TSM 5.3 Administration

Here are a couple of comments on what seems to work reasonably in the new
TSM Administration environment, based on my initial experience:

1. Install the ISC/Admin Center on a separate machine from the TSM server
machine. I am hoping for Admin Center maintenance to fix some of the
errors and usability aspects, such as:

        - To work with Administrators, you have to click on "Storage
Devices" - not a very intuitive approach.

        - To create a script, the instructions tell you to "Enter the
script name as a fully qualified directory path." - this does not make
sense.

        - The resource consumption (CPU and memory) warrants a separate
machine

        - My new TSM installation is on AIX 5.3 (it is what now ships
preloaded) - I therefore installed the ISC/AC on a Windows virtual
machine.

2. To help with general admin, get as large a screen as possible (e.g.
1280x1024) otherwise you end up scrolling all the time. If the screen is
smaller, hide the tree on the left hand side, but you still end up
scrolling a lot.

3. Print the "cheat sheets" from the Web and have them handy:

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=663&context=SSGSG7&q1=TSMADMINCENTER&uid=swg21193101&loc=en_US&cs=utf-8&lang=en

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=663&context=SSGSG7&q1=TSMADMINCENTER&uid=swg21193327&loc=en_US&cs=utf-8&lang=en

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=663&context=SSGSG7&q1=TSMADMINCENTER&uid=swg21193326&loc=en_US&cs=utf-8&lang=en

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=663&context=SSGSG7&q1=TSMADMINCENTER&uid=swg21193324&loc=en_US&cs=utf-8&lang=en

I would have liked it if the developers had the navigation tree on the
left side of the Admin Center resemble the tree on the Webadmin (which
resembled the tree on the Windows saclient and therefore made navigation
easy). But, given the ISC/AC non-intuitive tree, the cheat sheets are
great!

4. Install the Windows Command Line Admin on your workstation (assuming
you use Windows as platform to do your admin). Set up two shortcuts to
dsmadmc, one with -consolemode on the program invocation. Customize the
window size to make it large (on my 1280x1024 screen I use a layout of
Screen Buffer Width 120, Height 5000, Window Size Width 120, Height 70). I
start the console so that I can see real-time what's happening in TSM
since the Webadmin mini-console does not exist in the Admin Center. I also
start the Windows command line admin as the command line in the Admin
Center sometimes does some strange formatting (e.g. q option output is
nicely formatted on the CLI and miserable to read on the Admin Center; q
stat output is aligned on the : on the CLI and all over the place on the
AC).

5. Have the pdf for the Admin Reference book open, especially if you are
implementing a new server. It's a nice quick reference for the syntax of
all the TSM commands that you are now forced to issue to get a TSM server
into production.

6. Set up more scripts to help operations staff with DRM operations. DRM
setup and operations (DRM Status, Move DRMEDIA) capability does not exist
in the Admin Center.


Lastly, an editorial comment to the development folks - when the Webadmin
became available, the saclient was functionally stabilized allowing Admin
and Operations staff to gradually adopt the Webadmin - I wish a similar
approach had been taken in TSM 5.3 as the Admin Center is a great start,
but currently is a functional subset of the Webadmin.

Joerg Pohlmann
604-535-0452


Joerg Pohlmann
604-535-0452