Syncsort MFX

Syncsort MFX is a high-performance sorting and data manipulation software designed for z/OS and zVSE/VSEn mainframe environments. The architecture includes the sort engine, data access modules, and optional extensions like PipeSort. It integrates with Db2 through standard Db2 interfaces and uses VSAM datasets and sequential files for storage.

Communication between components occurs through internal subroutine calls and shared memory. Syncsort MFX can be invoked via JCL in batch jobs or called directly from application programs. Common operations include SORT, MERGE, COPY, and data manipulation using statements like INCLUDE, OMIT, and BUILD.

Optional extensions include PROC MFX (SAS SORT replacement), MFX PipeSort (parallel sorting), MFX ZPCopy (zIIP offload for copy), and MFX ZPCompress (zIIP offload for DFSMS compressed datasets). It integrates with z/OS security systems like RACF, ACF2, and Top Secret for authentication and leverages ACLs for access control. Data encryption can be implemented using DFSMS encryption features.

Competing products include IBM DFSORT. Administration is primarily done through JCL and system parameters, with monitoring via SMF records and log files. It optimizes resource consumption by offloading tasks to zIIP processors using extensions like MFX ZPCopy and MFX ZPCompress.