S4i Updates i OS Disk Monitor

Published: August 5, 2008

by Alex Woodie

It will only take 10 minutes for a user to get up and running with DASD-Plus Chart thanks to a new startup guide and other ease-of-use enhancements added to version 1.05, according to S4i Systems, which announced the new release last week. New reporting mechanisms should also allow users to squeeze more useful information about the state of the disk drives on their i5/OS and i OS-based servers.

DASD-Plus Chart is a relatively new product that Oceanside, California-based S4i Systems launched in February 2007. The product is largely based on S4i's popular DASD-Plus disk analysis tool, which automates many of the housecleaning tasks common to System i servers, such as clearing history logs, compressing data, resizing libraries, and reorganizing physical file members. The main difference is the new Chart version adds a GUI that's easier for users to work with.

According to S4i, the biggest time-savers added to DASD-Plus Chart version 1.05 are new interactive tutorials that are presented in a welcome panel when users log on. These tutorials give users quick-start instructions on how to efficiently use the product, enabling them to gain a working knowledge of the product in just minutes, the company claims.

Another timesaver comes in the form of a simplified disk-use estimator. Simply enter the number of days in the future that you want the disk utilization forecast to address, and DASD-Plus Chart will predict your future capacity requirements based on current growth trends.

Version 1.05 also introduces several charting capabilities, including new 3D, pie, and bar charts. and a new chart segmentation "explosion" feature that allows a segment to be separately expanded from the rest of the pie. Users also gain control over font style, color, and size, and greater control over borders, outlines, and gridlines.

"In this release we focused on ease-of-use and customizability," says Susanne States, S4i's director of marketing and sales. "The new features in S4i DASD-Plus Chart enable users to access many of the new and existing features more quickly and easily, giving them the power to simplify large amounts of somewhat cumbersome data into neat, easy-to-interpret charts."

In addition to DASD-Plus and DASD-Plus Chart, S4i also sells disk/HUNTER, which detects and alerts users to spikes in disk usage. S4i bought disk/HUNTER from its partner, Centerfield Technology, earlier this year, giving it a solid possession of the i OS disk monitoring marketplace.

S4i DASD-Plus Chart version 1.05 is available now. License fees are unchanged, and start at $5,995. For more information, visit www.s4isystems.com.

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