1. DATAMETRICS
S Y S T E M S C O R P O R A T I ON
The Performance Experts
;-'Y i
System Performance Soars at
United Airlines Across
Multipiatform Environment
»1 n the highly competitive airline business, one of the most important
measures of success is on-time flights - a statistic that has a dramatic and
immediate affect on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Anything an airline's
IT staff can do to keep its information systems
up and rmining m peak condition can
often contribute directly to the company's
ability to serve the flying public better and
protect its market share.
At United Airlines, the world's largest air
carrier (and one with an impressive record of
on-time performance), the IT staff knows the
import^ce of well-tuned systems. According
to Chuck Wessel, Computer Systems
Engineer, top-notch performance is critical to
operational success at United. "Our systems
take care of vital issues like flight operations,
crew management, and resources such as
seat availability. Obviously, finely timed computer systems will get the job
done more efficiently."
For example, without solid system performance, the flying public may
have to stand in line longer for seat assignments. Or they may experience
delays in pushing back from the gate ~ because, once all passengers are on
board, the airline's computer systems must make final weight and balance
calculations. And if the flight operations system is not performing well, it
may take longer to complete flight plans, which can also lead to delays.
Simply put, the performance engineers at United must make the most of
the company's computer systems to keep the business running most effectively
and competitively.
2. DATAMETRICS
T O R C H
V I E W P D I N T
Real-Time Performance Management Makes a Difference
That's where ViewPoint - and its real-time performance management tools ~
comes in. Says Wessel, "Several years ago, we realized we needed to look at information
more dynamically, especially when we were nearing an upgrade situation.
Clearly, you want to delay expenditures as long as possible without causing a
disruption to service. ViewPoint's real-time capability allows us to evaluate performance
and capacity data much faster, so we can make better judgments in tmiing. If
a machine is reaching its limits, we can fine tune it to ensure we are getting the best
performance."
With three massive Unisys 2200 boxes to manage, the technical team uses
Viewpoint's featrue-rich capabilities to gather exactly the information they need to
ensure peak performance. " I make heavy use of ViewPoint Expressions," explains
Wessel. "Early on, one of our biggest requirements was to analyze information
about the individual components of our application - which ones were using the
most resources."
He continues, " I used ViewPoint to produce some graphics and reports with all
the details we needed. Our management was very impressed ~ that one report sold
them on the value of ViewPoint. And there's been no looking back."
Today, Wessel and his team use ViewPoint for a host of performance activities.
For example, they find EventScope valuable to determine what transactions are
running and the amormt of system resources they are using. "On one of our largest
systems, we run 80 to ICQ transactions per second. With that type of volume,
EventScope lets me monitor transaction counts and pinpoint unusual spikes. At the
same time, I can see the approximate resources the system is using. Plus, I can
quickly determine response times for individual disks. It's a great tool to help me
spot trouble at a glance and head off performance problems."
Viewpoint Racks Up 70% Time Savings
One of the most impressive benefits of ViewPoint has been its impact on productivity.
Prior to bringing in the tool, Wessel had to gather and manage much of the
performance and capacity information manually - a laborious, potentially error-prone
process.
He recalls, "Before ViewPoint, we were manipulating a lot of data
through Excel spreadsheets and relying exclusively on printed reports. It
''Overall, I am 60 was a very time-consuming process. On one project alone - conducting
calculations on historical data against multiple variables - 1 was able to cut
my time by 85%! That's a significant savings."
By automating many of his manual processes, Wessel has f omid himself
much more efficient - and effective - in his job. "Overall, I am 60 to 70%
thanks to more productive thanks to ViewPoint," he says. "And because I'm not
spending as much time on manual efforts, I can do things that provide more
value to the company - and that use my time and talent better."
to 70% more
prodnctive
ViewPoint/
Powerful Cross-Platform Capabilities Eliminate Learning Curve
When a software solution allows a company to deliver better system performance
and dramatically boost productivity, it's a wimier by any measure. When it
also helps them keep pace with the future of computing, that solution becomes
virtually mdispensable.
3. In its move to manage distributed computing, United is finding that ViewPoint is
already there. "We are now using ViewPoint in a cross-platform environment - to
manage both our Unisys mainframes and our Unix client/server machines," Wessel
notes. "It easily handles both environments. Best of all, we
didn't have to learn how to use a new tool. With View-
Point, the portion that rtms on the PC is the same - no
matter what platform you're looking at."
