text:
AMI Urges "Single Undertaking" Trade Negotiations with the EU in Comments to USTRFriday, November 2, 2012
(American Meat Institute)
AMI submitted comments to the Office of the United State Trade Representative (USTR) concerning the promotion of U.S. - EU Regulatory Compatibility under the auspices of the joint High Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth, the High Level Regulatory Cooperation Forum and the Transatlantic Economic Council.
The comments urged USTR to adhere to the "single undertaking" approach to trade negotiations in contrast to an approach that would allow negotiations for each sector to move forward at its own pace without regard to progress or failures in other sectors.
Specifically,the comments state regarding the latter approach, "Inevitably, this approach will lead to the perpetuation of existing trade barriers for many products, with U.S. food and agriculture the likely casualties. In order for AMI to support a potential Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the U.S. and the EU, food and agriculture must be negotiated in conjunction with all other economic sectors in one comprehensive undertaking."
AMI's comments also note the structural disparities that exist between the regulatory systems of the two economies as they relate to food safety and agricultural risk management, including the EU's reliance on the "precautionary principle," and the struggle to approve the use of generally accepted and internationally recognized pathogen reduction treatments in red meat and poultry packing and processing plants.
AMI's full comments are available here: http://www.meatinstitute.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/82866share on facebook share on twitter


text:
In 1909, at the age of 25, Cleveland, Ohio journalist Warren Cumming Platt, started his own publishing venture, a monthly news magazine National Petroleum News. His intent was to level the information playing field between independent oilmen and Big Oil by promoting transparency within the oil industry. By publishing reliable market-based price information, Platt not only shed light on a once opaque marketplace, but inspired greater market efficiency and competition.
In 1923, Platt published its first, of many, daily market reports, Platts Oilgram, to meet the need for more frequent updates on price movements and market developments.
A century after its birth, the Platt publishing venture later known as "Platts" and acquired in 1953 by New York-based The McGraw-Hill Companies, provides real-time information
services and more than 60 publications covering not only oil, but a dozen sectors of the energy and metals industries, and is known and relied upon by market participants and observers the world over..
Learn more about Platts history and view timeline
Watch Platts 100th anniversary video
812 Huron Road, Cleveland, Ohio
Шаг 1
Шаг 2
Шаг 3
Related Information About Platts

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Hawaiian Quilting Class - Queen Emma's
October 30, 2019 –
Queen Emma Summer Palace
2913 Pali Highway
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 595-3167
Gussie Bento has been teaching Hawaiian Quilting and Patchwork for over 25 years. This class welcomes all skill levels from beginners to experts, where everyone is encourage to talk story and learn from one another in a relaxed setting. Prior to joining the class, those interested should visit and sit in on a session to see if they are comfortable learning in a group setting.
Classes are $2.00 per session. This weekly class is open to members and guests. To become a member, visit Become-A-Member
To participate, Daughters and Cousins should contact firstname.lastname@example.com or call 808-595-6291.


text:
by Chastidy
Tinkerbell Costume Photo 2 of 4
Rate this costume:
223 votes
|52 comments · add a comment
More views: (click to enlarge)
|Costume type:
|Costumes for Babies
This homemade costume for babies entered our 2011 Halloween Costume Contest,
A word from Katie, the 'Tinkerbell' costume creator:
This my daughter. She went as tinkerbell this halloween (2011). I made the tutu and wings. I got the instructions for the fairy wings from marthastewart.com. It only took 18 gauge wire, girls white tights,... Read more »
Similar costumes:


text:
Login Required
You need to have a Pokémon Trainer Club account to save your Favorite Pokémon!Log In Sign Up No Thanks
Its skull is as hard as iron. It is a brute that tears down jungle trees while catching prey.
Its skull withstands impacts of any magnitude. As a result, its brain never gets the chance to grow.
The Pokémon Company International is not responsible for the content of any linked website that is not operated by The Pokémon Company International. Please note that these websites' privacy policies and security practices may differ from The Pokémon Company International's standards.
Pokemon.com administrators have been notified and will review the screen name for compliance with the Terms of Use.
Your request could not be completed. Please try again. If the problem persists, please contact Customer Support.


text:
Recent Posts
Chris Carbin and Richard Jackson
- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
- Doctor Who 08×11/12 – Metal Gear Solid November 15, 2014
Book of Face
- Louis Daguerre: Daguerreotype May 20, 2011
- MY BLOG HAS MOVED December 23, 2012
Tag Archives: evil
Apple's Surprisingly Impressive Creative Suite Imitation
Open Your Eyes! So what's this you say? Apple ripping off the Creative Suite! How Dare They! Well, perhaps that was a touch strong for what has really happened, and after all it's not really a new thing. Apples iLife … Continue reading
Posted in Digital Media in Practice Tagged adobe, Alex, apple, cheap, computer, Cook, dalek, design, diabolical, dreamweaver, evil, free, henchman, idvd, ilife, internet, irrational, iweb, jobs, kurt, mac, mad, movie, nuclear, Opinionated, opinionation, Photoshop, plants, plissken, portfolio, power, quicktime, russel, snake, steve, Velociraptor, vinyl, vr, vr worx, web, website, worx Leave a comment


text:
You don't have any saved vehicles!
Look for this link on your favorites:
Once you've saved some vehicles, you can view them here at any time.
The easiest car buying experience that I have ever had. Mario is a great salesmen to work with. When I arrived he had the paperwork ready and we were driving out of the dealership in less than a hour.
I've always been a Honda fan. Mario took good care of me and worked hard to get me what I wanted. They got me a good competitive quote to where it was a no brainer. I was treated well and got exactly what I wanted. I will buy my next vehicle from them when I need another.
Mario is always very helpful and professional to work with. He makes buying a car a very good experience. The dealership is always very welcoming and clean.
They are amazing. Mario, went above and beyond! He not only paid out of pocket to have my windows tinted - He exceeded all of my expectations by having our family dinner catered (with delivery Texas Roadhouse) out of his concern for my family and me, during these challenging times we all have been facing.
Good team, Mario got me the truck I wanted and paid out of his own pocket to get my windows tinted, Thanks to the Honda Riverdale Team
Mario is excellent to work with always. He is so professional and courteous and always take his time with me to make sure all my needs are met.
Mario is amazing!! You are all very helpful and friendly. It's always a positive experience working with Mario. Love my new Honda.. Thank you all.
Mario was kick xxx!!!! He knew what I want before I knew!! He's an Amazing salesman! Thank you so much Mario, you are the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mario is the best! This is the 2nd car I have bought from him and both times he was professional, kind and determined to get us the vehicle we wanted. Thanks Mario! :)
Great! Mario is literally the best sales person we have ever dealt with. he makes the whole process simple and fast. We will never go anywhere else to buy our cars. Mario is the man.
Second time buying from Mario and just as easy as the first time! Thank you Mario for being an awesome sales man. We will be back!
Mario was the best to work with, great service with no bull! Bought several cars from this dealership and will always ask for Mario in the future!
Mario totally helped me get my maintenance needs met. He facilitated a scheduling phone call with the service department for me . The service department was fantastic! Organized. Efficient, extremely courteous! I like that I can still call Mario even though I bought the car many months ago and he was willing to help me. That's what customer service should look like! Thank you Mario and Service Department!
Great service. And i got what i wanted within my price range. Everyone was welcoming and nice. I purchased the vehicle for the safety of my children and they did great, i got a safe and clean vehicle.
Mario and Frank were awesome to work with! They made my experience very easy! I would definitely recommend anyone who needs to purchase or service their vehicle to go see them at Ken Garff Honda!
They were all very friendly, my daughter was Hungary and they got her food from the breakroom. Our salesman was awesome tried to get us as many deals as he could. Great Team!!
We went in, test drove the car we were looking at, did the paperwork and drive it home. Simple and painless. We are very happy with our purchase
Best experience I've ever had with any dealership! Mario has always made a car that I've wanted happen for me! Hands down the best salesmen out there! Thank you Mario!!!
This is the second car I have got from Mario and I am very happy with everything. He is always so helpful and nice to work with. I would recommend you guys to anyone!
Great place to buy a great car!! Mario made this experience an easy one. Very professional! I will be back again in the future!! Thanks!!
The dealership was so great. This is the second car I have got from them and Mario was awesome. Would recommend him to anyone. Also I love my car!
Mario was awesome and super helpful! I would definitely recommend working with him and the rest of the team at Ken Garff Honda in Riverdale.
Bought a new car from Mario Saucedo 7 years ago and he treated me good. I probably will buy a Ridgeline from him later this year.
I like the service, every time I take my civic for service, it's done right and fast. I love working with Mario when it comes to purchase or leasing a car or suv, he is very knowledgeable about all the vehicles, he always has the right answer. Mario has a very positive attitude and always has a smile, he never sells you anything, he helps you to buy. Thank you Mario!!!
Treated with respect from the receptionist to the Manager. Mario is a great salesperson, takes all the steps from a to z. Thank You for a great purchase!
We spent 5 cold and snowy days looking at cars from Ogden to North Salt Lake. Mario Saucedo and Ken Garff Honda were the second dealership we visited and the customer service we received was by far the very best we had anywhere. Any other dealership we visited after that was compared to the customer service we got from Mario and no one could compare. Mario knew his stuff and could answer our questions quickly and accurately.
Mario was incredible to work with! He made it so easy and so fast. I would recommend him to everyone that is looking for a new vehicle
The salesman I had was awes very kind. He told me he would do what ever it took to get me in a car of my choice. And he came threw with flying colors. My hat is off to Mario he is a man with a plan. Thank You again Mario.
I loved my previous Yaris hatchback, and was seeking to purchase one locally (Des Moines, Iowa). Unfortunately, could not locate a manual transmission in the entire state?? Through online search I was able to come across your dealership; and found the perfect car to suit my needs. Dealt with Mario for the entire process. He made the experience of purchasing desired vehicle extremely easy. In less than 10 days I purchased a car, & had it delivered to a local dealership. The whole process was a breeze;. And I am thoroughly satisfied with my new vehicle. Thanks a million Mario. This car will be in my procession for a long-long time!!
