Re: CST/RSU recommendation vs RefreshPac-SFSs (CustomPac) (was: PUT vs. RSU)
Jan, My replies below. Regards, Tom Conley On Wed, 25 May 2005 14:57:16 -0500, Jan Vanbrabant [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The main question is: what *IS* now IBM's final recommendation? CST/RSU is free, probably of a higher quality, but incomplete (only for z/OS major subsystems). Disagree. You send IBM your CSI bitmap on ShopZ, and you should get back all the RSU maintenance for all installed products. CustomPacs are personalized and contain service for ALL CSI products. I wouldn't trust a CustomPac as far as I could throw it. Can you work with both approaches, CST/RSU and Custompac? Why do you want to pay for something that you can get for free? For as far as I know (I'm not the SMP/E expert overhere), it doesn't look to me as an or-or relationship. From a purely technical point of view, it should be possible to use both techniques in parallel. In theory, it should be possible to work for example with 2 CSIs, a RSU-CSI a Custompac-CSI. And I suppose we can reconciliate with cross-zone SMP/E. But are there considerations about doing so? Pro's con's? Do's and don'ts? My best practice is to use SUF until it goes away. IBM recommends ShopZ, but it's still too much manual intervention for me. I've had bad experiences with CustomPacs, so I will not use them again. If they work for you, great, but is the cost of them really worth the minimal time savings? In my case, I spent more time correcting the CustomPac errors than I would have if I did it all myself. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
CST/RSU recommendation vs RefreshPac-SFSs (CustomPac) (was: PUT vs. RSU)
On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 20:29:02 -0600, Scott Fagen [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Official IBM recommendation (from http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/zos/servicetst/cstrsu.pdf): General Maintenance Recommendations using revised RSU: IBM now has the same recommendations for key OS/390 and z/OS products. Upgrade RSU preventive maintenance every 3 months (or maximum of 6 months). Start with the latest RSU available. Monitor HIPER and PE fixes by reviewing weekly and installing as needed. I also found Greg Daynes' excellent CST-RSU Share S2827a presentation (August 13 2003) http://ew.share.org/callpapers/attach/Washington_DC/S2827a.pdf There was also a draft Improvements in z/OS Service (REDP0324) about CST/RSU, which never got published as far as I know. (is no longer on the redbook site either). What's very interesting in the CST/RSU thing is the 3 month consolidated test cycle with the 'revised' RSU as outcome. But it's only for z/OS and it's major subsystems (IMS, DB2, MQ, WAS, CICS, and some minor things (for me at least)). But no TWS (ex-OPC) for example!! At this moment we work with the Canadian Custompacs: Refreshpac SFSs. CustomPac Serviceshttps://www.can.ibm.com/custompac/ https://www.can.ibm.com/custompac/deliverable/refreshpac.htm https://www.can.ibm.com/custompac/deliverable/sfs.htm CustomPacs are CSI-based. We send the CSI to IBM with all *our* FMID's we get refrespacs and/or SFSs regularly. CST/RSU on the contrary is not CSI-based. If I recall well, prerequisite is even some support contract. The main question is: what *IS* now IBM's final recommendation? CST/RSU is free, probably of a higher quality, but incomplete (only for z/OS major subsystems). CustomPacs are personalized and contain service for ALL CSI products. Can you work with both approaches, CST/RSU and Custompac? For as far as I know (I'm not the SMP/E expert overhere), it doesn't look to me as an or-or relationship. From a purely technical point of view, it should be possible to use both techniques in parallel. In theory, it should be possible to work for example with 2 CSIs, a RSU-CSI a Custompac-CSI. And I suppose we can reconciliate with cross-zone SMP/E. But are there considerations about doing so? Pro's con's? Do's and don'ts? Experiences / considerations to share? Jan -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
