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- Think about the history of mainframe computing. Remember the Series/1? 1401? Some of the hot, new concepts in Wintel were first introduced in mainframes thirty or forty years ago.
- Competition is healthy. Sometimes the competition is healthier than at other times. Check out offerings from Sun Microsystems, Fujitsu, Unisys - and Microsoft.
IBM's z9 mainframe monster roars to life IBM will spruce up the zSeries mainframe line by releasing the 38-processor z9 system in September. That box will give customers 40% more horsepower than the current high-end z990. IBM also plans to ship a whopping 54-processor behemoth in November with up to 512GB of memory. Mainframe sales have fallen by double-digits the last two quarters and zSeries staff have been let go as a result. (Jul. 2005 The Register)
What IBM Has in Store IBM is trying to expand the universe of applications that customers are looking to support on the zSeries. At a one-time cost of $125,000 per processor, the zAAP processor is designed to provide a lower-cost alternative for the bulk development of Java workloads in the mainframe environment. What this does is target customers coming from the older, installed base and compel them to move over to the new z890 without having to take a big hit or a giant leap in terms of cost. (Feb. 2005 CRM Daily)
Tossing around grid ideas If a grid is to be a complement to a mainframe and not a substitute for one, the application in question must need relatively little I/O -- it cannot require frequent calls to a database, for example. The grid is like a giant, extra mainframe CPU. That doesn't mean an application can't have any storage requirement. (Feb. 2005 TechWorld)
The IBM eServer z990 microprocessor The z990 microprocessor is manufactured in IBM CMOS 9S technology. This 0.13-µm technology includes silicon-on-insulator transistors and eight levels of copper interconnection wiring. The chip, containing two complete processors, measures approximately 19 mm × 14 mm. It contains roughly 121 million transistors. At its 1.2-GHz shipping frequency, the chip (with both cores operating) consumes 55 W of power. (Oct. 2004 IBM Journal of Research and Technology)
Mainframes: Still going strong after all these years Ironically, the very trends that were supposed to wipe out stodgy mainframes have contributed to their renaissance. We're talking, of course, about e-business and the Internet. What we are now seeing is customer's downsizing to the mainframe which is a complete reversal of where the industry went in the 90s. Now they can't get the machine room door closed because of all these little Intel boxes. (Aug. 2004 ZDNet)
IBM's New zSeries Attracts Midsize Market with Lower Cost, Greater Scalability Given the fact that the z890 will scale down to 26 MIPs, there are some real opportunities for traditional IBM mainframe customers with relatively modest requirements. The z890’s ability to gradually ramp up its processing capabilities could be an appealing cost-saver. At the top of the line, the z890 offers almost twice the power of a top-of-the-line z800. (Apr. 2004 Enterprise Systems Journal)
Storage Networking World in a nutshell? IBM was quick to push forward two new babies: a mainframe eServer zSeries 890 (z890) and a storage array bearing the full name of TotalStorage Enterprise Storage Server Model 750 (ESS 750). Combining the z890 and ESS 750 should give cost-conscious customers an affordable and scalable entry point to mainframe-based computing. The 4.7TB-capped ESS 750, which should begin shipping in May, can easily update to larger capacity models. (Apr. 2004 InfoWorld)
Mainframe competitors aim at Big Blue target IBM is trying to move its customers to its more modern zSeries mainframe servers and is dropping customer support for OS/390 v2.10 in September. Another major overhaul will be required in 2007. Customers can still run the old systems, but IBM will discontinue support. (Apr. 2004 CNET News)
For the IBM Mainframe, Life Begins at 40 This April, the IBM mainframe will celebrate its 40th birthday. Today, the IBM mainframe is looking and feeling quite fit for a 40 year old. Moreover, it’s more vital to business than it’s ever been. It seems life really can reinvent itself again at 40. (Jan. 2004 IBM: The Mainstream)
Hardware Today: Resolving the Buy vs. Lease Dilemma The longer general usefulness of today's servers may urge buying outright, while other factors urge free market value leasing. With larger acquisitions and more expensive systems, such as Big Blue's zSeries computer, the acquisition alternatives are more often evaluated by financial management, and FMV leasing often is less expensive than purchase. (Jan. 2004 Server Watch)
Learning From the Legend: Leveraging Mainframe Systems Today The mainframe's HyperSockets capability will become pervasive as businesses discover they can easily connect the latest off-the-shelf applications running under Linux with highly reliable and scalable database systems hosted by z/OS on the same physical box. (Dec. 2003 z/Journal Will Bauman)