Mario was awesome to work with. Would recommend! He was really straight forward and honest with us. He didn't push us into anything we didn't want, but he gave us all of the options and let us know what he thought would be best.
Hugh Garrett totally went the extra mile to help us. Mario Saucedo was also extremely pleasant and quick. They are both huge assets to your team.
Awesome experience. Very happy with the experience and drive away with a car I was t expecting to get. Highly recommend Mario to help anyone.
I worked with Mario and he was super helpful. He answered all of my questions. He was honest with me and didn't push me to purchase the car. Mario is a fun guy to work with and will take care of you.
Mario was incredibly helpful and straightforward. He kindly answered all my questions over multiple phone calls even before I came to the dealership. Thanks again!
The team at Ken Garff Honda was super friendly and helpful. Mario walked us through the features of the vehicles we were looking at with no pressure or heavy handed sales tactics. Would highly recommend this dealership.
Mario and Zach were awesome to work with, they gave me the best value for our trade in, and the best deal for a 2020 Pilot! I test drove one and I loved it! I wanted a vehicle that is good in snow that fits our family our new Pilot fits all our needs which we love! We actually kept waiting for the catch because it seemed too good to be true, and there was no catch. They were honest and true to their word and I will go back in the future! I have no problem recommending them to my friends and family and actually want to because they were so awesome to work with and honest and upfront! I actually have a different Honda dealership closer to where I live, but it was totally worth it to go to this dealership because it is obvious they care about their customers!
We came in in a snow storm to look at CR-Vs and Mario was so awesome and patient. Went above and beyond so we could look at colors in the light. Low pricing, up front, no haggle and no hidden fees or tricks. We had an awesome experience leasing our first brand new car.
Most stress free car buying experience I've ever had! Mario was super knowledgeable and helpful! Everyone we dealt with was very friendly and we never felt pressured which is huge! We love our new CR-V!
Pleasant process for finding the right car, and buying. Sales did not jerk me around, zero games, no hidden costs, sold the car for the advertised price
Ken Garff Honda was fantastic! In searching for a new vehicle I visited several different dealerships before finding Ken Garff. We met with Mario Saucedo who sat down and walked over options, pricing, and answered all of my questions with no pressure to buy. I highly recommend Mario Saucedo and Ken Garff Honda Riverdale.
Very pleased with Mario and the service provided. He gave us complete detailed information about the car. We thoroughly appreciated all that Mario did for us
This could have easily been a 5 star review, if not for an issue with their Finance Department. I had received an email with the price for a specific vehicle. No conditions were mentioned for the discounts they offered. (Actually, they matched a lower price I had found in SLC.) The finance department said I couldn't get one of the $500 discounts because I didn't meet certain conditions. They wouldn't budge and honor the quote I was given. Our Sales Specialist was very apologetic and include their 3 oil change offer for free. We love the vehicle, no experience yet on service, sales specialists are excellent. Overall fairly happy with the sales process except the finance issue. They should all be on the same page when it comes to prices being quoted. We almost walked!!!!! Too bad we like the vehicle too much - 2019 CR-V Touring.
Great customer service Mario was very helpful and very easy to work with. Every time I come and see him he takes care of me and my family and I would recommend him to anyone!
Mario was exceptionally excellent! Very knowledgeable and helpful from choosing the right car to purchasing and answered all my questions. I had limited time during the week and he was super speedy with the paperwork. Drove off with the perfect CRV! Thankful and grarefuel for tour sales team and Mario!
I have got a a good handful of dealerships and never have I felt like they have rolled out the red carpet or had positive attitudes or a professional staff until coming in and purchasing a car from you guys the experience was great and overall handled with the time and attention I wanted as a customer! Hands down best dealership in northern Utah!
Car buying experience. I found a car I liked on the Internet. I called the dealer phone number and got a hold of Mario. He answered his phone his way to work. I had a pleasant experience all in all. I found the car I wanted and traded my old car in. I would recommend Ken Garff Honda Riverdale for any car buying experience.
Mario was great to work with!2nd car I have bought from him. Easy to work with. I got in and out quick that's what I like.
It must be good because I keep buying cars here. Mario knows his stuff and helps me evey after the sale to understand features of my new Pilot.
The experience was great. The car was at fair market value. No pressure, no sales gimmicks. Just positive experience. Pricing is clear. No hidden fees. Service department did a great job preparing the vehicle. 2nd car from Ken Garff
Mario helped my wife and I trade in our Jeep and guided us to two new cars that fit our budget. Mario was very professional and extremely nice while helping us meet our expectations. Would highly recommend him.
Bought or 2014 accord v-6 touring.. In and out of the dealership an hour. Love the car and enjoyed the sales experiance . Had a few areas that needed to be cleaned cris did a great job . Thanks
Great experience! Was a quick and easy process, very friendly staff. Mario helped us find the car we were looking for at a great price!
I have been servicing my vehicles here for the better part of 12 years (we have 4 Honda vehicles). The staff are always friendly, helpful, and willing to give objective advice on vehicle repairs. Rick Johnson is a fantastic Service Manager and it shows by the way his staff perform.
Mario was an amazing salesman, I recomend you see Mario for all your car buying needs, I was in and out so quick, never had such a friendly experience and quick service.
It is nice to sit and relax while the service is been performed. The staff is friendly and courteous. I enjoy being greeted in a friendly manner and being called by name.
Great customer service. Made the buying process easy. Very patient with us trying to find the perfect car for our family. Love my new CRV
Mario Saucedo treated us like friends, not customers. Turning over our lease was easy, and our new car is wonderful, with more features than we dreamed of.
Great salesman, great prices, great experience. I was pleasantly surprised how well the buying experience went. I asked for the best price up front and Mario gave it to me. I did not have to haggle which was a pleasant surprise. The whole experience was great.
We brought in a used vehicle for a pre-purchase check. They found problems with the engine, transmission and multiple leaks that weren't evident on our initial inspection. They saved us from buying a money pit, and gave me a discount on the service. I was very relieved and pleased with the service and will advise all family and friends to bring any prospective purchases here to be checked out.
Mario kept in touch with me as I moved here and needed to lease a car. He remembered from our initial phone conversation that I wanted a CRV in a bright color, one that would not blend in with the road. He showed me one in molten lava, and I'm very happy with it and with the whole experience.
I've been coming to Ken Garff Honda Riverdale for about 6 years now. I have never had a problem with any of the staff or with the service I have received. If I had to complain about anything, it would be that Suda went somewhere else. If there's anything you guys can do to get him back please make it happen! I worked with Frank this time around and he was very helpful even with some of my more in depth questions. Thank you! Also in the sales department, I always work with Mario. I'm sure he's getting a little frustrated with me because I've had the same car for about 5 years now. But if and when I finally decided to let my Accord go, I'll be going with him. He's always extremely helpful and fast. I appreciate that I don't feel like I'm in a high pressure sales situation working with him. I hope to continue receiving the high quality service I have been for years to come.
Great service, very friendly staff and they do everything to help you achieve your car goals. I love the honesty and service they provide us. We get the car we wanted at the right price, I would definitely be back when I need another vehicle.
Love dealing with Ken Garth. This is my third new Honda bought from this dealership. David was a great guy to deal with in my purchase.
No pressure staff. Took the time to answer all my questions and concerns. He also went through everything the car had to offer and made sure I knew every detail and how to work everything, he even helped me pair my phone. Very thorough. I am very pleased with Ken Garff Honda Riverdale
Mario and Jeremy were great in helping us find a replacement vehicle. They showed all the new technology and linking my phone to the car. I'll definitely be recommending Ken Garff to others
The Ken Garff Riverdale team has been great to work with they helped me find a great replacement for a car that was wrecked earlier in the week. They understood the situation we were in and did not pressure is into any decision.
This is my second new car purchase from them. Mario is the best easy to work with. He valued my time and made the process quick and easy. Go see him
Great people to work with. They were quick to get me taken care of. They kept me in the loop on every step. I would recommend them to anyone.
My buying experience at Ken Garff Honda in Riverdale was exceptional. Mario was very knowledgeable and professional. He made my buying experience very easy and seamless.
I would recommend this dealership to everyone. The staff was knowledgeable and very friendly! They helped me with all my questions and needs. Very happy with my purchase and how they helped me understand all the new features.
Mario was great to work with. Easy and fast in test driving vehicles, then reviewing number scenarios and finance all Swift and easy. Would recommend
I bought a new car with Mario. He made it so easy and it was the best car buying experience I have ever had!! Awesome.
Very good customer service individuals. Do what they say they will do. I have developed a warm and honest relationship with both of them. They represent your company and Honda in a very professional manner.
Mario is a great salesman and made everything work out for me! And Scott at GMC was super efficient at getting me a rental when I needed one!! Thank you all!!
Initially I had a problem with a service issue but as soon as it was brought to their attention they immediately corrected it and made it right.
I wanted to surprise my wife with a new van. We had looked at the van and received Mario's card a few weeks prior. I called him up on Saturday and he arranged everything, even having a coworker bring the van down to Farmington. With regard to the paperwork, Mario handled everything and sent me pictures. It's was all in order when Beau brought me the van. Took 5-10 minutes to sign. Easy.
Mario and Michael were a pleasure to work with. The whole experience was seemless. They helped me find the car I wanted, and the followup was prompt. The new car looks fantastic. I would highly recommend Ken Garrf Honda of Riverdale. Thank you.
We finished the purchase quickly, instead of the back & forth that normally happens when biying a car. Mario was great and we would recommend him and Ken Garff Honda Riverdale to friends & family.
Mike Coleman and Mario Saucedo are so wonderful to work with. They are the reason we come back to Riverdale Kenn Garff each time. We love our new Pilot!
Mario is helpful and very customer friendly this guy is amazing and I would definitely buy another car from him:) after you sign all the papers he takes you out and makes sure that you know everything about the car you're buying, and at the end he asks if you have any questions
Great experience!! Mario and Beau were awesome! Very happy with my purchase even though I was having second thoughts on the color of the interior, they were so patient with me and willing to do whatever was needed to make sure I was satisfied!
