You can use Host Management Facilities to automate or help perform many of your system support tasks. Using Host Management Facilities can save time and money, while making system support tasks easier to do. The tasks that follow fall within three SystemView disciplines: Performance Management, Operations Management, and Problem Management.

Some Typical System Support Tasks

Authorized Host Management Facilities users can automate or perform any of the following tasks. Some may require tailoring Host Management Facilities control files; some may require the use of exits.

Performance Control and Monitoring Tasks

Use Host Management Facilities to:

• Monitor and tune the performance of your VM systems from one user ID (the systems being managed can be at different release levels of VM)

• Examine the short-term performance trend data for these systems

Use Host Management Facilities to automatically:

• Highlight systems with potential problems, using its exception detecting capability

• Collect performance data, at specified intervals, from a real-time monitor product

• Forward the performance data to one user ID

• Take corrective actions on behalf of the performance analyst, based on the exceptions it detects

Operations Control Tasks

Use Host Management Facilities to automatically:

• Start or shut down resources
• Specify commands to be processed during system IPL
• Monitor the availability of resources
• Control, to the subcommand or parameter level, command authorizations for each user who provides system support

Workload Control Tasks

Use Host Management Facilities to automatically:

• Monitor work progress
• Schedule system events
• Notify users of work-related activities

Analysis and Diagnosis Tasks

Use Host Management Facilities to automatically analyze system logs and server console messages to find the likely cause of a problem.

Bypass and Recovery Tasks

Use Host Management Facilities to automatically invoke bypass and recovery actions for a failed resource.