Did you know that the same metadata you use to define and transform synthetic files in RowGen can be used to define and transform real data using CoSORT's SortCL (and vice versa)?

2006 Metadata and Data Modeling Summit
Practical Approaches in Metadata, 
Data Modeling and Compliance
Sheraton Studio City, Orlando, Florida
February 27 - March 1, 2006

To demonstrate the benefits of SortCL's simple, re-useable, and portable metadata syntax, IRI's presentation will include examples of the same SortCL metadata in use within CoSORT, FACT, and RowGen. Please contact IRI if you would like a free pass to the entire conference, including the February 27th presentation.

In an effort to expand and add value to 'CoSORT solution support' at data warehousing and business intelligence sites, IRI has formed a consulting agreement with Avenues International, LLC.

Founded in 1994, Avenues provides end-to-end consulting services in: business analysis and requirements gathering; architecture; OLTP and multi-dimensional data modeling; relational database design, creation and maintenance; ETL design and development; enterprise-wide data warehouses and reporting; OLAP design and development; data exchange and transforms; and, web-based intranet and internet applications. 

Under  its agreement with IRI, Avenues will receive software and training in CoSORT, FACT, and RowGen to expertly integrate and tune the software in large production environments. This will help Avenues optimize clients' ETL and reporting performance within existing applications, and engineer faster, more cost-effective operational alternatives. Click here for more information.

As with prior CoSORT versions, 8.2.3 is also available for HP-UX on Itanium 2 for both 32- and 64-bit application software and production environments. Similarly, CoSORT continues to support all releases of HP-UX (9-11) on first- and later-generation PA-RISC hardware chipsets.

FACT and RowGen are also available for these platforms, and all three IRI offerings are available on Itanium hardware running Linux. Click here for a list of CoSORT-supported UNIX platforms.

• CoSORT solutions serve data warehouse (ETL) architects, very large database (VLDB) administrators, mainframe sort migrators, and developers and independent software vendors (ISVs) building faster sorting and data transformation into their applications.
  
• CoSORT delivers the IT industry's fastest parallel UNIX sort engine and one of its most powerful flat-file manipulation and reporting programs, SortCL, which combines: row filtering and conditional selection, sort/merge and joins, drill-down aggregation and cross-row calculation, conversion and collation of more than 100 data types, database sequencing, and multi-target, multi-level output reformatting for reports, hand-offs, and DB load utilities.
  
• Other special CoSORT features include: coroutine sort architecture; fully tunable and scalable parallel sort performance on all multi-CPU UNIX and Windows servers; cross-calculation on aggregated values and aggregation on cross-calculated values, cross-table joins (matching) integrated with data conversion and expression logic; multinational date and timestamp support; cross-platform Java GUI; and, e-commerce reporting via CSV/CLF and IP Address manipulation, plus ELF input and HTML output.
  
• CoSORT also has plug-n-play replacements or parameter converters for sorting in: ACUCOBOL-GT, Amdocs Ensemble (telecom billing) Ascential DataStage; Informatica PowerCenter and PowerMart; Cincom Supra; IBM's DB2 loader and MVS/VSE sorts; MF COBOL Workbench, Net and Server Express; SAS System; Software AG Natural; Sun MRP, and, UNIX SVR4 (/bin/sort), et al.
  
• IRI has begun to offer other data manipulation and management solutions like: FACT for fast unloads from Oracle; RowGen for custom data generation and format simulations; netCONVERT for mainframe tape data conversion and reformatting; x-PRESS for fast, and secure data compression and decompression; Logon for controlling and auditing access to UNIX systems; and Permitas for licensing and activating software applications.
  
• The CoSORT Journal is a quarterly Email newsletter designed to keep subscribers updated on salient news and events at IRI, Inc. Past editions are archived here.

To remove or add an Email address in future CoSORT Journal mailings, please email news@iri.com. To contact an IRI agent, click here, call 1-800-333-SORT, or email info@iri.com.

CoSORT®, SortCL, Rowgen and Permitas are trademarks of IRI. FACT is a trademark of IDS Ltd. (CoSORT Korea). Other product or brand names mentioned herein may be (registered) trademarks or copyrights of their respective owners.

DataStage & Informatica Sort Plug-Ins

IRI has updated its unique CoSORT PlugIn for DataStage XE to be compatible with DataStage XE v7 and 7.5 on UNIX and Windows. IRI has also updated the CoSORT Advanced External Procedure (AEP) to replace the slower Sorter Tx Transformation in Informatica PowerCenter/Power Mart v7 and 8.  

Click on the links shown above for more information on IRI's seamless replacements for faster sorting (and thus downstream jobs) in these popular ETL suites.

Try Some Simple Re-Tuning ...

As Windows server hardware configurations grow with the volume of data they are processing, so grows the need to optimize CoSORT performance on these systems. IRI has recently discovered speed gains up to 30% in sorting large data volumes in v8.2.3 on single hard-drive systems by changing the resident cosort.rc file or values in the registry path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Innovative Routines Int'l, Inc.\CoSORT 8.2\Global Configuration

MEMORY_PERTHREAD_MAX
By default, this is set to 30% of available RAM. IRI now recommends that you increase the (01) value to at least 50% of physical RAM and remember to set the subsequent MEMORY_PERTHREAD_MAX values as fractional amounts; i.e. the (02) value is 1/2 of the (01) value, and (04) is 1/4 of (01).

EXTERNAL_MAXMEM
You will need to add this parameter to the cosort.rc file or registry: right click on Global Configuration, left click on New, String Value. Set its value equal to your new MEMORY_PERTHREAD_MAX(n) value, where n=THREAD_MAX.

BLOCKSIZE
Try 4096KB instead of 320KB if you use only 1 HDD.

THREAD_MAX
If you have 2 CPUs aboard but only 1 work area, try setting THREAD_MAX to 1. 

WORK_AREA
Specify a directory on a disk drive different from where your sort input and output files will reside. If you do have this extra drive, set BLOCKSIZE to 1MB.

Verify new settings with the command: sortcl /rc. IRI would appreciate your confidential feedback and comparisons with prior speed results in cosort.log. As always, email questions to  support@iri.com.