From: MLONG@isucard.card.iastate.edu
Subject: Graphics Interface Kit /2
Organization: CARD
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 15:29:21 GMT

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NUMBER     292-509                                                              
DATE       920915                                                               
CATEGORY   WS00, CM00, CM20, GI00, GI10, WS20, AS10, AS60                       
TYPE       Programming                                                          
TITLE      FASTSERVICE FOR OS/2                                                 
ABSTRACT          Today, IBM announces FASTService (TM) Release 2 for OS/2 (R). 
           FASTService is an IBM licensed product that provides tools to enhance
           application availability by providing First Failure Data Capture     
           capabilities and problem notification for customer software developed
           under OS/2.  The technology used in FASTService provides the ability 
           to implement First Failure Data Capture functionality to help improve
           software reliability, availability, and serviceability.  FASTService 
           provides an easy-to-use, graphical user interface that conforms to   
           SystemView (TM) Integration Level 1.  FASTService provides problem   
           notification to a stand-alone OS/2 user and, if the OS/2 system is   
           part of a local area network (LAN) or host-connected to a System/370 
           (TM) machine, an alert flows to a server unit and NetView (R) to     
           provide enterprise-wide management with automated problem detection, 
           notification, and support.  See Marketing Announcement 392-204, dated
           September 15, 1992, for additional details.                          
                  Planned Availability Date: September 25, 1992.                
           5621-134   FASTService Release 2 for OS/2                            
            (TM) Trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.      
            (R) Registered trademark of International Business Machines         
              Corporation.                                                      
           IN BRIEF . . .                                                       
                  FASTService Release 2 provides the following functions for    
           customer-written applications in the OS/2 environment:               
           o   First Failure Data Capture with small, customized dumps, unique  
               failure identification, and virtually immediate reporting to     
               designated customer support personnel.                           
           o   FASTService start-up via parameter list and warm start to        
               establish operational environment.                               
           o   FASTService command level interface to provide dynamic,          
               operational control of probes and environment.                   
           o   FASTService tool utilizing Presentation Manager (R) to facilitate
               coding of probe statements.                                      
           o   FASTService probe enhancements to provide additional problem     
               identification and support.                                      
           o   FASTService alert enhancements to include vendor name and        
               automatic problem notification to a focal point in a             
               host-connected environment.                                      
           o   FASTService 16-bit, 32-bit and Ring-0 support.                   
           o   FASTService support for application message retrieval and        
               logging, error logging, and dump facility.                       
PRODNO       5621-134 FASTService Release 2 for OS/2                            
OVERVIEW   DESCRIPTION                                                          
                  Development, operation, and support problems in software      
           applications become increasingly complex as the interdependence and  
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           size of applications increase.  FASTService is designed to help      
           reduce the cost of developing, operating, and supporting software    
           applications and to help improve their serviceability and            
           availability in complex environments.  FASTService provides a        
           user-friendly interface to build the probe statements and provide    
           data structure information.  This is accomplished by the following   
           elements:                                                            
           o   Software probes, error detection statements implanted by the     
               programmer within critical junctures of the application, provide 
               real-time error detection and, enable customized data capture.   
               The software probes remain passive until triggered by an         
               unexpected condition.                                            
           o   These probe statements interface to problem source identifier    
               (PSI) code to collect, through a customized dump, the data       
               identified by the software probes as necessary to resolve the    
               problem.  To conserve resources, duplicate dump suppression is   
               enabled with unique symptom strings.  This symptom string of     
               standardized keywords is built to uniquely identify the failure  
               and allow immediate recognition of known problems.  In order to  
               conserve disk space, the PSI code will take up to eight dumps    
               then dump number 9 will overlay dump number 1.  The parameter can
               be set during FASTService installation from 8 to 99 dumps.       
                      In addition, a generic alert is created to notify a       
               user-designated location of the problem and appropriate          
               corrective actions.  The dump, symptom record, and generic alert 
               can be enabled or disabled online by function or by application. 
               The error can be displayed in a pop-up panel or routed to the    
               server in a local area network environment or to a host in a     
               connected environment.  NetView can recognize the data stream as 
               a generic alert and flow it to the focal point.                  
