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Blog

Big Data? BIG DEAL!

By Kurt Thomas on Tue, 08/30/2016
With the dawn of the big data era upon us, what can IBM i systems administrators expect in terms of the demands that will be placed upon them and what kind of resources will be required to cope? Find out what the managed services industry can teach us today about what the future holds for us tomorrow.
Monitoring
Article

Astronauts Rely on Checklists (and So Should You)

By Kurt Thomas on Tue, 08/30/2016
What do astronauts and IBM i admins have in common? Checklists! These seemingly simple yet effective devices serve as our external memories and deliver process consistency, but they’re not without limitations.
Monitoring
Article

Disks Busy vs. ASP Busy in Robot Monitor

By Kurt Thomas on Thu, 08/25/2016
Did you know that the Disks Busy monitor reports the average percentage across all your ASPs, not just System ASP? You could be teetering near an I/O overload and not know it! If you have multiple ASPs, use the ASP Busy monitor instead. Here’s why.
Monitoring
Article

High Availability Fail Tales (and How to Avoid Them)

By Kurt Thomas on Thu, 08/25/2016
Chasing a high availability state is a common goal for IBM i administrators and one that can be thwarted by a single issue left unattended. By sharing some of the most frequent tales of what went wrong from real-world environments, you’ll be able to avoid these same scenarios.
Monitoring
Article

Monitoring the Demands of Fast Disk

By Kurt Thomas on Wed, 08/24/2016
The IT industry is decisively moving away from traditional hard disk drives (“platters”) in favor of Flash-based solid-state drives (SSDs). It’s a welcome change; it makes much more sense to circulate only electrons instead of disks of metal with electrons on them.
Monitoring
Article

Small but MIGHTY: Controlling the *CLS Object Type

By Kurt Thomas on Wed, 08/24/2016
While the instinct for administrators and IT managers is to always hunt down a culprit – a rogue job, an inactive journal receiver, or something else – sometimes the very building blocks of a common process, or rather the specifics that define processes, can be where the trouble at hand resides.
Monitoring
Blog

IT Security Compliance 101

By Robin Tatam on Sun, 08/21/2016
In this compliance 101 primer, we'll look at three high-profile breaches from the past year, each of which shows what can go wrong when data oversight isn't up to snuff. Along the way, we'll discuss some basic fixes that can help shore up network defenses.
Compliance
IBM i Cybersecurity
Guide

Download “How IT Professionals Can Navigate PCI DSS Compliance” Guide

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) applies to every organization that processes credit or debit card information. This includes merchants and third-party service providers that store, process, or transmit credit card data. The launch of PCI DSS helped expose serious security shortcomings, failures to follow security best practices, and...
Compliance
IT Infrastructure Protection
Article

Robot and FlashCopy

By Tom Huntington on Tue, 08/16/2016
Last month, Chuck Stupca (retired IBMer) and Chuck Losinski (Fortra) presented a webinar discussing FlashCopy for IBM i. Based on the attendance, it looks like this is a very important topic for many of you so I wanted to explain how FlashCopy ties to Robot products.
IBM i Automation
Guide

Self-Audit: Checking Assumptions at the Door

Sysadmins, devops engineers, and cybersecurity personnel are often kept awake by a number of questions. How should I monitor my monitoring to be sure it will alert me when there is a security issue that needs my intervention? How can I be sure that the servers and processes in the environment haven’t been rooted already? In the quest to get better sleep, it is a good idea to self-audit your...
Compliance
Article

Robot Best Practices

By Tom Huntington on Mon, 06/27/2016
Wondering about best practices for automating your IBM i processes with Robot systems management solutions? Take a look at this list and get off to a good start.
Automation
Monitoring
Case Study

Bank of Stockton Turns to Fortra for Reliable, Error-Free Operations

Founded in 1867, Bank of Stockton has always been at the forefront of banking technology innovation. With 17 branches in five counties across central California, Bank of Stockton is known as a community bank with a reputation for continually investing in new technology-based products and services to better serve its customers. Whether working to attract and retain customers, protect privacy, or...
Automation
Cashman Cat
Case Study

Cashman Equipment Looks to Fortra Professional Services with High Hopes

Cashman Equipment Company is not only one of the highest-rated Caterpillar equipment dealers in North America, but it is also one of the largest privately-owned companies in Nevada. Headquartered in Henderson, they employ over 600 dedicated team members of various professional and technical backgrounds. Nationally recognized by Caterpillar for outstanding sales performance, Cashman Equipment is a...
Automation
Case Study

AAA Life Leverages Fortra Solutions for IT Efficiency

Part of the American Automobile Association (AAA) family, AAA Life Insurance Company offers a variety of competitive life insurance, annuity, and travel accident products. With over one million policies, many people rely on AAA Life to help provide protection for their loved ones. As Senior Systems Engineer at AAA Life, Randy Wittner is in charge of their IBM i environment, overseeing two S824...
Automation
Monitoring