.ps 58 .lm 10 .rm 70 .sp 1 .setdark .nnm .ap .literal December 1st, 1983 ** * ** **** * **** ***** * ***** ****** * ****** ****** * ****** *** *** *** ***** ******* .end literal .la120 8 .literal ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL .end literal .la120 6 .s 3 .i 10 ^&VAX Planning Committee\& .la120 8 .s .i 40 VOLUME 1 .la120 .literal ____________________________________________________________ .end literal .la120 5 .i 2 ^&VAX OPERATOR AND SYSTEM .i 1 MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTIONS\& .la120 .literal ____________________________________________________________ .end literal .s -8 .literal ____________________________________________________________ Collins Transmission Systems Division Rockwell International P.O. Box 10462 Dallas, Texas 75207 ____________________________________________________________ .end literal .pg .literal First Printing: December 1st, 1983 .end literal .X Preface .p 0 The information in this document is subject to change without notice. Rockwell International reserves the right to make enhancements to its products which may affect the accuracy of this document. Although every attempt has been made to assure accuracy, Rockwell International assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. The software described in this document is furnished under a license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. No responsibility is assumed for the use or reliability of software on equipment that is not supplied by Rockwell International. .s 3 .c 70 Copyright#(c)#1983 Rockwell International .c 70 All Rights Reserved. .s 3 .c 70 Printed in U.S.A. .s 3 The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation: .s .lm +10 .literal DEC VAX VMS PDP RSX .end literal .lm -10 .pg # .s 8 .c 70 ^&PREFACE\& .s 3 ^&MANUAL OBJECTIVES\& This manual describes the VAX system manager and operator jobs. It also lays the groundwork for the procedures that will be necessary to run the VAX system. These procedures are divided between those done by the system manager and those done by the system operator. This intent of this manual is not have all the answers for what the operational procedures should be. Rather, it should serve as the basis for discussion of what procedures are necessary and how they should be partitioned between the system manager and system operator. .s 2 ^&INTENDED AUDIENCE\& This manual is for members of the VAX project team charged with doing the initial groundwork prior to the arrival of the Engineering VAX system. .s 2 ^&STRUCTURE OF THIS DOCUMENT\& This document is broken into two chapters. The first covers the VAX operator, his responsibilities and his duties. The second covers the VAX system manager. .nm .ch VAX OPERATOR .t ##########VAX OPERATOR .lm 10 .rm 70 .ap The VAX operator plays a key role in running a VAX system. He is the one that keeps the system running smoothly, answers user's questions and does a lot of the mechanics of keeping the system running. The following list identifies the operator's major responsibilities: .ls .le; Backups The operator sees to it that backups are successfully done on a regular basis. He is the one that recovers lost or accidentally deleted files for the users. Normally, incremental backups are done during the week and complete system backups on Fridays. Once a month, the complete system backup is placed into a safe to guard against accidental loss due to Mother Nature. After one year, these archive tapes are moved to the normal tape storage area and are replaced with a new complete system backup. The incremental tapes are recycled each week. The complete system backup tapes are recycled once a month. The complete archival tapes are cycled out once a year. This procedure minimizes the loss due to disk failures and/or human error. The critical part of all this is that the backups have verified integrity. Thus, the operator, by doing these backups, takes on the principle role in assuring the recoverability of the user's data. .le; Mount disks and tapes The operator must mount and dismount user's tapes and disks. These tapes and disks are normally "privately" owned by the user and have information on them that should not or need not be kept on line. .le; Keep line printers in paper .le; Manage batch/print queues VAX/VMS can have several batch and/or print queues. The operator must keep a watch over these queues to assure their normal operation. He must also intercede whenever necessary to keep these queues running smoothly. For example, it might be necessary or desirable to stop a batch queue whenever the system is busy with interactive users. The batch queue could then be resumed later when some of the activity had subsided. As another example, a line printer could break during the middle of a job. Then operator would have to requeue all the jobs destined for the printer to another printer and take then printer out of service. .le; General operation of system utilities The operator should know how to monitor the system to check on things like processor load, memory utilization, I/O rate and what not. He should also be able to adjust the system to take these things into account. He should also know enough to answer user questions like, "How do I edit my file?" and "How do I run my program?". .le; Preliminary hardware diagnostics The operator should be able to make some initial diagnosis for hardware problems. In one case, a user calls up and complains that his terminal isn't working or that his program is taking too long to run. In another case, the disk or tape drive might not be working properly. The operator should be able to check the normal things (is it plugged in, is it turned on, is the fuse blown, is the disk spun up, etc.). .le; Keep computer room, tapes, materials organized One of the key ingredients in a successful computer system is organization. Without it, life will be nothing but chaos. With it, the computer operation will run much more smoothly. .le; Maintainance contracts All hardware and software eventually break. Whether this is a law of nature or just a paraphrase of Murphy's Law, I do not know. However, when something does break, it will have to be fixed. This is normally done thru maintainance contracts. It is important that these contracts be kept up to date so that one, we have a way to fix the problem, and two, we can keep to hardware and software up to date as changes are made to the products. The operator should keep track of these contracts and keep the system manager appraised of their status. In this manner, the contracts can be reviewed and renewed as needed. .els .ch VAX SYSTEM MANAGER .t ##########VAX SYSTEM MANAGER .lm 10 .rm 70 .ap A good system manager is the corner stone for keeping a computer system up and running. In essence, if there is a problem with the system, he "knows" the answer. The following list summarizes the system manager's responsibilities: .ls .le; Responsible for entire system The system manager is responsible for the entire computer system. Think about that for a moment. If the system is down, then the users have lost the service of the system. That also means that these users are costing the company money by not being able to do their job. Thus, the system manager must take all necessary steps to insure that the hardware and software function properly and that the system is up as much as possible. .le; Guru for all software The system manager knows everything about all the software on the system. This includes the operating system as well as the application programs. Thus, if something doesn't work for a user, the system manager should be able to either fix it and make it work or show the user how to get around the problem. .le; Keep software up to date All software has bugs. These bugs are fixed as they are discovered. Software purchased from vendors then have updates sent out to their customers. The system manager must install this updated software and test it to make sure it at least appear to work. Software updates include everything from the operating system to application packages. .le; Good with hardware Although it is not necessary for the system manager to be a hardware technician, he should nonetheless understand the peripherals on the system so that he can make the initial diagnosis about problems when they occur. This ability is a tremendous aid to the vendor's field service people since it helps remedy the problem in a timely manner. .le; Teach classes on various areas of system The system manager must also be a teacher. As new users come onto the system, they will need to know how to use it. The system manager should be able to teach a wide variety of course from an introductory level thru advanced as the need dictates. He should also be able to show the users how to help themselves thru such things as the HELP command and thru CBI (Computer Based Instruction). .le; Work with networks Since the eventual goal is to allow a single terminal access to the division's computer facilities, this means that the system manager must be able to work with networks. This means not only understanding how the network operates and its various protocols, but also knowing how to debug to network when it doesn't work plus understanding the interface packages used for communicating with other computers. .le; Interface to purchasing The system manager will need to order supplies (paper, ribbons, etc.) as well as new hardware and software. He should therefore be able to interface to purchasing in order to buy these items. This also means that he will have to obtain the necessary signatures to authorize the purchase of these items. .le; Capacity planning The system manager should monitor the system use in order to anticipate when new hardware and/or software will be needed. The VAX system being purchased has sufficient capacity to handle its expected use for the first year or so. But, as more users get onto the system and they run more applications, the system will need additional hardware and/or software to meet these needs. These needs must be anticipated so that an orderly growth can be planned and budgeted. .le; Management presentations Management needs to be kept appraised of how their investment in the VAX computer system is being utilized. These presentations can cover a variety of subjects. Examples presentations include: .s .lm +7 .i -2 o System utilization .i -2 o Who is using the system and how .i -2 o Software available and its effect on users doing their job .i -2 o New hardware/software's effect on the users .lm -7 In general, the system manager should keep management informed about their VAX system and should be able to make presentations to management about different areas of their system when requested by management. .le; Manage user accounts User accounts give the users access to the system. They also define the privileges and limits for that user. The system manager needs to keep a close watch over these accounts to make sure only authorized users have active accounts, that privileges are granted only where needed, and that the users with privileges are not abusing them. .le; Keep user community informed The users need to be informed about their system. This includes information about new hardware or software. It also includes miniclasses and seminars about different areas of the system. A newsletter about new things on the system could be mailed to each user via the MAIL utility thus keeping the users informed and doing away with the paper normally associated with newsletters. .le; Interface with vendors The system manager should be able to work with different vendors to do such things as purchase new software, fix existing software and hardware, keep maintainance contracts up to date, and, in general, serve as the interface between Rockwell and each of the vendors. .le; Must be a system programmer The system manager must be a system programmer. He needs to be able to fix software when it breaks. This includes not only the exec and system software but user programs as well. In essence, this goes along with point made that he must understand all software on the system. .le; Set up procedures for system The system manager is responsible for setting up the procedures to run the system. These procedures may originate from the system manager himself or from the committee in charge of managing the VAX system. These procedures cover such things as backing up the system, adding or deleting user accounts, maintaining system security and handling system resource allocation within the user groups. .le; Responsible for security and integrity Last but perhaps most importantly, the system manager is responsible for system security and integrity. He must take precautions to prevent breeches of security. He must also take steps in insure the integrity of the system and its software. .els