ETJ First Impression: UDM 2.3

Universal Data Manager (UDM) 2.3 Further Advances Dino-Software’s Unique Solution

By Denny Yost, ETJ Magazine (5-minute read)

 

 

 


Data continues to grow at a rapid pace, filling storage space almost as fast as it is made available. Yet, the management of the tape robots, tape catalogs, DFSMSHSM, ICF catalogs, DASD volumes and more has not been greatly simplified. In many cases, the challenge of managing the vast quantity of data and storage devices has only increased in complexity. In addition, experienced storage management personnel continue to retire, leaving the less experienced to master the juggling of a menagerie of management tools, hardware, folders, files and data to meet the needs of the business.

 Solving the Dilemma

Universal Data Manager (UDM) is a unique, advanced solution for managing an organization’s complete z/OS storage environment at an enterprise level through a centralized view. This means tape robots and tape catalogs, DFSMShsm, ICF catalogs, DASD volumes, DFSMS objects, spool data and other related objects all can be managed through an integrated, comprehensive, modern and centralized GUI-based solution.

Designed and created in recent years, UDM incorporates leading-edge techniques and technology, making the solution easy to install, use, upgrade and expand. UDM’s architecture uses multithreading and communicates simultaneously via TCP/IP, providing a fast and efficient method for analyzing storage.

Upon installation, the simplicity of using UDM becomes apparent through its GUI based interface and powerful data mining capabilities. Since a common user interface is provided, learning and performing monitoring and management tasks are streamlined, saving time and cost. Generating and running a report as well as generating and scheduling an automation task can all be accomplished in a common manner through the same interface. Educational facilities are also incorporated into UDM in the form of delivered reports, monitoring processes, commands and various JCL decks.

UDM 2.3 Released; New Enhancements Expand Its Aid

The release of UDM 2.3 brings several new features to further ease the burden of managing the storage environment at the enterprise level. These new capabilities include the Integrated Explorer Interface, a z/OS Volume Initialization Wizard, object automation, reporting additions, JES3 support, sysplex-wide password support, message reply ID variables and automation history records.
For this review, we will concentrate on the integrated explorer interface and the z/OS Volume Initialization Wizard.

An Integrated Explorer Interface has been added to the UDM GUI, enabling web style navigation. Now z/OS File System (zFS) mounted files can easily be explored by drilling down in the folders and files comprising a zFS aggregate. Storage groups can now be explored by drilling down as well to easily identify the volumes and data sets aligned with each storage group. Possibly the best new addition of all is the ability to explore catalogs by drilling down to the alias and data set entries associated with the catalogs.

The other important feature of UDM 2.3 is the addition of the z/OS Volume Initialization Wizard. The Volume Initialization Wizard simplifies the task of volume initialization. In addition, the Volume Initialization Wizard performs verification to ensure nothing is on the volumes, and that the volumes are offline to all systems. VOLSER names are automatically generated based on user input criteria, and the Volume Initialization Wizard ensures that source and target name conflicts do not occur.

Using UDM Can Save Time, Money and Resources

UDM is a flexible, powerful solution for managing storage, saving time, money and resources. UDM can:

The Bottom Line

The UDM storage management solution from Dino-Software provides a complete and modern solution for managing today’s and tomorrow’s increasingly complex and expanding data storage environments.  To learn more about Universal Data Manager, contact Dino-Software at 703-768-2610 or visit their website, www.Dino-Software.com. ETJ

 


About Dino-Software

Dino-Software Corporation develops enterprise-wide solutions for the management, analysis, protection, and repair of complex z/OS mainframe environments.  Dino-Software has long been acknowledged for its superiority in ICF catalog management and technical support, helping organizations ensure their business-critical assets remain online and recoverable in a disaster.  Learn more about Dino-Software and its z/OS mainframe storage solutions at https://dino-software.com.

Click Here To Read More DINO Tech-Talk Articles