Today, Wessel has ViewPoint installed on 10 of
United's Unix machines - with more to come in the future.
One of the main systems he monitors is a cargo application
for United's freight forwarders. Because it's a revenue
generating system, good performance is especially important.
Without ViewPoint on the job, managing the four
servers that run that application would be difficult, at best.
Not only has ViewPoint positioned United for its move
to a distributed architecture, the solution has proved highly
flexible in that enviromnent as well. "The other advantage
of ViewPoint is the various Unix platforms it is prepared to
handle. It's always a step ahead. When we started, we had
Unisys U6000/65, HP 9000/G50s, and IBM RS6000 Unix
boxes. And ViewPoint allows us to handle all of them
without re-learning anything. It cuts across the entire
environment."
As with other companies. United is finding that the
biggest problem with measuring performance m a Unix
environment is the sheer number of boxes you have to monitor. Simply collecting
data from so many servers is a real challenge. Until now. Says Wessel, "The latest
version of ViewPoint makes it even easier to monitor large quantities of Unix boxes.
As we add more machines to the mix, ViewPoint will help us keep pace."
Telcon and Torch Capabilities Make ViewPoint an Easy Choice
Now that United has achieved impressive success in its cross-platform performance
management efforts with ViewPoint, it's interesting to consider why they
chose the tool in the first place.
According to Wessel, it was an easy decision. "ViewPoint had two primary
advantages going for it. First, it allowed us to manage our extensive Telcon network.
We have 22 DCP40s (paired) running our network. Soon we'll upgrade to five
DCP600s. That's an important part of our system, and only ViewPoint allowed us to
monitor it."
The second reason for choosing ViewPoint was its built-in links to United's
historical capacity planning database. That database for the company's Unisys
machines is created and maintained by a product called Torch - another solution
from Datametrics.
"We've been using Torch for almost 10 years at United," says Wessel. "It allows
us to look at trends and resource use over critical periods. Every three months, that
information goes into a tactical plan that forecasts where we anticipate needs for the
next 18 months."
He adds, "Torch lets us watch things like CPU capacity. And it shows historic
trends for disk performance, which is a critical element of response time for om-
? i g I
4. computer systems. Also Torch's workload characterization capabilities have been
very beneficial. We can easily look at individual components within a large
application for comparison of growth. It gives us the granularity we need to
evaluate how our applications are affecting capacity usage."
By combining Torch with ViewPoint, United can now manipulate _
and display its historical capacity information graphically. And that's
been an unexpected bonus according to Wessel.
7t easily handles
What's in Store
For United, the futmre holds expansion. "We're gearing up to begin
monitoring any and all of our Unix servers to know where we are in
terms of capacity on them. The job of the future is to start managing
them all. As we grow our distributed environment, ViewPoint will
grow with us and deliver more capabilities for management."
He concludes, "We will be moving in the direction of NT servers in
the future, and we know that ViewPoint for Windows NT is waiting for
us when we get there." •
Datametrics Systems Corporation
both environments.
Founded in 1980 to help people improve the performance and capacity of
their computer systems, Datametrics develops and markets timesaving analysis
tools for performance ttining and capacity plaiming.
Our mission is to dramatically improve people's ability to manage computer
systems; to provide a work environment that recognizes and rewards individual
creativity and initiative; and to build long-term relationships with customers
based upon service, commitment, and trust.
We are committed to providing the highest quality solutions and services in
the data processing industry. To accomplish this, we know that we must listen
to our customers, be sensitive to their needs, and strive to provide superior
products and services.
Best of all, toe
didn't have to learn
hoiu to use a
nezo tool.'
R
i l or further information on any Datametrics service or product,
contact an account representative at
(800) 869-3282, (703) 385-7700, or 95-800-678-1094 (Mexico).
Visit Datametric's homepage on the Worldwide Web at
http ://www. datametrics .com
Datametrics solutions are available for mainframe, midrange, open
systems, and database platforms. Call today for a detailed listing of products offered.
DATAMETRICS
S Y S T E M S C O R P O R A T I ON
The Performance Experts
12150 East Monument Drive •Suite 300
Fairfax, VA 22033-4053 USA
Tei: 703-385-7700 • Fax: 703-385-7711
experts @ datametrics.com
http://www.datametrics.com
