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VIP version 7.2 is G.A (General Availability)
New Product Vanguard Configuration Manager™
Updated Products:
Vanguard Administrator
Vanguard Advisor
Vanguard SecurityCenter
Vanguard Analyzer
Vanguard inCompliance
Vanguard Enforcer
Remote Print Management 5.1.0.95 released
INTELLIscribe 4.1 is released
z/OS Monitoring News
latest Update 07.01.2011
VNAC
VIP
IPCP
VitalSigns for Network Automation and Control (VNAC)
VNAC provides z/OS System Automation with a fraction of the CPU-Overhead. Its low cost and high efficiency make VNAC the ideal replacement for IBM's NetView™ and CA's NetMaster™. VitalSigns provides monitoring, problem diagnosis, network automation, and performance management for both mainframe TCP/IP and SNA networks. In addition to the immediate savings in money and system resources, you can use VNAC to automate and accomplish these tasks:
- Restart downed resources
- Alert when resources drop unexpectedly, highlight the down resources in bold colors to draw the attention of operators.
- Report incidents to problem management ticketing systems for logging and resolution of problems.
- Trigger REXX scripts based on incoming messages from the network, applications and z/OS systems.
- Automate the starting of applications and resources as part of their system IPL sequences.
- Monitor thresholds of network and applications, generating emails when thresholds are exceeded.
- Monitor the status of batch jobs, alerting when jobs fail
VIP
VIP 7.2 Now Available for General Access
SDS is pleased to announce that VIP 7.2 has achieved General Availability (GA) status. We urge our current VIP customers to take full advantage of 7.2's new features.
To obtain and run VIP 7.2, please contact SDS at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 763-571-9000. We look forward to giving you the new access and activation keys.
With the release of 7.2, we also set the twilight date for VIP 7.0. Support for VIP 7.0 will end on Jan. 1, 2012.
Some of VIP 7.2's New Features
MultiTrace, a Real-Time, Cross-System Packet Trace:
VIP 7.2 makes it significantly easier to diagnose network problems in a z/OS sysplex. The MultiTrace feature—entirely unique to VIP—can perform simultaneous IP packet traces on multiple systems and TCPIP stacks, then merge the results into a single report.
That makes VIP 7.2 the best tool ever made for following the work of sysplex distributor as it routes traffic and balances workloads among a network of z/OS systems.
Forward Console Messages to VIP Alerts:
You can easily configure VIP 7.2 to generate an alert when a specified system console message is logged. VIP's new Rules-Based Exit (RBX) can alert you to any system, application, or network (VTAM and TCPIP) message.
User Interface Improvements:
- New System Overview tree structure provides easier navigation the system resources you need to see.
- New At-A-Glance screens monitor z/OS stacks and interfaces.
- Revamped screens for Local Applications (split into four separate screens) and HPR connections make it easier to find the fields and records that matter to you.
Enhanced Traceroute:
VIP 7.2's traceroute tool automatically probes multiple ports. That means you immediately see the routes for all five of the sockets involved in an Enterprise Extender connection.
Efficient Security Interface:
VIP 7.2 users can change RACF, ACF2, and TopSecret passwords from within the VIP user interface, which is especially useful when dealing with expired passwords.
History Data to SMF Records:
The new VIP SMF records have been designed from the ground up to provide maximum value for historical reporting. Data that is not useful from a reporting perspective has been removed. At the same time, the value of the existing data has been enhanced by several techniques:
- Current-activity counters are maintained as interval totals. For example, the number of connections to an application is recorded in the SMF record as a total of all observed values of the current connection count. If your agent is configured to sample TCP connections every 15 seconds, and SMF records are recorded every 15 minutes, this number will reflect the sum of 60 observations. The number of observations for the recording interval is also maintained in the SMF record, so that an average connection count for the interval can be easily calculated. This technique also allows multiple SMF records to be "rolled up" for long-term archives, and statistically meaningful averages can still be calculated across the longer intervals.
- High- and low-water marks (HWM and LWM) are kept for many activity counters across each SMF recording interval. The time offset of the observation within the recording interval is also kept for each HWM and LWM, allowing you to pinpoint within the range of a single sample interval (usually 5-15 seconds) when the value was observed.
- Buckets are maintained for utilization percentages. These buckets show exactly how many times during the recording interval the utilization was observed to be, for example, between 10% and 20%. Buckets accompany the high-water mark for utilization, and help to show whether a HWM was sustained, or only a momentary spike.
- Cumulative counters are stored as interval deltas. This eliminates the need for the reporting software to calculate a delta from successive records.
IPCP Plus / MVS
New Version 4.6a for MVS
Resources lists can now be defined, updated, deleted, and exported by the IPCPMNT batch program, not just online. Resource lists, contained in IPCPCDSs (command data sets), name groups of resources (files, e.g.) to be accessed by a single IPCP command.
You can now allocate control blocks for SVC99 allocations above the 16 Mg line.