We love our new vehicle. Mario is an amazing and not pushy salesman. He helped us look for what we wanted and found the car.
The salesmen are very friendly and help find what you are looking for. Mario is an amazing salesman and not pushy to sale anything. Very friendly.
Mario Saucedo was great to work with. He made the car buying process very convenient. Our complete sales transaction including trade-in, financing, and paperwork was done much faster than anticipated.
Don't let the fear of car buying scare you away from going to Ken Garff. Mario helped us when we were under a big time constraint.
This dealership is organized, efficient and friendly. I had such a good experience with the service department that I decided to buy a brand new CRV EX-L !
Abby Burns, was a very helpful sale rep. She kept me updated while I waited for papers to get processed, she offered complimentary, hospitality, and great communication skills. If I was going to buy/trade a car from honda again, I would definitely recommend Abby Burns. A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The team did an excellent job working with us to get the price that we wanted on a new pilot. I really appreciate their efforts to help
Great experience and awesome service. Mario was very professional and knowledgeable. I had emailed about the color of car I wanted and he had it ready for us to test drive!
My car had a recall issue so I brought it in. Service was fast, efficient, friendly. Got a nice loaner car at no charge which made me very happy. I felt well taken care of by Vinnie and the others
Friendly and excellent service from the moment I arrived. Fast service and knowledgeable sales staff. Overall experience was best I've seen in a long time.
I walked in during evening hours, so many employees had left for the day. It was a calm atmosphere and very pleasant. I knew what car I wanted and it didn't take long to finish paperwork. Mario gave me a personal 1-on-1 lesson on the features of the car. It was awesome.
Very fast service...it was a happy surprise to be in and out so quickly. Had a ride fall through so I was prepared to wait with a book. I didn't even need that. In and out 👍
Mario was very knowledgeable and very prompt. .He got the job done when no one else could! I tried other dealerships and no other dealership compared!
Best car experience. He works with me until I find what fits my personality and my budget. Definitely a man who cares about his customers. I absolutely LOVE 💕 my new vehicle. Thank you Mario and Ken Garff Forever a customer Kelly
Great experience as always, i get in when i am scheduled and i dont have to wait all day like with other places. Always friendly and always willing to explain everything that was done. Thank you Ken Garff Honda Service
You're taken care of immediately, turnaround time is fantastic! Waiting area is great, specially the drinks! Alex greeted me right away and had me on my way in no time...
I thought Mario was very patient and helpful. The car was well prepared and the closing was efficient. It didn't cost me much of my valuable time from start to finish.
The sales staff was friendly helpful and patient. They answered all my questions as I looked at several models and trim packages. They helped me find the right vehicle for me.
Unsurpassed customer service and top quality vehicles. The new pilot has new safety features I am excited to cave. Thank you to Mario and the staff.
Unmatched quality!!! These guys are terrific and Rick Johnson is an incredible sales manager. I have been bringing my cars to Ken Garff Riverdale for 11 years.
I always have such a great experience here. Mario made the process of buying a car so easy and stress free. I wouldn't have wanted to go anywhere else.
Mario has a very unique quality for a salesman of any kind. I perceived him to be genuine in his interactions and conversations. I still cannot believe we maneuvered through this process - from meeting, product selection, test drive, financial process, keys in hand and out the door — all within about an hour and a half. Had previous new car purchase/lease experiences been this smooth and efficient I probably would have traded and or purchased new vehicles more frequently. Isaac, the finance guy was so quick and efficient I blinked and he's sitting at Mario's desk with completed paperwork, ready to sign. I blinked again and he was gone. These guys not only have great skills as demonstrated in their ability to make the goal line so quickly and efficiently, I am now convinced they possess super powers as well.
These guys went above and beyond on my trade in along with giving good deal on my accord and extended warranty. Good job guys at Riverdale Honda.
We came in there just to look at a vehicle and consider purchasing. After the amazing welcome and great customer service Tyler had was great!
Fast. Friendly. Great working with Brian and Mario. They really made the whole really smooth and painless. Loved not having to deal with a finance manager on the back end.
They are on point. Quick easy and honest. Got an appointment that worked best for me. They got me in and out as promised. I will be doing business with them for a long time.
Good selection of cars and had helpful sales person. Appreciated going on tests drive for as long as we wanted. All questions were answered with knowledgeable answers.
Working with and purchasing our new vehicle through Ken Garff is by far the best customer/sales interaction I've experienced. The salesperson was professional, an advocate for to customer, quick to deliver on what we wanted, courteous of our time, NO games! This dealership has my business for life!!!
Love how quick they get me in and into my new car. I work with Mario on the phone and then get everything ready so I can just walk in sign the documents and walk out. Love it.
We had a great buying experience. Vinny and Mario did a great job and took care of us. We appreciated all they did for us.
Fast and easy getting checked in and out, courteous and professional service. I highly recommend. Also, the shuttle service was prompt and efficient as well.
I have been buying Honda's here for years. We currently own 11 in our family. Mario and Joey take such good care of us. I was in the dealership less than 30 minutes to buy our most recent CRv. Thank you!
Mario was great! He listen to what I wanted didn't add anything I didn't... He got me in and out in no time! Love my new pilot.
The associate was friendly and willing to answer any question needed, the service was quicker then I expected. My car was returned in great shape and clean
Amazing people to work with nice and professional. They don't pressure or push you in to anything and they worked with us not against us.
I love Ken Garff Honda Riverdale! I'll never buy a car or have one worked on anywhere else but here! They have a shuttle service and an awesome waiting area!
Robert helped me throughout the whole servicing process. My car was ready within few hours. Fastest and efficient service I have ever had. Thank You
Mario and Tyler were very pleasant, professional, and knowledgeable. As a team they addressed all of my concerns with confidence. Mario also provided one on one guidance in how to use all the new features on the 2018 model. That instruction was very useful and helpful. Yes, I would recommend my friends go to Mario if they were in the market to buy a car.
These folks have been great. Always friendly and willing to the right thing. They have taken great care of my 2014 Kia Soul every time I bring it in. And since I drive for Uber, they see me a lot for oil changes and such. I highly recommend Ken Garff in Riverdale!
My wife is usually very stressed over purchasing a new vehicle. The customer service was such that she felt no concern during this time. We will carefully listen to. our concerns and recommendations were taken into account. Mario was extremely helpful and friendly.
I highly recommend this service and location. The shuttle service is a great help. The technicians do great work. The entire crew seems eager to help.
They were very quick to respond to any questions I had. They were great to work around my schedule so I would be able to drive down and do the paperwork. Even after I paid and all the paperwork was filled out they still asked if I had questions or need anything else. then a few days after they sent me a text saying Hey if you need anything or have any questions feel free to let us know and we'll help you to the best we can.
Our experience at Ken Garff Honda was very positive. We we're deciding between the Chevy Traverse and Honda Pilot...although the Traverse is a little larger, the Pilot had more standard features. The staff at Ken Garff worked well with us...since it was the holiday season, their individual schedules for service were sporadic and we worked primarily with Mario, Beau, and Vinnie. Great service from both and they never pressured us although we visited the dealer 4-5 times as we went between a couple of Chevy dealers and Ken Garff Honda. The staff passed information well to each other, and although we worked with different staff at times, they each had our latest information and answers to your questions. We did purchase a Pilot on Christmas Eve...good price, although we were hoping for a little more off the price.
Mario has always been great to my family and me! 4th car we've gotten from Ken Garff - 3 of which through Mario! Always hassle free, no pressure, and straight forward with the whole experience!
Made appt with Mario to test drive a 2017 ridgeline. Discussed my trade in value and started purchase agreement papers. The entere process was less than 2 hours.
All my questions were answered and a good deal hashed out in the end. Mario helped me through not liking using the phone so he did it over email.
Purchase of new Honda Ridgeline.Support was excellent. No pressure from sales. Just encouragement along the way. Good experienceDespite my indecision for in excess of one month
Great friendly staff, great extended warranties, will work with you to make a deal, have dealt with Tyler and Mario get treated like family, and they take in great trades have gotten two used vehicles from them. They work with great lenders that help you rebuild your credit (Golden West Credit Union). First car was 2007 Hyundai with only 55000 miles. And this on is 2004 Nissan Frontier Ext Cab SE with only 89000 miles. I have had multiple Honda's in my life they have always gone the extra miles. My wife and I trust Ken Garff Honda Riverdale with our lives and you can too! Go and check them out and be amazed. No I'm not getting paid for this.
Great dealership, easy to work with, got us out the door fast with our new vehicle without staying 5 or 6 hours to close a deal.
The employees I've worked with have all exhibited good customer service and look to keep me informed of any specials or get the car serviced as quickly as possible
There was no pressure to buy. The salesman was very helpful. My questions were all answered. I have had several Hondas and all were great cars, very dependable.
Marlin was fun, easy going and wasn't pushy. I'd recommend him to anyone. We got a great deal on our trade-in and our beautiful new van. We loved the no haggling aspect at Ken Garff.
Being a full time college student and only working part time i was worried i wouldn't be able to afford anything but!!!After Reviewing several makes of cars "Mario"found the perfect car that would best fit my budget!!! & Im extremely happy with my new car and i will most definitely be using this dealership again!!! The buying experience was Quick & Painless!!!
I have worked with Mario in the past and he has always been able to get me exactly what I need price wise. He is fair, honest, courteous and just a all around good guy. I would and have recommended him to others!!!
Mario was very helpful and very kind to us. He helped us a great deal and took care of everything quickly and efficiently. It was a great experience overall.
Employees made sure we were taken care of. Answered many questions and took many calls from us before we finally decided to buy. No pressure.
I chose to do everything over the phone and text. Went smooth and easy. At the dealership we had a smooth sale. Very pleased with everything.
I can't say enough great things about our salesman, Mario. We have purchased several vehicles from him over the past few years. This is due to his honesty, integrity and friendly service. We recommend him to all our friends.
All I got to say is that i felt like home while i was there, Mario was very helpfull and social! I am very happy with my car.