The Truth About Mainframe MIPS Despite the wide use of the term, no one measures MIPS today. IBM's LSPR capacity benchmarks measure the internal thoughput rate (ITR) of processors. There is a separate LSPR benchmark for each major subsystem: CICS/DB2, IMS, TSO and multiple batch workloads. (Oct. 2003 z/Journal)
Submerging Technologies Proprietary network protocols are so 20th century, getting shoved aside by the power and ubiquity of TCP/IP. You don't have to scrap those old IBM mainframe/SNA/3270 applications right away. You can run Data Link Switching over an IP network, which encapsulates SNA traffic in an IP wrapper. But you'll pay a performance penalty to do that. (Oct. 2003 ComputerWorld)
IBM Announces Largest Mainframes Ever, Extends On/Off Capacity On Demand IBM plans to dramatically increase its spending on zSeries technical support over the next year. We spend around a quarter of a billion dollars on zSeries technical support, and we’re increasing that by 30 to 40 percent. We have over 20,000 design centers around the world, so it’s probably not well known, but we’re beefing that up even more. (Oct. 2003 Enterprise Systems Journal)
IBM expands top-end mainframe When IBM began selling in May the first z990, code-named T-Rex, there were two configurations: Model A with eight processors and Model B with 16. Now the company will sell Model C with 24 processors and Model D with 32. The z990's Parallel Sysplex technology to yoke multiple mainframes together can now link mainframes as far as 62 miles apart. (Oct. 2003 CNET news)
What is IBM's recommendation regarding the location of coupling facilities in the complex? All Parallel Sysplex customers now have the option of using an all external CF configuration or an all internal CF configuration. A couple of informal user group surveys show a roughly even split between those customers that want to do away with external CFs and those that want to continue to use them. (Sep. 2003 Search390)
IBM Bets On Blade-Mainframe Combo IBM's "Scale Out, Scale Up" strategy features a combination of BladeCenter servers, z990 and grid technology. Traditional server and storage infrastructures are based on several levels of technology: security on the front end, applications in the middle, and data and transaction servers on the back end. Combining blade and mainframe products with grid technology can greatly reduce the IT resources needed. (Sep. 2003 CRN)
Power drives take up of flagship IBM box I suspect that the z990 will be used in the banking and insurance sectors first, but manufacturing companies, universities and telecoms firms could all follow suit for its speed of processing and its extreme power. It is a mainframe with teeth. (Jul. 2003 ComputerWeekly)
The Chips Are Falling IBM's Way Despite missteps, IBM shows no signs of losing its position as the No. 1 maker of custom-made chips, called application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs. IBM's new mainframe features IBM-built processors that are 40% quicker than their predecessors. (May 2003 Business Week)
Mainframes Not Dead Yet Some financial institutions, such as banks, are currently consolidating back to their mainframes after experimenting with more distributed alternatives. IBM's efforts to make the mainframe more accessible to market favorites such as Web services protocols will prove to be useful marketing ploys, but the underlying strength and cost-effectiveness of the machines themselves is what will continue to tip the balance in the mainframe's favor. (May 2003 Enterprise Networks & Servers)
IBM: Bring a T-Rex to work IBM has worked hard to bring the z990 into alignment with computing trends outside the specialized mainframe realm. Today's mainframe runs Java and relational databases and application servers--and even Linux. It connects to the world through TCP/IP and Web Services and Ethernet. (May 2003 ZDNet)
IBM's T-Rex Hatching But Is Demand Ravenous? T-Rex ("Galileo" or G8) is expected to scale to 450 MIPS. It will roll out with 16 processors under a single-system image and eventually support up to 64 processors.. Although G8 uses a lot of z900 technology, it is sufficiently different to require some investment for effective exploitation. (Apr. 2003 Internet.news)
Open house for data centre buyers For sale: one enterprise sized data centre of about 5000 square metres. Features two 625 square-metre glasshouses. It might not have the appeal of a charming four-bedroom double-brick clinker, but due to the oversupply in the market, data centre floorspace is being snapped up at fire-sale prices. (Apr. 2003 The Age)
Understanding Relative Server Capacity There are three elements of relative capacity. Metrics are typically derived from benchmarks (e.g. MIPS, processor count and Mhz). Workload is the variability of relative capacity with changes in the type of work executed. Utilization shows how well the combination of system design and scheduler allows the processor resources to be used efficiently. (Mar. 2003 eServer)
Farming out data centers Concerns for security and reliability, however, are leading more companies to move their servers into tightly controlled and efficiently managed data centers, alongside their mainframes. State-of-the-art server centers are expensive to build and operate, but the long-term operating savings are eye-opening. (Feb. 2003 McKinsey Quarterly)