A Paradigm Shift in SMF Data Handling with PropelZ™
SMF (System Management Facility) data is the lifeblood of IBM Z mainframes, capturing a wealth of audit trails, performance metrics, and security logs. Yet for many organizations, managing and leveraging this vast data stream is a formidable challenge. In a recent conversation with Vince Re, VirtualZ Computing’s Chief Architect, he shared insights into the common struggles mainframe teams face with SMF data and explained how PropelZ provides an innovative, efficient solution for effortless SMF data integration for the cloud era.
The Challenges of Managing SMF Data
Mainframe environments generate a staggering amount of SMF data, from login records to file access logs. This data holds immense value but presents significant obstacles:
- Storage limitations: Many organizations can only keep weeks or months of data online, leaving them unable to answer long-term queries.
- Complex data retrieval: Locating specific records from months or years ago often involves tedious processes, such as searching through tapes or other offline storage.
- Scalability concerns: As data grows, so do storage and management costs, creating a bottleneck for organizations with limited resources.
According to Vince, these issues aren’t unique to a single company — they’re widespread across the mainframe ecosystem.
PropelZ: The Game-Changer for SMF Data
VirtualZ Computing’s PropelZ revolutionizes how organizations manage and access SMF data by enabling real-time data capture and seamless integration with modern databases. Here’s how it works:
- Real-time capture: PropelZ listens for SMF record activity as it happens, capturing and buffering the data for immediate processing.
- Flexible storage options: Data can be stored in virtually any database, whether on-premises or in the cloud. Vince described a specific use case where PropelZ directed SMF data to an Amazon RDS MySQL database.
- Efficient organization: PropelZ indexes records by date, time, and other attributes, enabling instant retrieval through simple SQL queries.
With PropelZ, organizations can securely store vast amounts of SMF data, leverage low-cost cloud storage solutions, and retrieve records with unprecedented speed and ease.
Benefits Beyond Data Storage
The PropelZ solution doesn’t just solve storage and retrieval challenges — it opens doors to advanced capabilities:
- Scalability: Organizations can scale their data repositories without worrying about mainframe storage constraints. PropelZ supports terabytes of data, enabling long-term retention.
- Enhanced resilience: Cloud storage configurations allow for replication across multiple data centers, minimizing the risk of data loss.
- Integration with analytics: By storing SMF data in a standard database format, organizations can use modern analytics tools to unlock insights, run reports, and drive decision-making.
A Flexible, Future-Ready Solution
One of PropelZ’s standout features is its adaptability. It works with a wide range of databases, from MySQL to Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle, and integrates seamlessly with cloud environments. This flexibility ensures that organizations can tailor the solution to their unique needs, whether they’re managing a single mainframe or a complex network of LPARs.
Empower Your Mainframe Data Strategy
Managing SMF data no longer needs to be a headache. With VirtualZ Computing’s PropelZ, organizations can:
- Free their mainframes from the burden of data storage.
- Enable real-time access to historical records.
- Unlock the full potential of their SMF data for analytics and reporting.
Whether you’re looking to modernize your mainframe environment or enhance your data strategy, PropelZ offers a turnkey solution that’s efficient, scalable, and easy to implement.