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Large UK Entertainment Distributor Turns to CCSS’s QSystem Monitor for MIMIX Monitoring

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QSystem Monitor’s new MONCHKMXS command allows users to create and manage up to 46 different dedicated MIMIX monitors. 

 

CCSS, developer of Power Systems management solutions, is now offering its QSystem Monitor (QSM) customers the benefits of pro-active Vision MIMIX monitoring. Early adopters of the new MIMIX monitors include Cinram Logistics UK, Ltd., which operates an important MIMIX-based replication environment between two distribution centers in the UK, each housing a Model i5/520. 

Cinram Logistics is Europe’s largest distributor of entertainment media, with access to tens of thousands of titles. The company partners leading content owners, helping them to streamline their supply chain operations and providing them with competitive advantage through next-day delivery of all lines to retail outlets across the whole of the UK. 

QSystem Monitor’s new MONCHKMXS command allows users to create and manage up to 46 different dedicated MIMIX monitors according to the specific needs of their replication environment. Monitoring the status of various metrics in the MIMIX High Availability (HA) product, the command focuses on four key components: Replication Status, Command Status, Monitor Status and Audit Status. Users can attach thresholds to each component together with descriptions that allow for immediate and time-saving problem identification. Status conditions can include: active, disabled, warning, switching, stopped, partial, unknown and error. This real-time information can be viewed via QSystem Monitor’s online monitor and offers the advantages of the multiple QSM alert mechanisms: audio, visual and remote notification. 

Gary Makel, technical specialist, midrange, for Cinram Logistics, explains why this type of pro-active monitoring is so essential in a MIMIX environment: “Should the live system fail whilst MIMIX is showing an error, it could have a serious impact on the running of the HA system. For example, if there are problems with the remote journal links, it is vital that these errors are corrected immediately. Otherwise journal entries will not replicate to the HA machine.” For Cinram, one of the primary benefits of QSM’s MIMIX Monitors is that the user no longer needs to manually log into the MIMIX software at regular points during the day to check if there are any problems. With QSM, any issues are identified immediately via the online console and users have full visibility of the MIMIX environment without accessing the software. 

QSystem Monitor customers using the new MIMIX monitoring command will benefit from the ability to build a tailored monitoring environment to meet the unique demands of their individual MIMIX environments. Dedicated monitors can easily be created and managed for Data Group Status; DB Source Status; Object Source and Target Status; Object Send, Retrieve and Apply Status; Database Send, Reader and Apply Status; Connector Send Status and Audit Compliance Status, to name but a few. 

Of the four key MIMIX components that Cinram monitors, those that fall into the audit and replication categories are among the most important. For example, problems that occur within the Audit component require immediate investigation as these provide information relating to the MIMIX audits that run over each of the data groups. The group of monitors that act within the replication category are also critical as these have the potential to impact the replication process if problems are left unattended. Cinram cites their top four monitors under this category as Group Status, Remote Journal Link Status (whereby if the links between these two machines are down, nothing will be replicated between the live and HA machines), Database Apply Thresholds (which provides vital information on the amount of journal entries being applied to the HA system and if it has exceeded its threshold, or not – in this case 100k journal entries), and Objects in Error. 

The Group Status monitor, used to show the overall status of the group, typifies the efficiency that can be achieved when utilizing the monitors. Makel says, “This is probably one of the most important checks we do. With the new MIMIX monitoring functionality, we can now concentrate on those data groups that are showing an error rather than having to check them all. As these monitors are constantly available on our central console, we can react to potential problems quicker than when we first implemented the MIMIX software. The new CCSS monitors have provided us with additional value to the MIMIX solution.” 

For more information on QSystem Monitor, please visit: http://www.ccssltd.com/products/qsystem-monitor/ 

About Cinram

Cinram International Inc is the world’s largest optical disc manufacturer, with an annual production capacity of 2.1 billion DVDs and 800 million CDs. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Cinram employs 17,000 staff at 25 major facilities across North America and Europe which feature 15 million square feet of manufacturing, warehousing and distribution space. Founded in 1969, Cinram offers value-added services to manage all aspects of its clients’ supply chains from product origination to retail. The group warehouses more than 340,000 SKUs for customers worldwide. 

About CCSS

CCSS develops, supports and markets IBM i (on Power Systems & System i servers) performance monitoring and reporting, message management and remote management solutions. An Advanced IBM Business Partner, CCSS develops powerful solutions to support some of the world’s most demanding IBM i environments across many industries including insurance, banking, pharmaceutical and manufacturing. Existing customers that rely on CCSS’s feature-rich solutions include leading organizations such as Volvo, Mattel, Newell-Rubbermaid, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Siemens Healthcare, RWE npower and Waterstone’s. CCSS is headquartered in Gillingham, Kent, UK with key regional headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA and Bonn, Germany together with a global agent network spanning Austria, Portugal, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. For more information, visit www.ccssltd.com.

CCSS .

CCSS develops, supports and markets IBM i (on Power Systems and System i servers) performance monitoring and reporting, message management and remote management solutions. An Advanced IBM Business Partner, CCSS develops powerful solutions to support some of the world’s most demanding IBM i environments across many industries including insurance, banking, pharmaceutical and manufacturing. Existing customers that rely on CCSS’s feature-rich solutions include leading organizations such as Volvo, Mattel, Newell-Rubbermaid, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Siemens Healthcare. 

CCSS is headquartered in Gillingham, Kent, UK with key regional headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA and Bonn, Germany together with a global agent network spanning Austria, Portugal, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden.

 

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