Everyone treated us great. They answered all our questions. we were pleased with the service we received. Mario treated us with respect and explained things to our satisfaction.
Best car buying experience I have ever had. Didn't take very long and we got everything we wanted. The salesperson was very accommodating and friendly and did everything he could to please us.
Was referred to Mario by Rick the service Mgr. Mario was very helpful and found me the exact car I was looking for at a great price I was completely happy with love all the staff at Honda everyone was GREAT!!!
They were knowledgable and thorough during every step of the buying process. Every employee was happy, ready to assist and knowledgable on the vehicles. No complaints here!
Purchased a new Civic and it was a great experience. Salesman was helpful and kind and we would recommend to others if they're in the market.
Mario was great to work with - he wasn't pushy and was very upfront. Before the purchase of the car he answered a lot of my questions and continued to follow up with me without being pushy which I appreciated!


text:
A social studies teacher at Riverside Institute of Technology was kicked in the head Wednesday afternoon while he was helping to restrain a student who had thrown a steel chair at her boyfriend.
When police came, they found a knife with a 10-inch blade on the teenage girl.
Earlier in the day, a teacher at Dr. Charles Drew Science Magnet Early Childhood Center suffered a concussion after a student – a second-grader – kicked her in the head at the school office.
With two teachers assaulted in the same day, some teachers and union leaders in Buffalo say it's time for the district to address safety concerns in the city schools – and its suspension policy.
"We have fights here almost every day," said Marc Bruno, the Riverside teacher who was kicked in the head. "The kids walk around and say, 'We can't get suspended – we don't care what you say.' Most of the kids who go to school here are really good kids. But you've got 20, 25 percent who are pretty rough. Someone's going to get hurt."
Student suspensions are a touchy issue in the district.
Nearly a year ago, interim Superintendent Amber M. Dixon unveiled a multipronged plan to reduce the number of suspensions for minor infractions after parents complained about the more than 12,000 suspensions.
Schools that failed to reduce their suspension rates would come under review, she said, and would have to implement an action plan.
Now some teachers say that discipline has become too lax and that students are acting out more than ever.
"When I first got [to Riverside], the teachers and administrators ran the building," Bruno said. "Now the kids walk around like, 'What are you going to do to me?' "
Associate Superintendent Will Keresztes said schools are able to reduce the number of suspensions when they have programs to provide "quality interventions" for students, which lead to less misconduct.
"Acts of violence are unacceptable 100 percent of the time and require the imposition of appropriate discipline," he said. "My expectation, however, is that adults will resist the impulse to generalize about any individual student, group of students or school. When that occurs, I find it troubling and counterproductive, as should everyone else."
Student assaults on teachers are certainly not a recent phenomenon. Every year, it seems, a few such incidents make the news.
Some assaults seem especially vicious. A teacher at Grover Cleveland High School was beaten with a wooden board five years ago as she walked half a block from her parked car to the school. The student who beat her left her lying in the street, blood flowing from her head, and stole her car.
Some incidents involve students who are very young. Last year, for instance, a teacher at Bilingual Center School 33 was injured when a 6-year-old special-education student threw a garbage can at her.
In some cases, it's not students who assault teachers – it's their parents.
Two years ago, a mother walked into her daughter's sixth-grade classroom at Dr. Charles Drew Science Magnet School 59 and hit the teacher several times in front of the students in the class. The day before, the mother had been scheduled to come in and talk to the teacher about her concerns that the teacher was singling out her daughter as a troublemaker.
The woman's daughter was eventually transferred to another school. An Erie County judge ordered the mother to serve weekends in jail for four months.
"I'm not a bad person. I was just having a bad day," she told the judge.
But the district administration also has had to deal with parents who cite the large number of suspensions. Last year, a vocal group of community activists pressed the School Board and district officials to reduce the number of out-of-school suspensions for nonviolent offenses.
Students in Buffalo got suspended for many reasons, including swearing at teachers; violating the dress code; and roaming the halls. And in most schools, there was no in-school suspension, so when students were disciplined, they were sent home for a day or a week at a time.
Those calling for a change in the discipline policy cited the 12,905 suspensions – in a district with 32,000 students – that principals gave to students for nonviolent incidents in a recent year. That included 180 suspensions given to children in kindergarten.
In response to the concerns, Dixon's administration scheduled a series of public hearings throughout the city. Many of those who spoke said the punishments were not proportional to the offenses. Some said certain students seemed to be bearing the brunt of the suspensions.
"They keep suspending children who look like me – children of color," Ina Ferguson-Downing, a grandmother in the district who has been vocal about suspensions, said at one of the hearings. "Caucasian students aren't being suspended. Children of color are."
Yet teachers such as Bruno feel they have been left with little power to deal with violence by some students.
He was working out after school Wednesday in Riverside's weight room, he said, when a ninth-grade student walked in, picked up a steel chair and threw it at her boyfriend.
One of the coaches supervising the weight room told the girl to leave the building, Bruno said. About 10 minutes later, the 16-year-old girl tried to force her way back into the weight room. While one coach went to call security, Bruno and the other coach restrained the girl on the floor.
"We got her calmed down," he said. "I started to ease up the pressure on her legs. She pulled her leg out and kicked me in the face as hard as she could."
Soon, one of the school's security guards came, and a large knife was found on the girl.
Police described it as a steak knife. Bruno said that it had a 10-inch blade.
"If she would have come in swinging with that, we would have been in big trouble," Bruno said.
Police spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge said the girl was "pushing and fighting with teachers and did strike one of the teachers in the hand." The girl, whose name was not released, was charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment, harassment and other offenses, DeGeorge said.
Bruno is calling for a discipline policy that's enforced more uniformly across the district – and for metal detectors to be installed at the school. Riverside's four security guards have their hands full patrolling five floors and monitoring about 800 students, Bruno said. He went home Wednesday with a headache and frazzled nerves.
The teacher who was assaulted at Drew Early Childhood Center on Wednesday morning, though, ended up in Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, where she was treated for head injuries and sent home.
The teacher, whose name has not been released, told union officials that a second-grade student in her special-ed class became violent and agitated and started running around the room Wednesday morning.
"He was flipping over chairs and punching other kids," said Nick Whitman, a labor relations specialist with New York State United Teachers. "She intervened between him and the other students to serve as a buffer between them. He started striking her while she shielded students."
The teacher had reported behavioral problems with the boy several times this year, Whitman said, and wrote him up at least seven times. Once, he had threatened her with a pair of scissors.
Wednesday, as the boy was causing problems in the classroom, the teacher tried three times to call the office, but the boy either hung up the phone or pulled the cord out, Whitman said. The teacher eventually yelled down the hall for help.
The student was taken to the office. The teacher bent down to pick up the doorstop, and he kicked her in the head.
The district is investigating the recent incidents. District spokeswoman Elena Cala released a statement Thursday, saying: "Students who engage in such acts face consequences according to New York State Education law, local law enforcement and district policies. We provide intervention for all students at every grade level throughout the district in order to promote appropriate behavior, thereby reducing the number of student suspensions."
Buffalo Teachers Federation President Philip Rumore said that the union tracks assaults on teachers but that the information they collect is based on anecdotal reports, making it difficult to know whether violent incidents involving teachers have become more common.
"These are isolated incidents. But the key thing is, if there is an infraction of the rules, it has to be dealt with swiftly and consistently," Rumore said. "In my many years here, it seems like where there is a lack of discipline and enforcement of rules, that's when something's going to happen."
email: email@example.com


text:
Below the Belt Gym
The Below the Belt Gym is a gym in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Located in Redsands East, Las Venturas, the gym becomes accessible following the Drive-Thru mission, however, Carl Johnson will only be able to access the gym without police attention following the mission Yay Ka-Boom-Boom.
Carl Johnson can learn kickboxing moves at the gym, as well as use the other facilities to increase or decrease certain statistics, specifically stamina, muscle and fat. Learning the kickboxing move is required for 100% completion.
- "Below the belt" refers to the area of the body below the waist, including the crotch and legs. In combat sports, attacking an opponent below the belt is often considered to be unfair and unsportsmanlike.


text:
Any fellow HVAC professionals offering radon services? I just received my state certification today.
Originally Posted by TimVogt
Any fellow HVAC professionals offering radon services? I just received my state certification today.
jeeeez that was big in the 80's then nothing, i guess it's making a come back!
Originally Posted by TimVogt
Any fellow HVAC professionals offering radon services? I just received my state certification today.
We put in a few radon fans per year. Do you do the testing or sell them a kit?
My certification is for testing and mitigation. I decided to try it after hearing a neighbor's house tested high and testing my own. After my results showed high levels, I found out no one in the area offers the systems. The closest mitigator is 35 miles away.
I currently rent two continous monitors.
Originally Posted by TimVogt
My certification is for testing and mitigation. I decided to try it after hearing a neighbor's house tested high and testing my own. After my results showed high levels, I found out no one in the area offers the systems. The closest mitigator is 35 miles away.
I currently rent two continous monitors.
Tell us more!
Make your expertise uniquely valuable.
Make your influence uniquely far-reaching.
Originally Posted by jimj
Tell us more!
I hope there will be much to tell!
It will take advertising to raise public awareness, but I feel it will be a needed service to provide. The EPA is discussing a plan to test/mitigate all government buildings and start a public awareness campaign.
According to the EPA 21,000 people in the US die each year from radon caused lung cancer. I don't know how they determine this.
Radon testing and mitigation seems to be a natural fit for HVAC pros.
We will see.
Over here in Eastern PA, where the radon hype started when a TMI worker set off contamination alarms going "TO" work, the radon business has dropped off to nothing.
If your house is not under a negative pressure and not sealed too tightly, radon won't come into the house because it is an heavier then air gas. We have to pull radon into the house, which is why testing can vary by massive amounts just from opening a door or window.
Training is important!
Practical Training is a must!
Not wanting to disagree, but this kind of thinking is why I never tested my house before. I built the house 20 years ago. It has what I thought to be a tight basement which has a make-up air duct. I did pressure tests a long time ago and believed it to be pressure-neutral to the outside. With exception of a center cut in the floor, there are no visible cracks and the block walls are painted. So I was completely surprised when I got the test results.