                  The technology available with FASTService allows proactive    
           problem recognition by providing rules and conventions for how and   
           where to detect problems, and for what data to capture when a problem
           occurs.  This technology provides developers with a consistent       
           approach to problem detection and documentation that is flexible and 
           easy to use in complex environments.                                 
                  FASTService for OS/2 is primarily designed to be used in a    
           System/370 host-connected environment, connected to a system using   
           FASTService for MVS and the FASTService for MVS Customer Services    
           Automated Service Interface (ASI).  When used with the FASTService   
           Customer Services ASI, FASTService can provide an enterprise-wide    
           system solution of automated problem detection, notification, and    
           support.                                                             
                  Refer to Marketing Announcement, 392-204, dated               
           September 15, 1992, for details on FASTService Customer Services for 
           MVS.                                                                 
           SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT                                                   
           This failure analysis and support technology can significantly       
           enhance applications systems management.  FASTService provides the   
           capability to flow an alert to a pop-up panel on a stand-alone system
           or flow the alert to the server and the host system in a connected   
           environment to report on application problems and availability.  The 
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           cause of the problem is displayed and recorded in a consistent format
           to maximize ease of use by the operator and applications support     
           functions.                                                           
           USER PRODUCTIVITY                                                    
           The programmer can utilize the OS/2 code to test applications.       
           FASTService provides a panel-driven tool under the Presentation      
           Manager to facilitate coding of the probe statements and defining    
           data structures.  The software probes are portable to other SAA (TM) 
           systems, such as MVS, without any modification.  The software probes 
           provide diagnostic data, unique failure identification, and          
           notification to assist the designated support personnel while helping
           to reduce the problem's impact on the end user.                      
           GROWTH ENABLING                                                      
           Reducing the interruptions faced by application programmers in       
           solving problems can allow these resources to be able to focus more  
           time on developing new business applications.  FASTService provide   
           the application developers with tools to implement the capture of    
           necessary problem data at the time of the error and communicate this 
           information without manual intervention.  The methodology to detect  
           errors provides a consistent serviceability approach for all         
           programmers to ease integration of customer applications in a        
           complex, distributed environment.  The result of this action can help
           improve productivity in supporting applications in a complex         
           environment.                                                         
           INVESTMENT PROTECTION                                                
           FASTService provides the application developer with a consistent     
           approach to define and handle application problems.  This technique  
           of capturing and reporting application problems can help reduce the  
           overall cost of application development and maintenance as the       
           customer implements this strategy in all business applications.  The 
           technology incorporated in these failure analysis and support        
           technology products provides the foundation for IBM's strategic      
           direction toward software problem detection and support.  IBM intends
           to migrate this technology into new and changed lines of code of     
           applicable IBM software products.  The technology will also be       
           available to software business partners and other vendors in order to
           pursue an enterprise-wide system solution of problem detection,      
           notification, and support.                                           
           BUSINESS SOLUTIONS                                                   
           Business solutions can be delivered by the Information Systems       
           organization in a timely manner with high quality.  The              
           implementation of software probes in customer and vendor software    
           provides a consistent means to detect unexpected events, capture     
           relevant problem information, and report the incident to the         
           respective support group for problem resolution, and can thereby help
           increase system availability and reliability.  FASTService provides  
           the tools to access First Failure Support/2 (FFST (TM)/2) to perform 
           systems testing, implementation, and maintenance of new application  
           functions.                                                           
                  FASTService conforms to SystemView Integration Level 1.       
           SystemView is IBM's systems management strategy for planning,        
           coordinating, and operating heterogeneous, enterprise-wide           
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           information systems.                                                 
           PRODUCT POSITIONING                                                  
           FASTService should be marketed to customers who develop or run their 
           own applications on OS/2 systems and desire improved availability,   
           higher serviceability, and better problem management in this         
           environment.  FASTService in the OS/2 environment provides automated 
           problem detection, customized dumps, error and message log entries,  
           and virtually immediate problem notification.  In a stand-alone OS/2 
           system, the error can be displayed on a pop-up panel.  In a connected
           environment, such as a LAN or host-connected system, the problem     
           notification can be passed to the server unit or host system for     
           focal point problem management.                                      
