History

Key Characteristics

• • Structured Logging: Data is typically recorded in specific, predefined formats (e.g., SMF records, CICS journals, DB2 logs) to facilitate efficient processing, analysis, and reporting.
  • Time-Stamped: Each historical record includes precise timestamps, enabling chronological analysis, correlation of events across different system components, and accurate sequencing of operations.
  • Persistent Storage: Historical data is written to persistent storage (typically DASD or tape) to ensure its availability for post-event analysis, long-term retention, and compliance requirements.
  • Configurable Granularity: The level of detail recorded can be configured by system administrators, ranging from high-level system metrics to granular transaction-level details, balancing data richness with storage overhead.
  • Voluminous Data Generation: Mainframe systems generate vast amounts of historical data, necessitating robust data management strategies, including efficient collection, offloading, and archival processes.
  • Immutability (for Audit Trails): For critical audit and integrity purposes, many historical records (e.g., security logs, financial transaction journals) are designed to be append-only, tamper-resistant, and non-modifiable.

Use Cases

• • Performance Tuning and Optimization: Analyzing SMF and RMF data to identify system bottlenecks, optimize resource allocation, and improve application response times and throughput.
  • Problem Determination and Diagnostics: Correlating events across SYSLOG, JES job logs, CICS dumps, DB2 logs, and application logs to diagnose and resolve system or application failures.
  • Auditing and Compliance: Reviewing RACF security logs, transaction journals, and system access records to ensure adherence to security policies and regulatory requirements (e.g., SOX, GDPR).
  • Capacity Planning: Utilizing long-term historical resource utilization data (CPU, I/O, memory) to forecast future hardware and software needs and justify infrastructure upgrades.
  • Chargeback Accounting: Tracking resource consumption by specific users, applications, or departments to facilitate accurate cost allocation and billing within an enterprise.

Related Concepts