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Status Under review
Workspace z/TPF Product Family
Categories z/TPFDF
Created by Guest
Created on Mar 13, 2026

RELATED IDEAS

ZUDFM INIT database initialization functionality to run concurrently with application workload

Problem: Visa recently initialized a new 4 billion database allocation, this was done during a 4-hour outage window because the existing ZUDFM INIT throttling doesn't give enough control to run it in Norm state with application traffic. Even in 1052 state the ZUDFM INIT could not utilize the disks to the maximum potential due to a flash copy that runs in the background during every maintenance window and caused the ZUDFM INIT to throttle on the IBMBATCH limit for IOB usage.   

Requirement: A different approach is requested were-by these large databases are initialized as a background task which doesn't take system resources away from the transactional workload, these jobs might take days to complete and would need the ability to abort and restart again with minimal operational maintenance.

Visa already has frameworks that manages utility function so the ask here is for a C++ api call that will initialize a specific fixed ordinal and chains, so the parameters include a file address and run option similar to those of ZUDFM INIT such as HOLD NOHOLD and RELEASE.

Idea priority Medium
  • Guest
    Apr 10, 2026
    Thank you for the additional information, the z/TPF lab will continue with the evaluation of this idea.
    Reply
  • Guest
    Apr 2, 2026
    In order to help the z/TPF lab evaluate this idea, please respond to the following questions:

    (1) "Visa recently initialized a new 4 billion database allocation."
    Was this initialization done with the NOHOLD parameter?

    (2) Do you only use ZUDFM INIT for new databases? How often do you use ZUDFM INIT for simple re-initializations of databases with existing data or as a tool to migrate to new formats?

    (3) And to confirm, you would want the new API to be able to handle initializations of new databases, initializations of existing databases, and initializations to migrate the format of existing records?

    (4) "the existing ZUDFM INIT throttling doesn't give enough control to run it in Norm state with application traffic"
    What kind of control do you need to run the utility in Norm state with application traffic?

    (5) "the ZUDFM INIT could not utilize the disks to the maximum potential due to a flash copy that runs in the background during every maintenance window and caused the ZUDFM INIT to throttle on the IBMBATCH limit for IOB usage"
    If an API were provided, what would the Visa utility function framework in conjunction with the API do differently than can be done with the ZUDFM INIT utility today?

    (6) "Even in 1052 state the ZUDFM INIT could not utilize the disks to the maximum potential"
    Is the pain point here that the initialization cannot complete in the 4-hour outage window? How long did it take to initialize 4 billion records?

    (7) "Visa usually deactivates logging for the duration of a ZUDFM INIT to avoid logging tape overload, this would also be a desirable parameter for the new api call."
    To clarify, you would want an API parameter to optionally not log that specific file activity?
    1 reply

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