june 13 - 15, 20101 enterprise computing community - ecc 2010 the changing role of the system...

June 13 - 15, 2010 1

Enterprise Computing Community - ECC 2010

The Changing Role of the System Programmer

Jon L. Veilleux

[email protected]

http://www.nsf.gov/index.jsp

June 13 - 15, 2010 2


Agenda

• A brief historical view of the evolution of MVS• Virtual Addressing• The future direction of operating systems• What did System Programmers do in the past?• What do they do now?• What will they do in the future?• How skills have changed and will change even

more in the future.


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Disclaimer

• All opinions expressed in this presentation are my own and not necessarily those of my employer or anyone else.


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Evolution 101

• MFT – Fixed number of tasks• MVT – Variable number of tasks• MVS – Virtual Storage (24 bit) – 16Mb Address Spaces• MVS/XA – Extended Architecture (31 bit) – 2Gb

Address Spaces• MVS/ESA – Data Spaces • OS/390 – UNIX System Services• z/OS – (64 bit) – 16Exabyte Address Spaces • z/VM and zLINUX


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Virtual Addressing• Dynamic Address Translation (DAT) is the single

most important development in the evolution of Computing (in my opinion) making Virtual Storage and Address Spaces possible.

• Virtual storage concepts have greatly expanded the power and flexibility of computers and enabled large online applications by freeing them from the constraints of real memory size.


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The future direction of operating systems

• Memory – Processors with more, faster memory• Speed – Starting to reach technological limits so growth will be

horizontal – parallel processing• Virtualization – I/O (virtual tape, DS8000) – System Images• Integration – Bring different platforms closer together to take

advantage of each one’s strengths• Simplification – Make the System Programmer’s job easier• Diagnostics – Use heuristic computer learning algorithms to make

machines self-healing• Cloud – Computing ‘Services’ on the web• Who knows – Did anyone imagine what the internet would turn into 15-

20 years ago? Self-aware computers?


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What did System Programmers do in the past?

• 30 years ago – Card decks – Run jobs to build the Operating System from (round) product

distribution tapes– Read microfiche listings of the Operating System source code– Write in-stream assembler modifications to the Operating System– Monitor systems using printed reports– Print System dumps for debugging– Send tapes or hard-copy dumps to vendor

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Skills needed by System Programmers in the past

• 30 years ago – JCL – Assembler language– SYSGEN (SMP)– How to create batch performance reports– System Utilities– Debugging

• SLIPs• Traces• Service aids

– Dump reading– Detailed knowledge of MVS Operating System Internal

Structure

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• 20 years ago – ‘Dumb’ terminals – TSO/ISPF – Run jobs to build the Operating System from (rectangular)

product distribution tapes – No more listings of the Operating System (OCO)– Write assembler user exits to modify the Operating System – Change control – increased governance– Monitor systems using 3270 based systems (RMFIII,

OMEGAMON)– Use IPCS for debugging system dumps– Ftp dumps to IBM or use RSVSF to allow IBM to look at dumps

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• 20 years ago – JCL – Assembler– SMP– System Utilities– How to generate on-line performance reports– Debugging

• SLIPs, Traces, Service aids– Dump reading– Not quite as detailed knowledge of MVS Operating System

Internal Structure

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• 10 years ago – ‘Smart’ terminals with 3270 interfaces – TSO/ISPF– Run jobs to build the Operating System from downloaded files– Monitor systems using 3270 based applications (RMFIII,

OMEGAMON, etc) – Automation– Remove all assembler user exits and use vendor-written

applications– Use IPCS for debugging system dumps– Ftp dumps to IBM or use RSVSF to allow IBM to look at dumps

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• 10 years ago – JCL – UNIX – SMP– System Utilities– Online performance tools– Automation product REXX coding– IBMLINK– Debugging

• SLIPs, Traces, Service aids– How to use ftp to ship dumps– General knowledge of MVS Operating System features and UNIX

System Services

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What do System Programmers do now?

• Today – ‘Smart’ terminals - TSO/ISPF – Web applications – Run jobs to build the Operating System from automatic

downloads– Use pre-written vendor code for any modifications to the

Operating System– Privacy and security – regulatory compliance– Monitor systems using ‘smart’ tools (Tivoli, PFA, etc)– Use IPCS for debugging system dumps (rarely)– Send dumps to IBM via ftp and/or use AOS on the web

to allow IBM to look at dumps

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Skills needed by System Programmers Now

• Today – JCL – SMP– System Utilities– Web based performance tools – Encryption and privacy regulations– IBMLINK– How to use ftp to ship dumps– General knowledge of Operating System features, UNIX System

Services, zVM, and zLINUX

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What will System Programmers do Tomorrow?

• Use GUI interfaces to download pre-configured Operating Systems from vendors

• Use pre-written self-installing vendor code for any modifications to the Operating System

• Privacy and security – Monitor and comply with regulatory requirements

• Be a technology enabler/advocate to educate application areas about new functions in the OS

• Use GUI interfaces to performance and monitoring applications

• Monitor problems that have been automatically sent to IBM when they

occur

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Skills needed by System Programmers Tomorrow

• Understand different Operating Systems and the interactions between them

• How to integrate applications to take advantage of the unique properties of the different OSes

• Implement procedures to meet encryption and privacy regulations• Virtualization concepts• Use computer learning performance tools• Flexibility• Curiosity

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How skills have changed and will change even more in the future.

• Less emphasis on detailed OS knowledge• Less hands-on tweaking of the OS

– Changes will come too fast to handle using traditional tools– Hardware and OSes will self-monitor and self-heal

• More emphasis on integration between platforms– Problem determination will require cross-platform tools and skills– Systems Programmers will need to be Generalists able to see and

understand the ‘big picture’ – How do to debug problems in ‘the cloud’

• Someone will have to have all of the detailed knowledge that the ‘dinosaurs’ have now (COBOL, assembler, dump reading, etc)

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Questions?

june 13 - 15, 20101 enterprise computing community - ecc 2010 the changing role of the system...

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