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High-end
systems from IBM are called “System z” nowadays. The family was created in the
sixties and previous generations were called System/360, System/370, System/390,
and zSeries.
“Z” stands
for Zero-downtime. These are the machines that have highest levels of
Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability. They are used in the industries
that have high requirements for these properties.
The family
has been known for innovation and leadership and continues to adapt to modern
times… yes, it runs Linux and Java.
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The System
z9 comes in two model groups, the z9 BC and z9 EC. Z9 EC is the top range Enterprise class server,
z9 BC is the midrange Business Class server.The heart of
these machines is the processor book, containing a Multi-chip module or MCM and
associated memory. Each MCM contains 8 dual core processors that can be
activated for specific tasks. One tends to
think of these machines as old and slow mainframes, but as a matter of fact,
the capacity of this family of machines has grown much faster than the needs of
many customers.
This is why
the z9 BC, containing 1 book, has been made available in many sub capacity
settings, the lowest being a very small fraction of the total capacity.
The z9 EC is
available in 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-book configurations. Processor activation is flexible,
allowing high availability configurations. The z9 EC is designed to allow a
single book, in a multibook server, to be concurrently removed from the server
and reinstalled during an upgrade or repair action. For maximum availability,
z9 ECs can be purchased with one additional book. With such configurations, in the rare event
of a book outage, all purchased processors can be available. Additionaly,
z9 EC is equipped with closed-circuit liquid cooling. This allows for 20%
higher processor speed.
Processing
Units or PUs can be general purpose, called central processors or CPs, or
dedicated. All processors are physically the same; the difference is made by
the machines firmware.
The z9
continues to extend and support the use of dedicated processors for specialized
workloads, which can help provide better optimization of resources as well as
offer price/performance improvements to users. The list of dedicated processors
has grown again since last generation.
The SAP or
System Assist Processor was the first processor dedicated to specific work; it
is used since many years and generations for I/O assist, liberating the main
processor for business work.
The ICF or
Integrated Coupling Facility is the processor that supports the parallel
sysplex. The next
group of processors all offer price/performance improvements for the workloads
they are dedicated to.
The IFL or
Integrated Feature for Linux is the processor that is dedicated to Linux
workloads.
The zAAP or
System z Application Assist Processor is dedicated to Java workload.
The zIIP, or
System z Integrated Information Processor, new with z9, is designed for
“special new workload”. The zIIP will
help to strengthen the System z9 mainframe as the data serving hub.
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Clustering with Parallel sysplex
A parallel
Sysplex consists of two or more mainframes, clustered together to make them
appear as one server to users and applications.
Using
Parallel Sysplex clustering, System z servers are designed for up to 99.999%
availability.
Having a
Parallel Sysplex also allows for centralized data sharing across mainframes.
CBU or Capacity
Backup is the temporary activation of CPs, IFLs, ICFs, zIIPs, and/or zAAPs for
robust disaster recovery. The CBU features provide the ability to concurrently
increment the CP or specialty engine capacity of a System z9 server, in the
event of an unforeseen loss of substantial System z9 computing capacity.
- Regain control of your IT infrastructure
Many
enterprises are realizing that the mainframe, which is at the core of their
infrastructure today, is a critical element of their on demand operating
environment.
Its core
strengths of scalability, security, resiliency and availability, as well as its
data serving capabilities work together to enhance the role of the mainframe as
the data hub across the IT enterprise.
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