The first of two tests was a charcoal canister bought from Home Depot. The results came back 7.9. Later testing with the continuous monitor showed a 48 hour average of 10.3. EPA says to mitigate over 4.0 and in Europe it is 2.8.
The mitigation system dropped my number to 0.7.
Though not certified until yesterday, I have had the monitors since the first of June and have been practicing on friends' and family members' homes. The results seem to be random and unpredictable. Soil type may be the only thing that would cause me to venture a guess before testing. Homes thought to be on gravel soil tested high while homes thought to be on clay soil tested low. But how do you know for sure what is under the house?
I never heard the radon was heavier than air. I do know the homes I tested with central AC seemed to have higher levels on the first and second floors making me believe it easily moves around with air.
After dealing with ozone depletion and man-made global warning which I think are fictitious, I was skeptical about this as well. The training and time spent playing with the monitors changed that. I will not try to scare anyone into testing their home, but will give information and provide the services.
Some regions are of more concern:
Do not attempt vast projects with
half vast experience and ideas.
Radon levels in a home change continuously according to wet or dry soil or freezing ground conditions, barometric pressure, indoor fan use, etc.
I have Radon in my home and have been monitoring it for years electronically.
I first installed a sub slab ventilation system to bring the level from 15 down to below 4. It worked fine until January when the short term level rose to above 10 and stayed there until spring when it dropped back down when the ground thawed. The level also rose again when it rained for several days.
I then added a 200 cfm HRV to the basement. I can now keep the level below 2 most of the year, but in winter it creeps back up to 4. Frozen ground seems to be the largest contributor to the level rising in the basement.
Radon as just about everything follows the path of least resistance and if the path of least resistance is through the foundation it will enter the home.
My foundation is tarred block on the outside latex painted on the inside, all cracks and joints sealed.
Radon is one of the densest of gases on the periodic table. It is 8 times heavier then air, so it must be brought into the house from a negative pressure condition.
This is why an HRV works so well. The more negative pressure sources, such as bathroom and kitchen fans, that are bringing in as much air as they are removing, the less negative pressure your house becomes.
Along with an HRV/ERV, I recommend a 4" ducting from the outside to your return air ducting to maintain a nuetral pressure when the blower is not operating and a slightly positive pressure when it is. I also recommend ECM blowers utilizing the lowest possible speed for constant air to keep a continuous air exchange in the home and to keep the home at a constant, slight positive pressure. This will greatly increase all IAQ issues.
Thanks all,
i didn't know i was actually in a "high conc" zone
I used to be in the radon business, but I got out. I could write a book on why, but the bottom line is that I didn't believe I was providing any value to my customers. I had a run-in with EPA at a school where they wrote a letter that was in direct opposition to their published material that scared the school and parents enough that they *removed* free-standing HEPA filtration systems in classrooms.
The alleged death statistics are from models. One synopsis I read of the causes of lung cancer managed to account for as many as 117 deaths for every 100 people who died. I guess they counted some people multiple times.
From the public summary of the BEIR VI report: "Perhaps one-third of the radon-attributed cases (about 4% of the total lung-cancer deaths) would be avoided if all homes had concentrations below the Environmental Protection Agency's action gudeline of [4 pCi/L]; of these, about 87% would be ever-smokers. It can be noted that the deaths from radon-attributable lung cancer in smokers could most efficiently be reduced through tobacco-control measures, in that most of the radon-related deaths among smokers would not have occurred if the victims had not smoked." (From Health Effect of Exposure to Radon BEIR VI page 19.
So if I can save 1/3 of the people who allegedly die by spending billions nationwide, or I can save most of 87% by convincing people not to smoke (or accept their risk if they choose to do so), what should I do?
According to CDC somewhere between 100,000 and 365,000 people die per year because of obesity. I can save them money on food, make them feel better, and add more years to their lives if I can convince them to eat better and exercise more.
The number that allegedly die from the flu is 35,000 or so per year. While not a scientific study, we noticed that student sick days dropped by over 50% in a December to December comparison without the HEPA filtration in the classroom during the first December, compared to with it the second December (which was a year full of news reports of higher than average flu cases).
The guy I studied under for my radon certification and the state's government guru (who must both be very concerned about lung cancer, right?) went out to have a cigarette together during breaks during training sessions I attended.
EPA's risk model assumes that you are exposed to the level of radon in question for 18 hours per day for 70 years.
Bernard Cohen did a study to see if the "linear no threshold (LNT)" model EPA uses was valid. He concluded that it was not. In fact, he found that across the country counties that had above average radon levels had below average lung cancer deaths. Google radon and hormesis for some interesting ideas. Dr. Cohen did not claim any proof that radon was good for you, he simply concluded that the LNT model was invalid.
Ultimately, after a lot of research, I decided that I was doing virtually no good for my customers.
I am getting ready to install and ERV in my home with the exhaust coming from the bathrooms and the supply going into the living and/or sleeping quarters of my home. My intent is to balance it so that I maintain a very slight positive pressure in my home. I will lower CO2 levels without as large an energy penalty and prevent soil gases of any kind from entering my home. Anything that does sneak in will be diluted. I personally am convinced that this will do far more for my health and comfort than any traditional radon mitigation system.
See what I mean about a book? And I left a butt-load of stuff I'd like to say out...
An Ex-Radon Guy
Forum Rules


text:
NU Board Of Regents To Meet Nov. 29
The University of Nebraska Board of Regents will meet Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, at Varner Hall, 3835 Holdrege St. in Lincoln. The Board meeting begins at 2 p.m. and is open to the public.
During its brief meeting, the Board will consider approval of the program statement and budget for construction of a cancer research center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (addendum V-B-1). The $110 million research center, part of the larger cancer center project at UNMC, will be funded with $50 million in state funds and $60 million in private funds.
A full agenda for the meeting is available here.
Prior to the Board meeting, members of the Board, Regents-elect, and university administrative leaders will participate in board development activities. On Wednesday, the group will hear a presentation from Jane Wellman, a leading expert on budgeting in higher education. On Thursday, Barbara Kaufman, president of ROI Consulting Group Inc. in Rancho Mirage, Calif., will lead an educational workshop focused on processes, effectiveness and board relationships. Kaufman works as an executive, business coach and educator to help organizations increase their leadership effectiveness and organizational capacity. She is experienced in working with both corporate and university governing boards and is widely published in business and higher education journals.
The board development activities do not include university business items and are not open to the public. The sole purpose of the activities is to assist the Board in effectively performing its duties to provide governance of the university. No briefings, discussion of public business, formation of tentative policy, vote, or taking of other action regarding any matter over which the Board has supervision, jurisdiction or advisory power will be permitted.
The Board has participated in similar workshops in past years, led by Kaufman and other facilitators.
Melissa Lee
Director of Communications,
University of Nebraska


text:
IBM Storage Optimisation Breakfast - Brisbane
Visits (13110)
Continuing my romp through Australia and New Zealand, the last Storage Optimisation Breakfast of the week was Brisbane, which the locals here refer to as [Brisvegas], probably for all of the nightlife and casinos here.
IBM Storage Optimisation Breakfast - Melbourne
Visits (10102)
Continuing my romp through Australia and New Zealand, today I presented in Melbourne. We had a huge turn-out, close to a hundred attendees sitting at a dozen different tables.
EMC Failure Brings Down State of Virginia
Visits (16836)
I'm down here in Australia, where the government is a bit stalled for the past two weeks at the moment, known formally as being managed by the [Caretaker government]. Apparently, there is a gap between the outgoing administration and the incoming administration, and the caretaker government is doing as little as possible until the new regime takes over. They are still counting votes, including in some cases dummy ballots known as "donkey votes", the Australian version of the hanging chad. Three independent parties are also trying to decide which major party they will support to finalize the process.
While we are on the topic of a government stalled, I feel bad for the state of Virginia in the United States. Apparently, one of their supposedly high-end enterprise class EMC Symmetrix DMX storage systems, supporting 26 different state agencies in Virginia, crashed on August 25th and now more than a week later, many of those agencies are still down, including the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Taxation and Revenue.
Many of the articles in the press on this event have focused on what this means for the reputation of EMC. Not surprisingly, EMC says that this failure is unprecedented, but really this is just one in a long series of failures from EMC. It reminds me of the last time EMC had a public failure with a dual-controller CLARiiON a few months ago that stopped another company from their operations. There is nothing unique in the physical equipment itself, all IT gear can break or be taken down by some outside force, such as a natural disaster. The real question, though, is why haven't EMC and the State Government been able to restore operations many days after the hardware was fixed?
In the Boston Globe, Zeus Kerravala, a data storage analyst at Yankee Group in Boston, is quoted as saying that such a high-profile breakdown could undermine EMC's credibility with large businesses and government agencies. "I think it's extremely important for them,'' said Kerravala. "When you see a failure of this magnitude, and their inability to get a customer like the state of Virginia up and running almost immediately, all companies ought to look at that and raise their eyebrows.''
Was the backup and disaster recovery solution capable of the scale and service level requirements needed by vital state agencies? Had they tested their backups to ensure they were running correctly, and had they tested their recovery plans? Were they monitoring the success of recent backup operations?
Eventually, the systems will be back up and running, fines and penalties will be paid, and perhaps the guy who chose to go with EMC might feel bad enough to give back that new set of golf clubs, or whatever ridiculously expensive gift EMC reps might offer to government officials these days to influence the purchase decision making process.
(Note: I am not accusing any government employee in particular working at the state of Virginia of any wrongdoing, and mention this only as a possibility of what might have happened. I am sure the media will dig into that possibility soon enough during their investigations, so no sense in me discussing that process any further.)
So what lessons can we learn from this?
To learn more on this event, see the following articles: Washington Post, ZDnet.com, and Government Computer News.
technorati tags: EMC, Symmetrix, DMX, Failure, Virginia, State Government, DMV, IBM, Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery
IBM Storage Optimisation Breakfast - Hobart
Visits (11346)
Continuing my romp through Australia and New Zealand, today I presented in Hobart, the second city on my seven-city tour. Hobart is on a separate island called Tasmania, just south of the main Australian continent. The island is heart-shaped, and Hobart is in the lower right ventricle.
