Cheryl’s List Blog

Here at Watson & Walker we love SMF data.  And judging by the volumes of it that most z/OS sites generate, we are not the only ones.  SMF can tell you just about anything you could want to know about what is happening on your systems.  The downside of having that vast sea of information...

In case you have missed it, effective April 30, 2021, IBM is removing support for TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 from its software download servers, and all connection attempts after that date will have to use TLS 1.2. If you currently download files using HTTPS, then you should not be affected.  However, if you use...

In this crazy world in which we find ourselves, it is easy to lose track of familiar milestones - for example, the annual SHARE Winter conference.  If you haven't been keeping abreast of developments in SHARE, there are a lot of things about this year's Winter SHARE that you should be aware of: It starts...

Subscribers to Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter can find the latest, 123-page, issue on our publications website (https://watsonwalkerpublications.com/).  In her Cover page introduction, Cheryl said “You'll find this newsletter to be jam-packed with so many tuning recommendations that I think it will be one of our most popular issues ever.” We hope that you will agree....

Subscribers to Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter can find the latest, 140-page, issue on our publications website (https://watsonwalkerpublications.com/).  No matter what your job role (or 'persona', to use the 'in' terminology) is, if you work with z/OS, we’re sure that you will find interesting and valuable information in this issue.  Specifically, we have: Information about the...

Free GSE UK Conference Some of our favorite times have been at the GSE (Guide SHARE Europe) UK region conference. Due to Covid-19, they’ve gone to a no-charge Virtual Conference that is being held between November 2 and 12, 2020. They do ask that you donate to a charity, but that’s only fair. They expect...

IBM Red Alert We think this is important enough to let all of our subscribers know about. If you've downloaded HOLDDATA between 1:15AM ET on Sept 10 through 7:30PM ET on Sept 11, you should redo it, as shown below in IBM's recent Red Alert. Red Alerts: Red Alert / z/OS family - all hardware,...

Subscribers to Cheryl Watson's Tuning Letter can find the latest, 158-page, issue on our publications website (https://watsonwalkerpublications.com/).  No matter what your job role is, if you work with z/OS, we're sure that you will find interesting and valuable information in this issue.  Specifically, we have: Timely tips for anyone considering a CPC purchase or upgrade. ...

SHARE is Now Virtual (and Cheap!) Note: Temporarily paused due to technical difficulties! Will notify you of new schedule when it becomes available. For only $199 (SHARE members & faculty) or $399 (non-members) or free (students) you can virtually attend SHARE this month. We don't understand why everybody isn't taking advantage of this great training....

My, how our world has changed in the last few months.  I keep feeling like I woke up in that Outbreak movie, and am expecting Dustin Hoffman to show up in a hazmat suit any moment. Well, if you have spent the last few weeks watching reruns of Outbreak, Pandemic, Contagion, and countless other depressing...