                  New software development projects are strategic candidates for
           FASTService.  Long-term benefits are attained by including software  
           probes during the design phase of an application.  The software      
           probes are easily inserted into new code and enforce a new discipline
           on the application programmer to consider errors, should-not-occur   
           conditions, and corrective actions.  The programmer is aware of the  
           functions to perform and the data that needs to be analyzed if a     
           failure does occur.  The software probes can ease development testing
           and help get the application into production sooner with fewer       
           problems escaping the test cycle.  Once the application has migrated 
           to production, the software probes should remain within the          
           application since they are passive until triggered.  All of the      
           problem management functions provided by FASTService are now         
           available to the customer should the application encounter a problem.
                  Critical applications, already in operation, that require high
           availability are candidates for FASTService.  Typically the majority 
           of application programmers are working on maintenance and support of 
           existing applications.  Immediate benefits can be realized by        
           implanting FASTService probe statements in error handling routines to
           identify existing critical applications, modules, or programs that   
           are experiencing availability problems.  Using FASTService can result
           in improved availability and serviceability of the application and   
           can allow the customer to redirect programming resources to develop  
           new business applications.  In addition, ongoing application         
           serviceability may be crucial if the customer experiences a turnover 
           of qualified personnel.                                              
                  Additional and significant benefits can be realized in        
           centralized, automated problem management when the application runs  
           in a distributed environment which is connected to a host using the  
           failure analysis and support technology tools for the MVS environment
           (FASTService for MVS and the FASTService for MVS Customer Services   
           ASI) and NetView.                                                    
                  It is recommended that programmers take the education provided
           through an attachment (Z125-8287) to the IBM Customer Agreement.     
           Option 1 of this attachment includes a tutorial, a workshop on the   
           FASTService technology, and implementation assistance to provide     
           education which is key to understanding the technology and using the 
           probes to achieve the full benefits of FASTService.                  
                  FASTService provides additional tools to support program      
           maintenance for applications that run in IBM's SAA environments.     
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           FASTService continues to migrate to AD/Cycle (TM) concepts by        
           providing a more productive way to support the application during the
           test, production, and maintenance phases of development.             
           STATEMENT OF GENERAL DIRECTION                                       
           The technology incorporated in the FASTService offering provides the 
           foundation for IBM's strategic direction towards automated software  
           problem detection and support.  The FASTService integration of the   
           technology conforms to the requirements of SAA and, for the OS/2 and 
           AS/400 (R) environments, provides an easy-to-use, graphical user     
           interface that conforms to SystemView Integration Level 1.           
           FASTService for MVS will conform to SystemView Integration Level 1 by
           first quarter 1993.  SystemView is IBM's systems management strategy 
           for planning, coordinating, and operating heterogeneous,             
           enterprise-wide information systems.  In addition, the concept has   
           been approved for integration into AD/Cycle tools to pursue an       
           enterprise-wide system solution of automated problem detection,      
           notification, and support.                                           
                  Today, ACF/VTAM (TM) Version 4 Release 1 for MVS/ESA (TM) (See
           Programming Announcement 292-483, dated September 15, 1992.),        
           ImagePlus (R) Release 1, OS/2 Database Manager Version 2, OS/2 LAN   
           Server Version 2, and NetView Performance Monitor Release 6 (See     
           Programming Announcement 292-494, dated September 15, 1992.)  have   
           incorporated the First Failure Support Technology (TM) in their      
           products.                                                            
                  IBM intends to migrate this technology into new and changed   
           code of applicable IBM software products.  Each IBM product will     
           announce incorporation of this technology, as the migration          
           progresses.  It is IBM's intent to make the technology available to  
           our software business partners and to pursue a total system solution 
           of automated problem detection, notification and support.            
                  FASTService is not required to enable the technology in IBM   
           products; however, the generic alert support in conjunction with the 
           FASTService Customer Services for MVS Automated Service Interface    
           (See Marketing Announcements 390-114, dated August 21, 1990; and     
           391-030, dated March 26, 1991) enables automated software support at 
           the customer location.                                               
CUSTINFO   EDUCATION SUPPORT                                                    
                  Education on this new technology, especially for the user in  
           the stand-alone environment, is recommended since use of the product 
           software according to traditional techniques may not provide results 
           that meet expectations.  Online help is available with the           
           FASTService for OS/2 product.  In addition, education, consisting of 
           a tutorial and a workshop, is available for a fee by ordering        
           FASTService Customer Services through the FASTService attachment     
           (Z125-8287) by selecting one of the following options:               
           o   Option 1 -- $3,000                                               
               On-Site Education and Implementation Workshop                    
                (per session of up to 20 students)                              
           o   Option 2 -- $900 per student                                     
               Education and Implementation Workshop at an IBM facility.        
