Planning workload definitions
Before you define workloads, BMC recommends you spend some time establishing the conventions you will have at your site for using the single system image (SSI) views in
BMC AMI Ops Monitor for CICS
. The following sections describe the considerations you should make when you define workloads.
Place workload definitions in your common BBPARM data set
BMC AMI OpsM for CICS stores its workload definitions in separate members of the common BBPARM data set created at your site. BMC AMI OpsM for CICS workload definitions are saved in member BBKTWK00.
If possible, BMC recommends workload definition members be placed in a common BBPARM library accessible to each product address space (PAS). The number of workload definitions can be kept to a minimum if they are placed in a shared parameter library. Otherwise, duplicate workload definitions must be created for each linked PAS to ensure BMC AMI OpsM for CICS workloads report performance from all targets. Also, maintenance is easier if updates can be made to a single workload definition without the requirement of making simultaneous changes to similar definitions in different parameter libraries.
Establish consistent naming conventions
BMC recommends a consistent naming convention for BMC AMI OpsM for CICS workloads.
This is particularly important if your site cannot place workload definitions in the common BBPARM data set defined at your site. In this case, when you update your definitions you must be able to easily identify similar workloads in different BBPARM data sets.
The data shown in the BMC AMI OpsM for CICS views can be sorted and filtered by workload name. Consistent names make it easier to sort and filter views so you can find the data you want to display.
Workload names should be a shorthand notation that represents the work performed by the target. For example, CICSPAY1 identifies CICS payroll transactions running on region 1. A workload name can be a maximum of eight characters.
Composite names should indicate a common functional characteristic of the workloads that are part of a MainView VistaPoint application. For example, a PROD suffix on an application name indicates the workloads are monitoring production regions. Likewise, an application named FINANCE indicates a workload’s targets are completing financial transactions. Composite names can be a maximum of eight characters.
Identify critical workload monitoring periods
Monitoring occurs over a daily cycle.
During the course of a day, there are periods when transaction performance is not at risk because of the relatively light load on the system. During those periods, you may choose not to monitor your BMC AMI OpsM for CICS workloads.
Other daily periods are critical. The demands on system resources lead to contention and, invariably, transaction delays. BMC recommends monitoring all your workloads during the daily periods when adequate transaction performance is essential at your site.
Workloads belonging to the same composite should have identical monitoring periods. Because several views show combined workload performance, different monitoring periods may result in data collection becoming inactive for some regions. When this occurs, you must be aware of the fact that different monitoring periods reflect differences in the composition of the target workload
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