Workload Manager

In IBM mainframes, Workload Manager (WLM) is a base component of MVS/ESA mainframe operating system, and its successors up to and including z/OS. It controls the access to system resources for the work executing on z/OS based on administrator-defined goals. Workload Manager components also exist for other operating systems. For example, an IBM Workload Manager is also a software product for AIX operating system.

On a mainframe computer many different applications execute at the same time. The expectations for executing work are consistent execution times and predictable access to databases. On z/OS the Workload Manager (WLM) component fulfills these needs by controlling work's access to system resources based on external specifications by the system administrator.

The system administrator classifies work to service classes. The classification mechanism uses work attributes like transaction names, user identifications or program names which specific applications are known to use. In addition the system administrator defines goals and importance levels for the service classes representing the application work. The goals define performance expectations for the work. Goals can be expressed as response times, a relative speed (termed velocity) or as discretionary if no specific requirement exists. The response time describes the duration for the work requests after they entered the system and until the application signals to WLM that the execution is completed. WLM is now interested to assure that the average response time of a set of work requests ends in the expected time or that a percentage of work requests fulfill the expectations of the end user.

The definition of a response time also requires that the applications communicate with WLM. If this is not possible a relative speed measure – named execution velocity - is used to describe the end user expectation to the system.

This measurement is based on system states which are continuously collected. The system states describe when a work request uses a system resource and when it must wait for it because it is used by other work. The latter is named a delay state. The quotient of all using states to all productive states (using and delay states) multiplied by 100 is the execution velocity. This measurement does not require any communication of the application with the WLM component but it is also more abstract than a response time goal.

...
Wikipedia