The highlight for Wednesday, for me anyway, was delivering my presentation to a crowded room of over a hundred folks who were interested in hearing about cost optimization and DB2 for z/OS. The presentation was kind of broken down into two sections. The first discussed subcapacity pricing and variable workload license charges (vWLC). IBM offers vWLC for many of its popular software offerings, including DB2 for z/OS. What that means is that you receive is a monthly bill from IBM based on usage. But the mechanics of exactly how that occurs are not widely known. So I covered how this works including a discussion of IMSU, Defined Capacity, the rolling four hour average (R4H) and the IBM SCRT (Sub Capacity Reporting Tool).
Basically, with VWLC your MSU usage is tracked and reported by LPAR. You are charged based on the maximum rolling four hour (R4H) average MSU usage. R4H averages are calculated each hour, for each LPAR, for the month. Then you are charged by product based on the LPARs it runs in. All of this information is collected and reported to IBM using the SCRT (Sub Capacity Reporting Tool). It uses the SMF 70-1 and SMF 89-1 / 89-2 records. So you pay for what you use, sort of. You actually pay based on LPAR usage. Consider, for example, if you have DB2 and CICS both in a single LPAR, but DB2 is only minimally used and CICS is used a lot. Since they are both in the LPAR you’d be charged for the same amount of usage for both. But it is still better than being charged based on the usage of your entire CEC, right?
I then moved along to talk about tuning ideas with cost optimization in mind including targeting monthly peaks, SQL tuning, using DC to extend a batch window, SQL tuning and some out of the box ideas.
I also spent some time today wandering through the Expo Center where IBM and many other vendors were talking about and demoing there latest and greatest technology. And I picked up some of the usual assortment of t-shirts, pins and other tchotchkes.
And I also attended a session called Fun With SQL that was, indeed, fun... but also pointed out how difficult it can be to code SQL on the fly in front of a room full of people!
Overall, this year's IOD was another successful conference. IOD is unmatched in my opinion in terms of the overall experience including education, entertainment, product news, meeting up with and talking to folks I haven't seen in awhile, and generating leads for consulting engagements. Of course, with 13,000+ attendees the conference can be overwhelming, but that means there is always something of interest going on throughout the day. And by the time Wednesday rolls around, most people are starting to get tired, me included.
Of course, I still have tonight and tomorrow morning before heading back home... so I may still post another little something later in the week once I've had a time to digest everything a little bit more.
In the interim, if you'd like other people's opinions and coverage of IOD, check out the blogs on the IOD hub at http://www.ibmbigdatahub.com/IOD/2013/blogs.
But for now, thanks IBM, for throwing another fantastic conference focusing on my life's work passion -- data!
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