IBM is now taking orders for the new IBM z13s machines, and shipments should start next month (March, 2016). Here is my undoubtedly incomplete list of this new mainframe model's technical highlights, the ones I personally find most interesting and exciting in the system itself. (Operating systems and software are at least as important, but I'm not focusing on those important areas in this list.) Please note that the IBM z13 machines also pick up improvements and enhancements. If something is listed below it most likely also applies to the z13, excepting obviously model-specific characteristics as clock speeds, capacity models, etc.
Here we go, in no particular order.... 1. Memory! A single z13s can now support up to 4 TB of customer usable, RAIM-protected main memory. As Paris Hilton says, "That's huge." Also exciting is that you will never have to suffer with less than 64 GB of main memory (customer usable, RAIM-protected) because that's now the minimum per z13s machine, also a factor of 8 increase from the previous model -- and now both the z13s and z13 have the same minimum memory specification. Memory is also much more affordable, especially if you order lots of it in one go. Please do. It's darn useful and saves you real money. Just to underscore how revolutionary 4 TB of main memory is in the z13s, the zEC12 -- the largest model mainframe introduced in 2012 -- supported "only" 3 TB of main memory. This supposed "mid-range" z13s mainframe supports 33% more main memory than the biggest available mainframe did until 2015. "That's huge." Even the minimum physical N10 model z13s configuration supports up to 1 TB of main memory. That's still huge. Huge memory makes it possible to run completely new classes of workloads, for example enormous virtualized server landscapes, massive in-memory DB2 tables, Java heaps that never garbage collect during a batch run, and big Blockchain public ledgers. 2. There's a new type of cross-LPAR in memory network connectivity available specifically for TCP sockets called "Shared Memory Communications-Direct Memory Access" or SMC-D for short. (I would have just called it "Super HiperSockets" or something like that, but I didn't get a vote and wasn't asked. SMC-D it is.) HiperSockets are great and still supported, and indeed you'll still use them in conjunction with SMC-D, but SMC-D is even faster and reduces processing requirements even more. SMC-D is designed for TCP socket connections between z/OS LPARs (minimum z/OS 2.2). It's part of every system at no additional charge. No application changes are required. 3. For z/OS, z/VSE, and z/TPF, subcapacity models are available ranging from 80 to 7123 PCIs (A01 to Z06 models), not counting specialty engine capacities and assist processors. A Z01 capacity model (single general purpose core) has a PCI rating of 1430. That's just a whisker shy of the zEC12 (1514), with the standard caveats about cross-model comparisons. The Z06 capacity model of the zBC12 had a PCI rating of 4958 as another point of comparison. By any measure the z13s is an extremely powerful system. The processor clock speed is 4.3 GHz continuous, up from 4.2 GHz in the zBC12. 4. IBM has greatly relaxed the data center environmental requirements for this model, expanding the temperature and humidity envelopes. It's much more realistic now to install the z13s in nontraditional data centers, or even places that aren't really data centers. Platforms that move, for example, or out in remote facilities. (In technobabble it's an ASHRAE class A3 system now instead of class A2.) 5. Both the Hardware Management Console (HMC) and Trusted Key Entry (TKE) are now available in "1U" rack mountable versions. It's not that you couldn't rack mount the previous HMC and TKE -- you could, many do. But now they only take up 1U of rack space each, and they're specifically designed for rack mounting. The traditional HMC and TKE are still available (and will be, as far as I know), so you can choose whichever you prefer. I prefer the new 1U form factors. 6. In the latest HMC driver level (2.13.1, the minimum to support the z13s) IBM has eliminated the Java plug-in requirement at least for several HMC functions. You should no longer need to wrestle with making Java applet support work in your Web browser. I don't know if IBM has completely eliminated the Java plug-in requirement yet -- perhaps somebody could check that and report back -- but at least the journey is well underway. Oracle has announced that the next version of their Java Runtime Environment (JRE) won't include a browser plug-in, so this change is inevitable. Of course you still need to make sure whatever client you're using for remote HMC access is well secured and that you follow good HMC-related security practices. 7. You can now have up to 40 Logical Partitions (LPARs) on the z13s, up from 30 on the zBC12. And there's a new administrative mode in PR/SM called "Dynamic Partition Manager" that makes it quicker and easier to create a new partition with I/O definitions. Dynamic Partition Manager works with FCP storage devices, Linux on z, and KVM, and it's optional -- you are not required to use this new mode. If you have z/OS, z/VSE, z/VM, z/TPF, and/or ECKD storage then you won't use this new administrative mode. Dynamic Partition Manager is also now available on the LinuxONE systems. 8. IBM has renamed the zAware partition type to zACI (z Appliance Container Infrastructure). The name suggests that IBM might have more virtual appliance offerings in mind in addition to zAware, and indeed IBM announced a new virtual appliance: the z/VSE Network Appliance. The z/VSE Network Appliance makes it much quicker and easier to implement Linux Fast Path (LFP). (Not that it was particularly hard, but easier is always better.) If you have a z/VSE license then you should be entitled to the z/VSE Network Appliance at no additional charge, as I understand it. 9. The OSA-Integrated Console Controller (OSA-ICC) connections now support TLS/SSL encryption, an excellent security improvement I recommend you implement as quickly as you reasonably can. 10. As with the z13, your zIIPs and your IFLs now support two threads each (SMT2), and you can also order two zIIPs (i.e. four zIIP threads) per general purpose processor (CP, whether subcapacity or not). You also pick up all the wonderful new processor instructions in the z13, including the new vector instructions, that the latest compilers and JVMs can already exploit. 11. There are several I/O improvements including FICONExpress16S (for 16Gb/s channels) and a range of other improvements for both FICON and FCP. 12. There's a very long list of crypto-related enhancements, including new algorithms, big performance improvements, and lots of improvements to the TKE. 13. New (lower) software pricing. Everybody makes out well. Single machine customers with 30 MSUs or less (244 z13s PCIs or less) should see the biggest percentage reductions in their IBM Monthly License Charge (MLC) software, typically a 13% lower MLC bill compared to running on a zBC12. [Yes, this example includes customers with single machine Parallel Sysplexes, and the percentage figure relates to the actual charge (dollars, yen, euro, whatever). I'm just reading from IBM's published announcement materials here.] That's not even counting the performance improvements you pick up in the z13s -- with Enterprise COBOL Version 6.1, for example. Likewise, the Processor Value Unit (PVU) requirement per IFL for IBM software licensing holds steady at 100, so you get more performance and throughput with IFLs (and two threads per IFL) with the same IBM software licensing quantity. That's my list for now, appropriately with 13 numbered bullets for the z13s. If you've spotted something you particularly like, please post a follow-up. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy Sipples IT Architect Executive, Industry Solutions, IBM z Systems, AP/GCG/MEA E-Mail: [email protected] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