Security Solution News
latest Update 03.12.2010
We offers an integrated suite of security software products that are designed to meet today's unprecedented security challenges. The products bring together formerly separate functions of security administration, access and authentication, reporting and analysis, and policy compliance. Each product can be used independently or together as an integrated solution.
New From Vanguard! Vanguard Configuration Manager™
Vanguard Integrity Professionals provides enterprise security software and services that solve complex security and regulatory compliance challenges for government agencies and Fortune 500 companies around the world. With solutions for Identity and Access Management, Audit and Compliance, Security Administration and Intrusion Detection, Vanguard automates processes necessary to identify and mitigate the risks customers face. Vanguard’s customers receive a rapid return on investment and are able to focus on other critical business needs thereby becoming more productive and more secure.
- Identity and Access Management Solutions
- Audit and Compliance Solutions
- Intrusion Management Solutions
Vanguard Administrator
- offers the highest levels of security administration to simplify and enhance security management functions on systems running RACF®. Administrator includes the widest range of administration, data mining and reporting tools available today.
The new release adds enhanced digital certificate management, strengthened user authentication, protection of LDAP client configurations, support for PCICC private key and expanded masking capabilities.
Vanguard Advisor
- provides the most comprehensive event detection, analysis and reporting capabilities for the mainframe environment. Advisor accesses log data and information from RACF to guide administrators or analysts in finding and fixing potential security problems.
Enhancements in the new version include expanded DB2 summary and detail reports and the ability to display full RACF commands when reporting events and violation details.
Vanguard SecurityCenter
- the first Windows-based graphical user interface for IBM's RACF and DB2 security administration offers the ideal solution for decentralized security administration. Security Center graphically presents hard-to-find security information, replaces dozens of native commands with easy point-and-click and drag-and-drop operations, and provides an easy, intuitive training environment.
The new version includes support for multiple RACF database management, password phrases, hard revokes, and dynamic caching of DB2 user authorization changes.
Vanguard Analyzer
- delivers comprehensive system integrity, verification and auditing solutions that include assessment, risk identification, threat analysis, and specific instructions on how to fix identified problems. Analyzer simplifies the audit process and provides an in-depth overview of current system status, identifies exposures in simple business risk language, and prioritizes findings for immediate action.
The new version adds support for duplicate module analysis to make it easier to research the validity of datasets, and increased filtering of audit findings resulting in more focused and meaningful reports.
Vanguard inCompliance
- delivers continuous auditing to verify system compliance with an organization's set security policies. inCompliance provides an instant overview of an organization's entire RACF environment, detailed views of any compliancy check, immediate identification of high-risk situations and potential compliancy violations, and recommends corrective actions where appropriate.
The new version includes baselines of data set profiles, easier compliance reporting and backend database support for DB2 UDB for Windows.
Vanguard Enforcer
- provides real-time intrusion protection, detection and management solutions for the mainframe that are proven to prevent human error and deliberate attacks. Enforcer protects critical data and other resources by ensuring that an organization's security and compliance standards, policies, rules and settings are in place and enforced.
The new version is EAL3+ certified and includes support for maximum-length static system symbols and an upgraded, easier to use ISPF user interface and administration guide.
New Features in M-Files 7.0
latest Update 03.12.2010
M-Files is a document management system that enables companies and organizations of all sizes in a variety of industries to make dramatic gains in efficiency and productivity by improving the way they organize and manage their business documents, information, and processes.
EXTENSIVE INTEGRATION WITH OUTLOOK
- Improved e-mail integration with "M-Files aware" folders in Microsoft Outlook supporting drag and drop.
- Automatic saving of e-mail messages with their metadata by means of Outlook rules and M-Files features.
- Automatic association of contact persons and customers with e-mail messages.
- An M-Files flag for indication of messages that have been saved to M-Files.
VIEW AND SEARCH ENHANCEMENTS
- Enhanced view listings providing quick display of related objects; easy review and editing of documents related to, e.g., an assignment or customer.
- New search results grouping options that make it faster and easier to locate documents and other objects (grouping of search results by object type and interactive shortcuts).
- Subordination of search criteria and extended filter properties.
- Specification of indirect searches and filter settings. Easier creation of indirect views.
- The user-specific Favorites view.
OTHER NEW FEATURES AND IMPROVEMENTS
- Support for Microsoft Office 2010 and AutoCAD 2011.
- Support for larger document vaults (over a million documents).
- Architectural enhancements to ensure high availability and resiliency necessary in demanding production environments.
- More convenient workflow assignments and shortcuts for changing the workflow state.
- Automatic specification of users on the basis of an object's metadata.
- Pre-filtering of value lists for properties.
- Preview of files in a metadata card.
- Definition of icons for value list items and additions to the icon selection.
- New language versions: Spanish, Russian, Italian, etc.
New Features of M-Files Version 7
Copy or follow the Link: http://www.blueseasoft.de/images/stories/newfeaturesm-files7.pdf