Storage Optimisation Breakfast - Sydney
Visits (12286)
This week and next, I am down under in Australia and New Zealand for a seven-city Storage Optimisation Breakfast series of presentations to clients and prospects. My first city for this seven-city tour was Sydney, Australia.
Sydney is a very modern metropolis. The last time I was in Sydney was in May 2007 to teach an IBM Top Gun class. My post back then on [Dealing with Jet Lag] is as relevant now as it was back then. In addition to being 9 hours off-shifted from last week in Dallas, Texas, I also have to deal with the colder climate, about 40 degrees F cooler down here. The weather is crisp and clear, it is Winter going into Spring down here as the seasons are flipped below the equator.
Many of the buildings are recognizable from the movie ["The Matrix"] which was filmed here. We joked that this seven-city trip was also similar to [The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert], in that both journeys started in Sydney. If you haven't seen the latter, I highly recommend it to get to learn more about Australia as a country.
(Completely useless trivia: Actor Hugo Weaving appeared in both movies. While most people associate him with Australia, where he has lived since 1976, he actually was born in Nigeria, and traveled extensively because his father worked in the computer industry.)
The line-up for each event is simple. After all the attendees sit down for breakfast, we have the following three sessions:
We had a great turn-out for our first event in Sydney, lots of clients and prospects came out for this. There is a lot of enthusiasm for IBM's vision, thought leadership, and broad portfolio of storage solutions.
technorati tags: , IBM, storage, optimisation, events, Sydney, Australia, Hugo Weaving, Anna Wells
VMworld 2010 Sessions to Look For
Visits (12457)
This week I am down under, starting my 7-city Storage Optimisation Breakfast roadshow on Tuesday in Sydney, Australia. I can't be at two places at once, and it seems whenever I am one place, lots of my coworkers are somewhere else at another conference or event. For those at [VMworld 2010] conference in San Francisco this week, IBM is a Platinum Sponsor and hosting a variety of presentations and activities. Here are some things to look forward to:
Sounds like a lot of fun!
technorati tags: IBM, VMworld, Bob Zuber, Duane Fafard, Clod Barrera, David Guzman, Acxiom
Reporting and Managing Virtual Servers and Storage
Visits (14207)
Next week is [VMworld 2010], so I thought today would be a good day to write a blog post about reporting and managing virtual guest images.
As the original lead architect for IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center, I am no stranger to reporting and management tools. Needless to say, if you have lots of virtual guest images, it makes sense to deploy reporting and management software. I had never heard of Veeam before, but I decided to check out Veeam Reporter 4.0, an enterprise-level reporting solution specifically designed for large Virtual Infrastructure (VI3) and vSphere virtual environments that allows you to automatically discover and collect information about your VMware virtual environment. Their 90-page User Guide offered these helpful "First Steps" on page 9 which I used as the master plan for my evaluation.
(FTC Disclosure: I work for IBM, the leader in server virtualization worldwide, and the number #1 reseller of VMware. In this post, I review [Veeam Reporter 4.0] as my official entry for their blogging contest. IBM and Veeam do not have any business relationshiop that I know of, other than both being VMware business partners, so I am treating them here as an Independent Software Vendor (ISV). Veeam has not compensated me in any manner for this review, this review is not to be taken as an endorsement of Veeam or its products, and I was not provided any full or evaluator license keys. The review is based entirely on my experience using the "Free Edition" available to all for download. None of this blog post was pre-reviewed by anyone from Veeam. IBM, of course, also offers similar software, which I mention below for comparison purposes.)
At this point, you might be thinking, "Doesn't IBM offer something like this?" Of course it does! IBM is the leader in infrastructure reporting, monitoring and management software. Last October, [IBM unveiled IBM Systems Director VMcontrol] software. Not only does IBM Systems Director VMcontrol provide similar support for your VMware environment, it also manages Microsoft Hyper-V and Xen deployments, PowerVM on POWER-based serves, and even z/VM guest images on the System z mainframes. Combined with the rest of the IBM Systems Director, you can manage all of your physical and virtual servers with a single tool from a single pane of glass. How cool is that?
IBM VMcontrol comes in [three levels]:
To learn more, see the [VMcontrol Implementation Guide], take it for a test drive, with a [trial download], or talk to one of the many IBMers at [VMworld 2010] in San Francisco, August 30-September 2.
I would like to think Doug Hazelman, Senior Director of Product Strategy at Veeam, for organizing this awesome blogging contest. If you liked this blog post, click here to [vote for me] to get counted for this contest.
technorati tags: IBM, VMcontrol, Veeam, Reporter, VMware, Hyper-V, Xen, PowerVM, zVM, VMworld
IBM Announces TKLM 2.0 Supports KMIP 1.0 Standard
Visits (18763)
Well, it's Tuesday again, and you know what that means! IBM Announcements!
Today, IBM announced its latest IBM Tivoli Key Lifecycle Manager (TKLM) 2.0 version. Here's a quick recap:
For more details, see the IBM [Announcement Letter].
This week, I'll be in Dallas, Texas. If you are an avid reader located in or near the Dallas area, and want to connect, you know how to reach me.
technorati tags: IBM, TKLM, KMIP, OASIS, encryption, FDE, Multitenancy, EKM, LTO, LTO-4, LTO-5, TS1120, TS1130, DS8000, DS5000, role-based, authorization, Emulex, Brocade, LSI
Storage Efficiency versus Data Reduction
Visits (22333)
Wrapping up my week's theme of storage optimization, I thought I would help clarify the confusion between data reduction and storage efficiency. I have seen many articles and blog posts that either use these two terms interchangeably, as if they were synonyms for each other, or as if one is merely a subset of the other.
So why am I making a distinction on terminology here?
Data reduction is already a well-known concept among specific industries, like High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Business Analytics. IBM has the largest marketshare in supercomputers that do data reduction for all kinds of use cases, for scientific research, weather prediction, financial projections, and decision support systems. IBM has also recently acquired a lot of companies related to Business Analytics, such as Cognos, SPSS, CoreMetrics and Unica Corp. These use data reduction on large amounts of business and marketing data to help drive new sources of revenues, provide insight for new products and services, create more focused advertising campaigns, and help understand the marketplace better.
There are certainly enough methods of reducing the quantity of storage capacity consumed, like thin provisioning, data deduplication and compression, to warrant an "umbrella term" that refers to all of them generically. I would prefer we do not "overload" the existing phrase "data reduction" but rather come up with a new phrase, such as "storage efficiency" or "capacity optimization" to refer to this category of features.
IBM is certainly quite involved in both data reduction as well as storage efficiency. If any of my readers can suggest a better phrase, please comment below.
technorati tags: IBM, data reduction, storage efficiency, histogram, linear regression, thin provisioning, data deduplication, lossy, lossless, EMC, Centera, hash collisions, Information Archive, LTO, LTO-DC, SLDC, ALDC, compression, deduplication, Storwize, supercomputers, HPC, analytics
On Android, Java, and Innovation - My new Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant
Visits (18405)
In preparation for my [upcoming trip to Australia and New Zealand], I decided to upgrade my smartphone. My service provider T-Mobile offered me the chance to try out any new phone for 14 days for only ten dollar re-stocking fee. For the past 16 months, I have used the Google G1 phone. This is based on a storage-optimized Android operating system, based on open source Linux, with applications processed in a storage-optimized virtual machine called Dalvik, based on open source Java. According to Wikipedia, Android-based phones have #1 market share [outselling both BlackBerry OS and Apple iOS phones]. There are over 70 different companies using Android, driven away from the proprietary interfaces from Apple, BlackBerry and Microsoft.
Since I was already familiar with the Android operating system, I chose the Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant. I liked my G1, but it had only a small amount of internal memory to store applications. The G1 supported an external Micro SDHC card, but this only was used for music and photos. There was no way to install applications on the memory card, so I found myself having to uninstall applications to make room for new ones. By contrast, the Vibrant has 16GB internal memory, plenty of room for all applications, and supports Micro SDHC up to 32GB in size. My model can pre-installed with a 2GB card, of which 1.4GB is consumed by James Cameron's full-length movie Avatar. On the G1, swapping out memory cards was relatively easy. On the Vibrant, you have to take the phone apart to swap out cards, so I won't be doing that very often. I will probably just get a 32GB card and leave it in there permanently.
(FTC disclosure: I work for IBM. IBM has working relationships with Oracle, Google, and lots of other companies. IBM offers its own commercial version of Java related tools. I own stock in IBM, Apple, Google. I have friends and family who work at Microsoft. My review below is based entirely on my own experience of my new Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant phone. Samsung has created different models for different service providers. The T-Mobile Vibrant is an external USB storage device with telephony capabilities, comparable to the AT&T Captivate, Verizon Fascinate, or Sprint Epic 4G. The majority of mobile phones in the world contain IBM technology. This post is not necessarily an endorsement for Samsung over other smartphone manufacturers, nor T-Mobile over other service providers. I provide this information in context of storage optimization, state-of-the-art for smartphones in general, and disputes related to software patents between companies. I hold 19 patents, most of which are software patents.)
When Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, it inherited stewardship of Java. Java is offered in two flavors. Java Standard Edition (SE) for machines that are planted firmly on or below your desk, and Java Micro Edition (ME) for machines that are carried around. Most Java-based phones limit themselves to Java ME, but Google decided to base its smartphones on the more powerful Java SE, but then optimize for the limited storage and computing resources. These two levels of Java have radically different licensing terms and conditions, so Larry Ellison of Oracle cried foul. On The Register, Gavin Clarke has an excellent article with details of the Oracle-vs-Google complaint. Daniel Dilger opines that Oracle [might kill Google's Android and software patents all at once]. Fellow blogger Mark Twomey (EMC) on his StorageZilla blog, argues that [it's not about Android phones, but Android everything].
