Teaser

Z-Minds is a podcast that explores innovation in the Z-Community. The host, Sammy, interviews thought leaders and game changers in the Z-World. In this episode, he speaks with Paul Robichaux, co-founder of Nuera Software, about their upcoming webinar on list-directed IPL. Paul also talks about his hobby of using a John Deere tractor to clear creeks and channels. The webinar will discuss the anatomy of a list-directed IPL and how various components work together. Nuera's products, Validated Boot and Secure Boot Report, aim to improve the integrity of ZOS. The webinar is targeted at ZOS system managers, programmers, auditors, and security staff. Listeners are invited to register for the webinar and stay connected with ZMinds for future episodes. Welcome to Z-Minds, the podcast where innovation meets inspiration in the Z-Community. I'm your host, Sammy, and I'm here to take you on an exciting journey into the minds of the thought leaders, trailblazers, and game changers who are redefining what's possible in the Z-World. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just finding your way in the Z-Community, Z-Minds is your ultimate backstage path to bold ideas, expert insights, and groundbreaking perspectives. Together, we'll spark collaboration, ignite innovation, and explore the trends and tools that are driving this incredible community forward. So if you're ready to be inspired by thought-provoking discussions designed to challenge, empower, and guide the next generation of Z-Professionals, stick around. This is Z-Minds, and it's time to tap into the minds of the Z-Community. I'm here today with Paul Robichaux, who's the co-founder of Nuera Software. Paul's been kind enough to join me today to answer a couple of questions about what we can expect from Nuera's newest webinar. It's titled, Take on the Last Mile with a List-Directed IPL. Welcome, Paul. Thank you so much for making time to join me today. Hello, Sammy. Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here with you. You're very welcome. And I wanted to start on something that I do have some questions about before we start on the webinar. All right. I've heard a rumor that when you are not at the office, you like to spend a lot of time out on your John Deere tractor. Is that true? It is true, and it's especially true at this time of the year when we're expecting an atmospheric river here in California. So for the last few days, I've been busy clearing creeks and channels to make sure that the water will flow correctly. Water control, flood control is a big issue here in California, as is fire and other things. But in my case, the John Deere helps me to clear the creeks and channels, and that's really important on my property. Once that rain has finished, the grass is going to grow like crazy, and without it, I would be buried in grass up to my neck. So, yeah, I love it quite a bit and use it all the time. Well, that's good. I'm glad that you're not just in the office all the time, as it seems to be some days. So it's good to have a psychology. It's a good distraction. Yeah, it's a good distraction, no question. Well, now that I've got that much-needed answer, let's move on to what we're actually here for today. I've heard you talking about this new webinar, and you've referred to it as a deep dive into the anatomy of a list-directed IPL. Can you kind of walk me through exactly what you mean by that? Sure. Well, in the sense of using the analogy of anatomy, list-directed IPL, validated boot, secure boot, assured boot, there's many different names for the same thing. It's really a collection of parts and pieces that are brought together in order to accomplish a single task, which is to improve or assure the integrity of ZOS. And so much like the knee bones connected to the thigh bone, which is connected to the backbone, what we're going to find in this webinar is that a lot of structural pieces will need to be put together in order for ZOS to be able to perform what is referred to as a list-directed IPL. Things like key rings and certificates, RACF profiles and permits, all of these things will have to be created and work in concert with one another. So one piece is connected to the next piece, which is connected to the next piece, which is connected to the next. And if those pieces and connections don't fit right or don't connect directly, then there's no chance to find the resources that are used in the IPL in order to be able to actually create a list-directed IPL. That definitely makes more sense now. I see where you're going with that. Well, I'm definitely interested to learn about the requirements and how the resulting structures and sign components do all fit together. Are you planning to show a demo of New Era's products when you do do the webinar? Oh, absolutely. I mean, New Era has invested heavily in being able to support this process with essentially two major enhancements. One is called Validated Boot or ValBoot, which is a component of the supplemental inspectors that are offered as an adjunct to ImageFocus. And the other is referred to as the Secure Boot Report, which is integrated into ImageFocus. The first builds and validates the structures, and the second one continuously monitors the structures to determine whether or not they remain intact and remain viable. So that result of that audit of the structures themselves is a part of the overall audit reports that are created by ImageFocus. Well, it does sound like some benefits will really come to ZOS system managers, programmers, auditors, security staff. Does that sound like that's kind of the audience you were going for with this? It does. And I think, you know, they may not feel it today, but in the future there will be increasing pressure for them to be able to mimic in the ZOS environment using the ZOS operating system the same kind of secure boot facilities that I'm sure many of them are familiar with in Unix, Linux, and Windows. Wonderful. Well, thank you so much. I do at this time want to extend an invitation to our listeners to join our upcoming presentation and come check it out on December 10th at 9 a.m. Pacific or at noon for those on the East Coast. I am including a registration link in the show notes, so go check that out, register, and make sure you sign up soon. I know we've already ran one webinar and we saw a lot of people come out. We don't want it to fill up before everyone can get registered in. So go register, join us online, and before we do wrap this up, do you have any final thoughts for our listeners? You know, I want to thank them for their continued support of New Era and its products. And I also want to assure them that we're going to continue the tradition of supporting the broad distribution of ZOS information through your podcast in the same way that we did through the Z Exchange. Thank you for joining us on ZMinds, where innovation meets inspiration. Don't forget to subscribe, share, and connect with us on social media to keep the conversation going. Until next time, stay curious and keep pushing boundaries.