                  This education provides information on the FASTService        
           technology and provides instruction on utilizing the FASTService     
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           tools to construct probe statements and data definitions.  Students  
           are encouraged to bring appropriate nonconfidential and              
           nonproprietary sample code to the workshop for implementation of the 
           FASTService technology.  Customers with FASTService for any operating
           environment should send their programmers to this class; the         
           education is the same for all FASTService products.  (See Marketing  
           Announcement 392-204, dated September 15, 1992.).                    
TECHINFO   TECHNICAL INFORMATION                                                
           SPECIFIED OPERATING ENVIRONMENT                                      
           MACHINE REQUIREMENTS:  FASTService supports application software that
           runs on all models of the IBM OS/2 hardware environment.  Refer to   
           the media features to determine hardware requirements for            
           installation and maintenance media.  FASTService requires minimum    
           additional system resources beyond those required for the operating  
           system and its programs of 1MB for virtual storage and 1MB for       
           auxiliary storage.                                                   
                  Virtual storage is required for the FASTService program and   
           working storage.  Auxiliary file storage is required for a load      
           library, a macro library, command lists, dump datasets, and panel    
           libraries.  Additional resources are necessary for user tables,      
           application program source files, and dump data sets.  Refer to the  
           features section to determine the peripheral device requirements.    
           PROGRAMMING REQUIREMENTS:  FASTService requires the OS/2 (OS/2       
           Version 1 Release 3 or any subsequent release) operating system      
           unless otherwise stated.                                             
                  FASTService for OS/2 supports the following SAA languages:    
           o   C                                                                
           o   COBOL                                                            
           o   FORTRAN.                                                         
           PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS:  FASTService and its prerequisite First  
           Failure Support Technology/2 (TM) (FFST/2 (TM)), available for the   
           OS/2 Version 1 Release 3 operating system or higher and shipped with 
           the FASTService for OS/2 product, can provide significant performance
           improvements compared to the current process of identifying failures 
           and obtaining the required documentation for problem resolution:     
           o   The probe statements are built using panel-driven interfaces.    
               The probe statement interfaces to the FFST/2 code (the problem   
               source identifier code) through a call statement.                
           o   FASTService for OS/2 Release 2 provides 32-bit addressing        
               support.                                                         
           PLANNING INFORMATION                                                 
           SECURITY, AUDITABILITY AND CONTROL                                   
                  The announced FASTService for OS/2 uses the security and      
           auditability features of the OS/2 software.                          
                  User management is responsible for evaluation, selection, and 
           implementation of security features, administrative procedures, and  
           appropriate controls in application systems and communication        
           facilities.                                                          
ORDERING   ORDERING INFORMATION                                                 
           NEW LICENSEES                                                        
           Orders for new licenses will be accepted now.  Unless a later date is
           specified, orders entered prior to September 25, 1992, will be       
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           assigned an AAS schedule date of one week following general          
           availability.  Shipment of backlogged orders will commence on the    
           availability date.  Orders entered after the planned availability    
           date will be scheduled for shipment in AAS on the Friday following   
           the week of order entry or as soon thereafter as supply permits.     
                  New users of FASTService for OS/2 should specify:             
                    TYPE           MODEL                                        
                    5621           134                                          
           BASIC LICENSE:  To order a basic license specify the program number  
           and feature number 9001 for asset registration.  Specify feature     
           number 1621 for a one-time charge.  Specify the feature number of the
           desired distribution medium shown below.                             
           BASIC MACHINE-READABLE MATERIAL:  To order, select the feature number
           of the desired distribution medium:                                  
           FEATURE                                                              
           NUMBER                  MEDIUM                                       
           5838                    5.25-inch HD diskette                        
           5848                    3.5-inch HD diskette                         
                  To suppress initial shipment of machine-readable materials,   
           for serial number assignment only, use initial order suppress feature
           number 3444.                                                         
           CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS:  Select the appropriate feature number(s) to  
           customize your order to specify the delivery options desired.  These 
           features can be specified on the initial or MES orders.              