My Vibrant is roughly the size of a half-inch stack of 3x5 index cards in my hand. In my humble opinion, the problem is the grey area between mobile phone and the desktop personal computer. Laptops, netbooks, iPads, tablet computers, eBook readers, and smartphones fall somewhere in between. At what point do you stop licensing Java SE and start licensing Java ME instead?
Let's take a look at all the stuff my new Samsung Vibrant can do, and let you decide for yourself. I have 140 applications installed, which I can access alphabetically. I also have up to seven screens which I can fill with application icons and widgets to simplify access. The screen measures about 4 inches diagonally. Click on each image below to see the full 480x800 resolution.
Just in case I switch to a local SIM card while abroad in another country, I asked T-mobile to unlock my phone, which they happily did at no additional charge. For example, while I am in Australia, I can either leave my T-Mobile USA chip in the phone, and pay roaming charges per minute, or I can purchase a SIM chip from a local phone company with pre-paid minutes. This often includes unlimited free incoming calls to a local Australian phone number, and voicemail.
Unlocking the phone to use different SIM cards is different than "jailbreaking", a term that refers to Apple's products. For Android phones, jailbreaking is called "rooting", as the process involves getting "root" user access that you normally don't have. The only reason I have found to have my phone "rooted" was to take these lovely screen shots, using the "Screen Shot It" application. This is another application that I paid for. I used the free trial for a few screenshots first to check it out, liked the results, and bought the application.
So, this new smartphone looks like a keeper. I got a screen protector to avoid scratching, and a two-piece case that snaps around the phone to give it more heft. All my chargers are "Mini USB" for my old G1 phone, and this new Vibrant phone is "Micro USB" instead, so I had to order new ones for my car, my office, and for my iGo (tip A97).
This review is more to focus on the fact that the IT industry is changing, and what was traditionally performed on personal computers are now being done on new handheld devices. Android provides a platform for innovation and healthy competition. Let's all hope Oracle and Google can work out their differences amicably.
IBM announces Tivoli Storage Productivity Center v4.2 release
Visits (16408)
Well, it's Tuesday, and you know what that means! IBM Announcements!
This week, IBM announces its latest versions of IBM [Tivoli Storage Productivity Center v4.2] and [Tivoli Storage Productivity Center for Replication on System z v4.2]. I was the original lead architect for Productivity Center back in the version 1 and version 2 days, and am proud to see my little baby has grown up to be a fine young citizen. Analysts recognize IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center as one of the top three best SRM products currently in the marketplace. Here are the key highlights:
At last month's Storage University, I presented an overview of [Tivoli Storage Productivity Center v4.1]. Many of the questions were along the lines of "When will TPC do xyz?" and all I could answer was "Soon" since I knew they would be delivered with this TPC v4.2 release, but I couldn't provide any more details than that at the time.
technorati tags: IBM, TPC, TPC-R, Tivoli, Productivity Center, SRM, HACMP, PowerHA, MSCS, VCS, GDPS, GDPS-DCM
IBM Storage Optimisation Breakfast - Australia and New Zealand
Visits (11895)
Mark your calednars! If you live or work anywhere near Australia or New Zealand, I will be presenting in a 7-city series in both countries. Here is my schedule:
I am just one of the speakers. We will have at each location the local IBM team and IBM clients giving testimonials. All the speakers will be available afterward for Q&A. It's shaping up to be an exciting series of events!
technorati tags: , IBM, storage, optimisation, australia, new zealand
Back To School Time Again
Visits (14809)
Well, it's that Back-To-School time again! Mo's thirteen-year-old reluctantly enters the eight grade, still upset the summer ended so abruptly. Richard's nephew returns to the University of Arizona for another year. Natalie has chosen to move to Phoenix and pursue a post-grad degree at Arizona State University. They all have two things in common, they all want a new computer, and they are all on a budget.
Fellow blogger Bob Sutor (IBM) pointed me to an excellent article on [How to Build Your Own $200 PC], which reminded me of the [XS server I built] for my 2008 Google Summer of Code project with the One Laptop per Child organization. Now that the project is over, I have upgraded it to Ubuntu Desktop 10.04 LTS, known as Lucid Lynx. Building your own PC with your student is a great learning experience in itself. Of course, this is just the computer itself, you still need to buy the keyboard, mouse and video monitor separately, if you don't already have these.
If you are not interested in building a PC from scratch, consider taking an old Windows-based PC and installing Linux to bring it new life. Many of the older PCs don't have enough processor or memory to run Windows Vista or the latest Windows 7, but they will all run Linux.
(If you think your old system has resale value, try checking out the ["trade-in estimator"] at the BestBuy website to straighten out your misperception. However, if you do decide to sell your system, consider replacing the disk drive with a fresh empty one, or wipe the old drive clean with one of the many free Linux utilities. Jason Striegel on Engadget has a nice [HOWTO Erase your old hard disk drive] article. If you don't have your original manufacturer's Windows installation discs, installing Linux instead may help keep you out of legal hot water.)
Depending on what your school projects require, you want to make sure that you can use a printer or scanner with your Linux system. Don't buy a printer unless it is supported by Linux. The Linux Foundation maintains a [Printer Compatability database]. Printing was one of the first things I got working for my Linux-based OLPC laptop, which I documented in my December 2007 post [Printing on XO Laptop with CUPS and LPR] and got a surprising following over at [OLPC News].
To reduce paper, many schools are having students email their assignments, or use Cloud Computing services like Google Docs. Both the University of Arizona and Arizona State University use Google Docs, and the students I have talked with love the idea. Whether they use a Mac, Linux or Windows PC, all students can access Google Docs through their browser. An alternative to Google Docs is Windows Live Skydrive, which has the option to upload and edit the latest Office format documents from the Firefox browser on Linux. Both offer you the option to upload GBs of files, which could be helpful transferring data from an old PC to a new one.
Lastly, there are many free video games for Linux, for when you need to take a break from all that studying. Ever since IBM's [36-page Global Innovation Outlook 2.0] study showed that playing video games made you a better business leader, I have been encouraging all students that I tutor or mentor that playing games is a more valuable use of your time than watching television. IBM considers video games the [future of learning]. Even the [Violent Video Games are Good for Kids]. It is no wonder that IBM provides the technology that runs all the major game platforms, including Microsoft Xbox360, Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation.
(FTC disclosure: I work for IBM. IBM has working relationships with Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony. I use both Google Docs and Microsoft Live Skydrive for personal use, and base my recommendations purely on my own experience. I own stock in IBM, Google and Apple. I have friends and family that work at Microsoft. I own an Apple Mac Mini and Sony PlayStation. I was a Linux developer earlier in my IBM career. IBM considers Linux a strategic operating system for both personal and professional use. IBM has selected Firefox as its standard browser internally for all employees. I run Linux both at home and at the office. I graduated from the University of Arizona, and have friends who either work or take classes there, as well as at Arizona State University.)
Linux skills are marketable and growing more in demand. Linux is used in everything from cellphones to mainframes, as well as many IBM storage devices such as the IBM SAN Volume Controller, XIV and ProtecTIER data deduplication solution. In addition to writing term papers, spreadsheets and presentations with OpenOffice, your Linux PC can help you learn programming skills, web design, and database administration.
To all the students in my life, I wish you all good things in the upcoming school year!
technorati tags: IBM, Linux, Bob Sutor, BestBuy, Ubuntu, Video Games, erase, hard+disk, Google Docs, Windows Live, Skydrive, Linux Foundation, OLPC, Google, Summer of Code, Firefox, xBox360, Nintendo, Wii, Sony, Playstation
#IBMtechU IBM Storage University in Washington DC - Day 5 the New zEnterprise
Comments (6) Visits (27990)
Wrapping up my coverage of the annual [2010 System Storage Technical University], I attended what might be perhaps the best session of the conference. Jim Nolting, IBM Semiconductor Manufacturing Engineer, presented the new IBM zEnterprise mainframe, "A New Dimension in Computing", under the Federal track.
The zEnterprises debunks the "one processor fits all" myth. For some I/O-intensive workloads, the mainframe continues to be the most cost-effective platform. However, there are other workloads where a memory-rich Intel or AMD x86 instance might be the best fit, and yet other workloads where the high number of parallel threads of reduced instruction set computing [RISC] such as IBM's POWER7 processor is more cost-effective. The IBM zEnterprise combines all three processor types into a single system, so that you can now run each workload on the processor that is optimized for that workload.
What does this all mean for the IT industry? First, the zEnterprise is perfectly positioned for [three-tier architecture] applications. A typical example could be a client-facing web-server on x86, talking to business logic running on POWER7, which in turn talks to database on z/OS in the z196 mainframe. Second, the zEnterprise is well-positioned for government agencies looking to modernize their operations and significantly reduce costs, corporations looking to consolidate data centers, and service providers looking to deploy public cloud offerings. Third, IBM storage is a great fit for the zEnterprise, with the IBM DS8000 series, XIV, SONAS and Information Archive accessible from both z196 and zBX servers.
To learn more, see the [12-page brochure] or review the collection of [IBM Redbooks]. Check out the [IBM Conferences schedule] for an event near you. Next year, the IBM Storage University will be held July 18-22, 2011 in Orlando, Flordia.
technorati tags: IBM, Technical University, zEnterprise, x86, POWER7, RISC, z/OS, Linux, AIX, OpenSolaris, Oracle, FICON, NFS, z196, zBX, DB2, SAO, IEDN, INMN, RDz, ISV, Eclipse, Cloud Computing
#IBMtechU IBM Storage University in Washington DC - Day 5 Grid, SOA and Cloud Computing
Visits (19657)
Continuing my coverage of the annual [2010 System Storage Technical University], I attended some sessions from the System x and Federal track side of this conference.
I find it amusing that server people limit themselves to server sessions, and storage people to storage sessions. Sometimes, you have to step "outside your comfort zone" and learn something new, something different. Open your eyes and look around a bit. You might just be surprised what you find.
