2021. What an interesting year. With the world turned upside down by a pandemic that seemingly had its sights set on...
NonStop Workload Management for a New Generation
Insider Technologies
AdrianJust five short months ago Insider Technologies announced the release of MultiBatch 10, which is now available for ordering. MultiBatch is the workload automation manager designed specifically for HPE NonStop. It delivers best-in-class functionality for the demanding workload requirements of mission-critical systems by combining high-performance and parallel processing with enhanced operational control across your HPE NonStop environment from a single interface.
MultiBatch 10 includes significant functional enhancements, including:
- Improved support for OSS processes. Set up OSS jobs just as easily as it has always been for Guardian
- Support for On Demand Jobs. Model jobs can be configured and then cloned by end users to provide controlled and repeatable background processing
- Removal of limitations. Any one schedule now can comprise up to 2,500 jobs
Insider Technologies is totally committed to continuous development. We maintain a multi-year roadmap which we continue to validate with our customers.
Fundamentally, modernization is at the core of the MultiBatch roadmap.
It’s a well-known fact that NonStop skills are being lost to the industry as TACL programmers and Guardian operators retire from the NonStop community. The NonStop Under Forties program goes some way to addressing this skills shortage, but organizations employing NonStop are having to face the reality that their new cohorts of developers, engineers and operators will not be classically trained in NonStop.
And yet NonStop remains a long-term investment and a mission critical part of their operating environment.
Today, Insider Technologies is pleased to announce a significant investment in the MultiBatch front end, bringing workflow scheduling to the next generation of NonStop users.
Within MultiBatch there is essentially two aspects of functionality: the administrative set-up and the operational control.
Administrative set-up covers aspects such as the following:
- User profile set-up
- Configuring jobs
- Set-up of calendars and timed processing
- Preparation of schedules and dependencies
By their nature these are tasks that are undertaken infrequently or at specific controlled times. Changes are specifying what and how we run processes rather than monitoring a running environment.
Operational control is more dynamic. It needs to be highly visual and is likely to be a focus 24/7 to cover:
- Dynamic real time monitoring showing progress and identifying issues
- Processing status and overview
- Stopping, starting/restarting processes
- Error identification and interrogation
In an operational environment, organizations are likely to have staff covering multiple applications across different platforms. The operational interface needs to be accessible to those who may not have previous experience of HPE NonStop.
Following extensive investigations with existing users and those considering MultiBatch, it became apparent that the clearest path to take would be to develop two separate interfaces to deal with the unique challenges that are presented to administrators and operators.
The current Beta version of MultiBatch 10.1 includes:
- an Admin GUI from a slimmed down and rationalized version what was originally the all-encompassing MultiBatch GUI
- an Ops GUI providing a new simplified and intuitive interface removing the need for the command line
The Admin GUI provides a simple to navigate environment where a tree structure shows all your schedules and jobs. A set up once and re-use strategy is employed, for example, attributes such as Defines, Assigns and Environment Variables are configured in classes and these can then be assigned to multiple processes.
The Ops GUI brings a whole new experience to operators managing MultiBatch on the NonStop. It has been specifically tailored for users who have less experience of traditional NonStop languages and operating methods.
At the heart of the Ops GUI are 4 core principles:
- A well designed interface
- Visual elements and interaction points that are easy to use
- Simple but powerful navigation
- A GUI that empowers its users and remove any barriers to accessing functionality
The Ops GUI can show three windows, from left to right:
- Selection of the schedule
- Jobs Grouped By Status
- Job Flow
The Status window provides a dynamic view of progress providing operators with the means to intervene where necessary. A selection here also highlights the corresponding job in the Job Flow window.
Simple color coding allows easy identification of running and failed processing.
The view is updated dynamically. The GUI polls the NonStop back-end where a dedicated server queries the cached MultiBatch job status details.
Rolling the cursor over any element provides statistics and current status further to this a right click menu provides a set of possible actions against a process.
The GUI can display both small and very large schedules. Zoom and search facilities allow easy navigation and problem resolution.
The view below shows the same schedule displayed with just the job flow in horizontal view mode. A right click menu shows actions than can be taken on the failed job.
MultiBatch remains a critical part of the world’s most demanding companies employing HPE NonStop. Insider Technologies will be showcasing MultiBatch 10 and the associated GUIs at this year’s major HPE events including e-BITUG, VNUG and TBC.
If you would like to join the MultiBatch 10.1 Beta Program, please contact us.
David Hall | Product Owner
david.hall@insidertech.co.uk
+44 (0) 161 876 6606
http://insidertech.co.uk