                  Example:  If publications are not desired for the initial     
           order, and for future updates, specify feature numbers 3470 to ship  
           media only, and 3480 to ship media updates only.  In the future if   
           publication updates were required, order an MES to remove feature    
           number 3480, and the publications will ship with the next release for
           the program.                                                         
                  INITIAL SHIPMENTS                                             
           FEATURE                                                              
           NUMBER      DESCRIPTION                                              
           3444        Serial Number Only (suppresses shipment of               
                        media and documentation)                                
           3470        Ship Media Only (suppresses initial shipment             
                        of documentation)                                       
           3471        Ship Documentation Only (suppresses initial              
                        shipment of media)                                      
           UPDATE SHIPMENTS                                                     
           FEATURE                                                              
           NUMBER      DESCRIPTION                                              
           3480        Ship Media Updates Only (suppresses update               
                        shipment of documentation)                              
           3481        Ship Documentation Only (suppresses update               
                        shipment of media)                                      
           3482        Suppress Updates (suppresses update                      
                        shipment of media and documentation)                    
           UNLICENSED DOCUMENTATION:  A memo, a program directory, and one copy 
           of the publication, LICENSED PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS (GC38-7056) are  
           supplied automatically with the basic machine-readable material.     
                  The optional publication FASTSERVICE GENERAL INFORMATION      
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           MANUAL (GC38-7030) will be available on September 25, 1992, at       
           product availability.                                                
                  Copies of unlicensed publications will be available for a fee 
           on September 25, 1992, at product availability.  These copies may be 
           ordered from your IBM marketing representative, through the System   
           Library Subscription Service (SLSS).                                 
           LICENSED DOCUMENTATION:  The licensed material listed below will be  
           available from IBM by September 25, 1992.                            
                  If you select the education option available through the      
           Attachment to the ICA (Z125-8287), the customer will receive 20      
           copies of these publications as part of the education.  To order     
           additional copies, contact an IBM marketing representative.          
           o   FASTService for OS/2 User's Guide (LC33-1015)                    
           o   FASTService for OS/2 Probe Definition Tool User's Guide          
               (LC33-1019)*.                                                    
           *  Available February 15, 1993.                                      
                  Subsequent updates (technical newsletters or revisions between
           releases) to the publications shipped with the product will be       
           distributed to the user of record for as long as a license for this  
           software remains in effect.  A separate publication order or         
           subscription is not needed.                                          
           TERMS AND CONDITIONS                                                 
           LICENSING:  The program in this announcement is licensed under the   
           terms of the IBM Customer Agreement.                                 
           DESIGNATED MACHINE IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED:  No.                     
           VARIABLE CHARGES APPLY:  No.                                         
           INSTALLATION LICENSE OR LOCATION LICENSE APPLIES:  No.  A separate   
           license is required for each machine on which the licensed program   
           materials will be used.                                              
           EDUCATIONAL ALLOWANCE:  A 15% educational allowance is applicable    
           toward eligible license charges and is available to qualifying       
           institutions in accordance with the Educational Allowance Attachment.
           The educational allowance may not be added to any other discount or  
           allowance.                                                           
           VOLUME DISCOUNT:  Volume discounting is available under the IBM      
           Customer Agreement and the revised Volume Discount Exhibit -- IBM    
           Selected Application Programs attachment (Z125-8294).  FASTService   
           for OS/2 (5621-134) is in a new Category F.                          
                  The discount applies for licenses obtained under the one-time 
           charge option.                                                       
           WARRANTED:  Yes.                                                     
           LICENSED PROGRAM MATERIALS AVAILABILITY:  Restricted Materials -- No.
           This licensed program will be available without source licensed      
           program materials.  It will be available in object code.             
           TESTING PERIOD:  None.                                               
           PROGRAM SERVICES:  Central Service, including the IBM Support Center,
           will be available until discontinued by IBM upon six months' written 
           notice.                                                              
           CHARGES                                                              
                  One-Time Charge:  $40                                         
           ONE-TIME CHARGE:  Customers who pay a one-time charge for a licensed 
           program receive enhancements and future releases, if any, at no      
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           additional charge.  Significant new function may be offered as an    
           optional feature and charged for separately.  If a replacement       
           program is announced and the customer elects to license the          
           replacement program for a one-time charge and replace the prior      
           program, an upgrade charge may apply.                                
                                                                                
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