This section is a guide to application performance management (APM) using the Strobe Application Performance Measurement System, a product designed for use on IBM z/OS systems. It describes the benefits of using Strobe and explains its capabilities. It describes the set of reports that make up the Strobe Performance Profile reports, and presents a guide to interpreting the information shown in the Performance Profile.

How this section is organized

Overview describes the benefits of APM and presents an overview of the Strobe system.

Interpreting the Strobe Performance Profile presents a general discussion of how to interpret the reports in the Performance Profile and then presents a case study with reports generated from a sample COBOL program.

Strobe Performance Profile describes each report in the Strobe Performance Profile. It explains report terminology and discusses fields within each report.

Program Structure and Strobe Pseudo-Entities presents a sample program structure and discusses the system modules whose activity Strobe compresses to make reports more concise.

Sample Program and Strobe Performance Profile presents a sample COBOL program and the Strobe Performance Profile that resulted from measuring and indexing the program.

How to use this space

To understand the benefits of Strobe and to determine which programs to measure, read Overview before you submit a measurement request. For help in interpreting a Strobe Performance Profile, read Interpreting the Strobe Performance Profile and Strobe Performance Profile.

Strobe library

The Strobe product manuals include:

• Advanced-Configuration-Guide: Includes more advanced configuration tasks not described in this space.
• Installing: Explains how to install and maintain Strobe
• : Explains how to decide which programs and online regions to measure, when to measure them, and how to interpret the reports in the Strobe Performance Profile.
• Messages: Lists all messages and abnormal termination (ABEND) codes, describes how to interpret them, and in many cases suggests corrective action.
• Using-Strobe-options: Describes the optional features of the Strobe Application Performance Measurement System. This manual is divided into parts, with each part describing measurement concepts applicable to, and specific data made available by, each of the following options:
  • Strobe for Adabas/Natural
  • Strobe for Advantage CA-IDMS
  • Strobe for CA Gen
  • Strobe for CICS
  • Strobe for Db2
  • Strobe for IMS
  • Strobe Interface
  • Strobe for WebSphere MQ
  • Strobe for z/OS UNIX System Services.

• Using-Strobe-to-measure-online-applications-and-batch-programs: Explains how to use Strobe and AutoStrobe to measure application performance.
• Notices: The Release Notes describes the enhancements, required supported environments, and any technical notes or known issues for the current release.

On the BMC Support website, the Strobe documentation set also includes:

• BMC Installer Mainframe Products SMP/E Installation Guide: Describes the RFN and SMP/E installation procedures for installing all z/OS versions of BMC mainframe products.

Online Help

Strobe products provide the following online information:

• Strobe/ISPF Online Tutorials, Option T from the Strobe/ISPF Strobe Options menu
• Strobe/ISPF Online Message Facility, Option M from the Strobe/ISPF Strobe Options menu

Other BMC application performance management products

The following products work in conjunction with the Strobe Application Performance Measurement System. These tools extend the benefits of application performance management (APM).

iStrobe

iStrobe enables you to view and analyze Strobe Performance Profile data on a workstation using a standard Web browser. Easy to install and easy to use, iStrobe guides you through the performance analysis process and offers recommendations for improving performance. iStrobe simplifies the performance analysis of applications that you measure with Strobe. For more information on iStrobe, see the iStrobe online help.

SQL Analysis

For users of iStrobe and Strobe for Db2, this option provides access path analysis and database and SQL coding recommendations for Db2 applications. SQL Analysis pinpoints the most resource-consumptive static or dynamic SQL statements, explains why these statements might be inefficient, and provides recommendations for improving the performance of the Db2 application. For more information on SQL Analysis, see the Strobe Using-Strobe-to-measure-online-applications-and-batch-programs.

BMC APM Service Offerings

For North American customers, for information about current service offerings, please contact your local BMC sales office or call BMC Support. You may also visit BMC AMI Strobe's  Application Performance Monitoring and Analysis page at BMC Support.

For other international customers, please contact your local BMC office or Strobe supplier for a complete list of Services offerings.

With APM Consulting services, your organization cannot only resolve problems quickly and effectively, but also gain the skills necessary to prevent application performance degradation in the future.

This section contains the following topics: