April 9, 2007

z/OS Version 1.7 To Be Installed On Production Systems

As first announced in Titan News on August 31, 2006, the NIH Data Center will be upgrading the mainframe operating system to version 1.7 of z/OS. We have been successfully running the new operating system on our two test systems and are about ready to move it into production. If you have not already done so, you should check with the vendor of any mainframe software that you own to verify that it runs properly under z/OS version 1.7.

In order to minimize the risk of interruptions to production work, we will be implementing the new operating system on two different Sundays. On Sunday, April 22, 2007, we will install z/OS version 1.7 on production system 9 (which runs DB2). We have scheduled a complete service outage of approximately 6 hours from 12:01 am to 6:00 am on that Sunday. DB2 will be unavailable for an additional 3 hours until 9:00 am on April 22nd. See DB2 outage below for more information.

On Sunday, May 6, 2007, we have scheduled a second complete service outage of approximately 6 hours from 12:01 am to 6:00 am when we will install z/OS version 1.7 on production system 4 (which runs NIHTSO).

We anticipate that these extended periods of time will allow us to resolve any unexpected issues that may arise. Customers planning major changes would be well advised to avoid these dates. If it becomes necessary to postpone this date, we will distribute that information via Titan News.

DB2 outage

On Sunday, April 22, 2007, after we install the new operating system on the mainframe's system 9, we will perform maintenance on all DB2 subsystems. We have scheduled 6:00 am to 9:00 am for the DB2 maintenance. All DB2 subsystems, Shadow Direct, Shadow Web Service, Oracle Net, and Oracle Transparent Gateway systems on System 9 will be unavailable on Sunday, April 22, 2007 from 12:01 am until 9:00 am.

Need help or have questions?

If you need help or have any questions regarding the move to the new operating system, please contact the NIH Help Desk at 301-496-HELP (301-496-4357), 866-319-4357 (toll free), or 301-496-8294 (TTY).