosted an informative … Continue reading “Some New Virtual Disk Techniques”

Edit: Changed the first link to a Youtube video, the second link no longer works but when you search for JFS2 snapshots you can find information on the IBM website. Originally posted November 25, 2008 on AIXchange Watching this technical demo by Nigel Griffiths got me thinking. I like taking snapshots and flash copies on my external … Continue reading “Snapshots Make File Recovery a Snap”

Edit: I still love getting emails, and I still often redirect questions to IBM Support. Originally posted November 18, 2008 on AIXchange I love hearing from readers. People from around the world e-mail me, telling me about challenges they face in their environments. I also love it when readers leave comments about my posts. While … Continue reading “No Substitute for Support”