(FTC note: I work for IBM. IBM considers Novell a strategic Linux partner. Novell did not provide me a copy of Platespin Recon, I have no experience using it, and I mention it only in context of the presentation made. IBM resells Avocent solutions, and we use LCM gear in the Tucson Executive Briefing Center.)
technorati tags: IBM, Technical University, Grid, SOA, Cloud Computing, P2V, VMware, Novell, Platespin, x86, KVM, LCM, GCM, Avocent, CAC, TFA
#IBMtechU IBM Storage University in Washington DC - Day 4 Storage Free-for-All
Visits (17929)
Continuing my coverage of the annual [2010 System Storage Technical University], I participated in the storage free-for-all, which is a long-time tradition, started at SHARE User Group conference, and carried forward to other IT conferences. The free-for-all is a Q&A Panel of experts to allow anyone to ask any question. These are sometimes called "Birds of a Feather" (BOF). Last year, they were called "Meet the Experts", one for mainframe storage, and the other for storage attached to distributed systems. This year, we had two: one focused on Tivoli Storage software, and the second to cover storage hardware. This post provides a recap of the Storage Hardware free-for-all.
The emcee for the event was Scott Drummond. The other experts on the panel included Dan Thompson, Carlos Pratt, Jack Arnold, Jim Blue, Scott Schroder, Ed Baker, Mike Wood, Steve Branch, Randy Arseneau, Tony Abete, Jim Fisher, Scott Wein, Rob Wilson, Jason Auvenshine, Dave Canan, Al Watson, and myself, yours truly, Tony Pearson.What can I do to improve performance on my DS8100 disk system? It is running a mix of sequential batch processing and my medical application (EPIC). I have 16GB of cache and everything is formatted as RAID-5.
We are familiar with EPIC. It does not "play well with others", so IBM recommends you consider dedicating resources for just the EPIC data. Also consider RAID-10 instead for the EPIC data.How do I evaluate IBM storage solutions in regards to [PCI-DSS] requirements.
Well, we are not lawyers, and some aspects of the PCI-DSS requirements are outside the storage realm. In March 2010, IBM was named ["Best Security Company"] by SC Magazine, and we have secure storage solutions for both disk and tape systems. IBM DS8000 and DS5000 series offer Full Disk Encryption (FDE) disk drives. IBM LTO-4/LTO-5 and TS1120/TS1130 tape drives meet FIPS requirements for encryption. We will provide you contact information on an encryption expert to address the other parts of your PCI-DSS specific concerns.My telco will only offer FCIP routing for long-distance disk replication, but my CIO wants to use Fibre Channel routing over CWDM, what do I do?
IBM XIV, DS8000 and DS5000 all support FC-based long distance replication across CWDM. However, if you don't have dark fiber, and your telco won't provide this option, you may need to re-negotiate your options.My DS4800 sometimes reboots repeatedly, what should I do.
This was a known problem with microcode level 760.28, it was detecting a failed drive. You need to replace the drive, and upgrade to the latest microcode.Should I use VMware snapshots or DS5000 FlashCopy?
VMware snapshots are not free, you need to upgrade to the appropriate level of VMware to get this function, and it would be limited to your VMware data only. The advantage of DS5000 FlashCopy is that it applies to all of your operating systems and hypervisors in use, and eliminates the consumption of VMware overhead. It provides crash-consistent copies of your data. If your DS5000 disk system is dedicated to VMware, then you may want to compare costs versus trade-offs.Any truth to the rumor that Fibre Channel protocol will be replaced by SAS?
SAS has some definite cost advantages, but is limited to 8 meters in length. Therefore, you will see more and more usage of SAS within storage devices, but outside the box, there will continue to be Fibre Channel, including FCP, FICON and FCoE. The Fibre Channel Industry Alliance [FCIA] has a healthy roadmap for 16 Gbps support and 20 Gbps interswitch link (ISL) connections.What about Fibre Channel drives, are these going away?
We need to differentiate the connector from the drive itself. Manufacturers are able to produce 10K and 15K RPM drives with SAS instead of FC connectors. While many have suggested that a "Flash-and-Stash" approach of SSD+SATA would eliminate the need for high-speed drives, IBM predicts that there just won't be enough SSD produced to meet the performance needs of our clients over the next five years, so 15K RPM drives, more likely with SAS instead of FC connectors, will continue to be deployed for the next five years.We'd like more advanced hands-on labs, and to have the certification exams be more product-specific rather than exams for midrange disk or enterprise disk that are too wide-ranging.
Ok, we will take that feedback to the conference organizers.IBM Tivoli Storage Manager is focused on disaster recovery from tape, how do I incorporate remote disk replication.
This is IBM's Unified Recovery Management, based on the seven tiers of disaster recovery established in 1983 at GUIDE conference. You can combine local recovery with FastBack, data center server recovery with TSM and FlashCopy manager, and combine that with IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center for Replication (TPC-R), GDOC and GDPS to manage disk replication across business continuity/disaster recovery (BC/DR) locations.IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center for Replication only manages the LUNs, what about server failover and mapping the new servers to the replicated LUNs?
There are seven tiers of disaster recovery. The sixth tier is to manage the storage replication only, as TPC-R does. The seventh tier adds full server and network failover. For that you need something like IBM GDPS or GDOC that adds this capability.All of my other vendor kit has bold advertising, prominent lettering, neon lights, bright colors, but our IBM kit is just black, often not even identifying the specific make or model, just "IBM" or "IBM System Storage".
IBM has opted for simplified packaging and our sleek, signature "raven black" color, and pass these savings on to you.Bring back the SHARK fins!
We will bring that feedback to our development team. ("Shark" was the codename for IBM's ESS 800 disk model. Fiberglass "fins" were made as promotional items and placed on top of ESS 800 disk systems to help "identify them" on the data center floor. Unfortunately, professional golfer [<a hrefWhere is Infiniband?
Like SAS, Infiniband had limited distance, about 10 to 15 meters, which proved unusable for server-to-storage network connections across data center floorspace. However, there are now 150 meter optical cables available, and you will find Infiniband used in server-to-server communications and inside storage systems. IBM SONAS uses Infiniband today internally. IBM DCS9900 offers Infiniband host-attachment for HPC customers.We need midrange storage for our mainframe please?
In addition to the IBM System Storage DS8000 series, the IBM SAN Volume Controller and IBM XIV are able to connect to Linux on System z mainframes.We need "Do's and Don'ts" on which software to run with which hardware.
IBM [Redbooks] are a good source for that, and we prioritize our efforts based on all those cards and letters you send the IBM Redbooks team.The new TPC v4 reporting tool requires a bit of a learning curve.
The new reporting tool, based on Eclipse's Business Intelligence Reporting Tool [BIRT], is now standardized across the most of the Tivoli portfolio. Check out the [Tivoli Common Reporting] community page for assistance.An unfortunate side-effect of using server virtualization like VMware is that it worsens management and backup issues. We now have many guests on each blade server.
IBM is the leading reseller of VMware, and understands that VMware adds an added layer of complexity. Thankfully, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager backups uses a lightweight agent. IBM [System Director VMcontrol] can help you manage a variety of hypervisor environments.
This was a great interactive session. I am glad everyone stayed late Thursday evening to participate in this discussion.
technorati tags: IBM, Technical University, DS8100, EPIC, PCI-DSS, FDE, Encryption, XIV, CWDM, DS5000, SAS, InfiniBand, FCIA, FCoE, FICON, GUIDE, Tivoli, Productivity Center, TPC-R, GDPS, SONAS, SVC, BIRT, Systems Director, VMcontrol
#IBMtechU IBM Storage University in Washington DC - Day 3 XIV Sessions
Visits (18434)
Continuing coverage of my week in Washington DC for the annual [2010 System Storage Technical University], I attended several XIV sessions throughout the week. There were many XIV sessions. I could not attend all of them. Jack Arnold, one of my colleagues at the IBM Tucson Executive Briefing Center, often presents XIV to clients and Business Partners. He covered all the basics of XIV architecture, configuration, and features like snapshots and migration. Carlos Lizarralde presented "Solving VMware Challenges with XIV". Ola Mayer presented "XIV Active Data Migration and Disaster Recovery".
Here is my quick recap of two in particular that I attended:
Several members of the XIV team thanked me for my April 5th post [Double Drive Failure Debunked: XIV Two Years Later]. Since April 5th, IBM has sold more XIV units this quarter than any prior quarters. I am glad to have helped!
technorati tags: IBM, Technical University, XIV, HP, EMC, CLARiiON, VMAX, TCO, CRAC, JBOD, SAP, Oracle, ASM, Microsoft Exchange, ESRP
#IBMtechU IBM Storage University in Washington DC - Day 3 My Other Two Sessions
Visits (14601)
Continuing my coverage of the annual [2010 System Storage Technical University], I gave three sessions, some twice to accommodate the size of the rooms. The first was the ["Storage for a Green Data Center"] I covered in my previous post. This post covers the other two.
I have safely returned back to Tucson, but have still a lot of notes of the other sessions I attended, so will cover them this week.
#IBMtechU IBM Storage University in Washington DC - Day 2 Green Data Center
Visits (18182)
Continuing my week in Washington DC for the annual [2010 System Storage Technical University], I presented a session on Storage for the Green Data Center, and attended a System x session on Greening the Data Center. Since they were related, I thought I would cover both in this post.
It seems that Green IT initiatives are more important to the storage-oriented attendees than the x86-oriented folks. I suspect that is because many System x servers are deployed in small and medium businesses that do not have data centers, per se.
technorati tags: IBM, Technical University, Green Data Center, PUE, DCiE, Free Cooling, ASHRAE, LEED, SSD, Disk, Tape, SONAS, Archive
#IBMtechU IBM Storage University in Washington DC - Day 2 More Keynote Sessions
Visits (15737)
Continuing my week in Washington DC for the annual [2010 System Storage Technical University], here is my quick recap of the keynote sessions presented Monday morning. Marlin Maddy, Worldwide Technical Events Executive for IBM Systems Lab Services and Training, served as emcee.
I heard several audience members indicate that this is the first time someone finally explained Cloud Computing to them in a way that made sense!
technorati tags: IBM, Technical University, eX5, CloudBurst, x86, Maria Azua, cloud computing, Department of Education, private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud