Expert Operator: Deploying YES/MVS II

Abstract

This paper reports on progress in automating the operation and control of large MVS-based computing installations. Automating operations is a problem appropriate for the application of embedded, real-time, expert systems techniques. The long-term goal is to ease the effort required to automate at many computing installations with different configurations, workloads, and operation policies. YES/MVS I showed that expert systems techniques were advantageous for automating operations. YES/MVS II, reported here, is a collection of components, including an architecture, to assist with automation at many sites. Expert Operator, also reported here, is a system based on YES/MVS II and currently in production use at a General Motors computing center. Expert Operator, then, is a first deployment of the components in YES/MVS II and first real test of their value. Based on this first experiment, YES MVS II appears to be successful. Major productivity improvements were achieved in developing Expert Operator as compared with YES/MVS I. Expert Operator is well-organized, easily understood, robust to changes, easily expanded, and solves challenging real problems. YES/MVS II and Expert Operator, represent significant progress in automated operations. The ideas reported here should have value in the real-time control of other complex systems.