Automation and MRM

MRM offers great scope for automation of CICS® resource management, because it can alert you to both actual and potential problems.

In alerting you to actual problems, MRM provides you with an opportunity to take remedial action; in alerting you to potential problems, MRM provides you with an opportunity to take preventive action. Furthermore, an automated response is possible to all MRM-detected problems.

When changes in the absolute status of a resource occur (for example, when a file that should be ENABLED becomes DISABLED, or when a connection that should be INSERVICE goes OUTSERVICE), remedial action is usually required. CICSPlex® SM itself can correct the status of such resources automatically, as can any of the automation products, such as NetView or AOC/MVS CICS Automation.

When more subtle changes in a resource's status occur, an automation product such as NetView can tailor its response to the severity of the problem. For example, CICSPlex SM could monitor the DSA free size in a CICS system every five seconds. If CICSPlex SM finds the DSA free size to be:

Between 86KB and 100KB 4 times in succession, it issues an SNA generic alert to NetView with a severity of LW (low warning)
Between 71KB and 85KB three times in succession, it issues an SNA generic alert to NetView with a severity of LS (low severe)
70KB or less twice in succession, it issues an SNA generic alert with a severity of VLS (very low severe).

In response to any of these alerts, the NetView automation table could issue an MVS modify command to the affected region to increase the DSA size dynamically, thereby preventing a short-on-storage condition (the SAMSOS condition, in fact) from occurring. The amount by which the DSA is increased in each case could vary according to the severity attached to the SNA generic alert by CICSPlex SM.