Using CICSPlex® SM’s MAS resource monitoring (MRM) function, you can monitor the status of any specific or generic CICS® resource, and be informed when its status deviates from a specified norm. (SAM, by contrast, is the monitoring and evaluation of a "default" resource, the CICS system itself. Although you can tailor the type of notification you receive from SAM, the condition that triggers the notification is defined by CICSPlex SM.) Using MRM, you can select both the resource status you are interested in and the type of external notification it generates. Here are some examples of the ways in which MRM can be used:
As its name suggests, MAS resource monitoring operates at the CICS system level. That is, if a resource’s status changes in two regions, two sets of external notifications are issued, one for each region.
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:
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.
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