Northern California Computer Measurement Group Meeting

October, 2007
by Cathy Nolan

About the Author

AGENDA

8:00 - 9:00

Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 - 10:30

AIX Performance Tuning
Speaker: Jaqui Lynch, Mainline Information Systems

This presentation will introduce the systems administrator to some of the concepts and tools for monitoring and managing performance on UNIX systems. Jaqui will also provide some guidelines and best practices for diagnosing and fixing performance problems in that environment.

10:45 - 12:15

Planning for Virtualization
Speaker: Jaqui Lynch, Mainline Information Systems

Virtualization is a hot topic today - virtually every vendor is talking about how virtualization can optimize existing resources and improve space and power utilization. In this session, learn what virtualization is in the midrange environment and how that works in the System p servers. Ms. Lynch will discuss some of the issues around server consolidation using virtualization and will also highlight a few traps for young players.

12:15 - 1:00

NCCMG Business Meeting/Elections/Lunch sponsored by

1:00 - 2:00

Evolution of a Scalability Solution for a Simulation Application
Speaker: John Reiter, Risk Management Solutions

Catastrophe modeling, which assists insurance industry clients with measuring and managing financial risk due to catastrophic events, is designed so that it can scale out to run financial analyses on multiple machines and also multiple processors on a single machine. We would like to share a simple and effective approach to both scale up and scale out in this environment. This scaling solution has evolved over many years. We will discuss past designs, the current approach including its strengths and weaknesses, and also the improvements we plan to make over the next few years.

2:15 - 3:15

Data Encryption, the Last Line of Defense
Speaker: Jim Kaplan, Sun Microsystems

Given that a single lost tape cartridge can result in millions of dollars of expense and irreparable damage to company brand, it is becoming mandatory that a system-wide data security system be employed. It is not enough to just encrypt the data. There also needs to be a key management system that is safe and simple to deploy. If you fall into one of the following categories, this presentation should provide essential information:

I'm interested in gathering basic information about encryption - what it is, how it works, what my business can gain.

I'm planning to implement a solution in the next 6-12 months and need more specific information to be able to make an educated decision.

I need to implement a solution - like now. But I have concerns. How secure will my data be when it is encrypted, and how much more complex will data management become? How will this affect my plans for Disaster Recovery? What does the future of encryption hold?

Please pre-register by contacting Keith McAndrew at (916) 715-8352 or by Friday November 2, 2007. Registration is FREE compliments of Mainline Information Systems.

Call for speakers in 2008. If you are interested in speaking, call Cathy Nolan at (925) 675-5308 or (925) 890-8390.

If you have not attended a meeting within the last two years, you will be deleted from the mailing list. To remain on the mailing list, either attend one meeting or email by November 1, 2008.

Reminders! 2008 REGIONAL NCCMG MEETINGS:
February 5
May 6
August 5
November 4

Northern California Computer Measurement Group Meeting

Sponsored by Mainline Information Systems