Or " I bought a z114, now what? " Share presentation? On Mon, Apr 18, 2022 at 9:55 AM Seymour J Metz <[email protected]> wrote: > > If he gets it up, might IBM ask him to write up the experience for a redbook? > > > -- > Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz > http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 > > ________________________________________ > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [[email protected]] on behalf of > Timothy Sipples [[email protected]] > Sent: Monday, April 18, 2022 1:19 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: HS student with question about small mainframe DASD > > Enzo, > > Here’s a “quick highlights” tour of the IBM z114 with hobbyist intentions. > This information is thoroughly unofficial. Let’s first run through the > highest operating system releases that the IBM z114 supports: > > z/OS 2.2 (current is 2.5) > z/VM 6.4 (current is 7.2) > IBM z/VSE 6.2 (current from IBM) > [Ask 21st Century Software about VSEn 6.3] > z/TPF: officially sometime prior to 1.1.0.14 (current is 2022) > Linux: up to SLES 12.x, up to RHEL 7.x > Ubuntu no (Canonical started with z12), but current Debian 11 (“bullseye”) > should still be OK > > Summary: With a couple exceptions (such as Debian Linux and z/VSE) current > operating system releases are no longer compatible with the IBM z114. I don’t > know if this fact is a “veto” or not, but it’s something to be aware of. > > z/OS, z/VM, z/VSE, z/TPF, and VSEn are licensed operating systems. You’ll > need to contact IBM (or 21st Century Software) and somehow obtain a license > if you’d like to run any of those. Those releases (except for z/VSE 6.2 and > VSEn 6.3) are also Withdrawn from Marketing, so they’d require a very special > order if it’s even possible. > > z/OS and z/TPF require ECKD (FICON-attached) storage, and z/TPF’s storage > requirements are slightly more involved than that simple statement. All the > other operating systems support “SCSI” (FC-attached) storage. If your z114 > includes ESCON ports then that’s another possible option, although there > wasn’t a lot of physically small ESCON-attached storage. And ESCON storage is > very old now, although it’d probably be inexpensive if you find it. The IBM > z114 was the very last IBM Z server that (optionally) supported ESCON without > a converter box. FICON-attached (and ESCON-attached) storage is directly > attachable: no SAN switch required. You’re quite correct that the smallest > FICON-attached storage that IBM ever made was the IBM DS6000 family (a.k.a. > DS6800). If you can find one in working condition and suitably configured > it’ll support up to 2 Gb/s FICON (“FICON 2”). As long as your IBM z114 has > any sort of working FICON ports that should be fine since even the FICON > Express8S adapters can negotiate down to 2 Gb/s. A minority of IBM z114 > machines have only ESCON ports (or occasionally no storage ports at all if > they were Coupling Facility machines), or the FICON ports aren’t working for > some reason. That’d be bad, although if it has both ESCON and FICON that > could be useful. (An ESCON-attached tape drive, for example.) Hypothetically > you could start the z/OS Customized Offerings Driver (COD) Version 3.1 > without FICON-attached storage available (from the HMC DVD typically), but > that probably wouldn’t be too exciting except as a basic machine test. > > Speaking of which, does this z114 include a working HMC? > > z/OS, z/VSE, z/TPF, and VSEn also require at least one general purpose > processor (CP) on the machine, subcapacity or otherwise. In other words the > machine needs to be an A01 capacity model or higher for those operating > systems. It was possible to configure a z114 without CPs. The z114 included a > minimum of 8GB of usable memory, so memory shouldn’t be a problem for > hobbyist purposes. Other engine types (IFLs, zIIPs, ICFs) are less > interesting but can be nice to have, particularly the IFLs I’d say. If the > seller says “Oh, it’s a M05” or “It’s a M10” (or 2818-M05/2818-M10), that > probably refers to the hardware model. There is a M05 capacity model, i.e. > z114 machines configured with 5 CPs set to the “M” subcapacity level. This > M05/M05 can be confusing if you’re trying to figure out what you’re getting > before you get it, so just try to clarify that point. The 2818-M05 (hardware > model) is a single drawer machine, and the 2818-M10 is a dual drawer machine. > For power draw/hobbyist purposes the single drawer configuration is likely > preferable, although I suppose if you’re very careful and know what you’re > doing you might be able to “field convert” a M10 to a M05. I also suppose > that the M10 adds some redundancy, so if something breaks or is broken you’re > slightly more likely to be able to soldier on. > > For FC-attached storage, officially (and probably technically also) you’ll > need a suitable SAN switch in the loop. I see a used IBM 2498-B24 (SAN24B-4) > SAN switch on eBay for $49 or best offer, and that’d probably get the job > done very nicely since it supports all the relevant FC line speeds you could > encounter. Although you have to hope for a high enough firmware level perhaps > since the z114 was introduced after that SAN switch. > > If you embark on this project, good luck! Please keep us posted. > > — — — — — > Timothy Sipples > Senior Architect > Digital Assets, Industry Solutions, and Cyber Security > IBM zSystems and LinuxONE > [email protected] > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
-- Mike A Schwab, Springfield IL USA Where do Forest Rangers go to get away from it all? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
