IBM's System z10 Mainframe Launched to Enable Enterprise Data Centers

02/26/2008

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the System z10 mainframe to help clients create a new enterprise data center.

ebizQ received the following:

The system z10 is designed from the ground up to help dramatically increase datacenter efficiency by significantly improving performance and reducing power, cooling costs, and floor space requirements. It offers unmatched levels of security and automates the management and tracking of IT resources to respond to ever-changing business conditions.

IBM’s next-generation, 64-processor mainframe, which uses Quad-Core technology, is built from the start to be shared, offering greater performance over virtualized x86 servers to support hundreds to hundreds of millions of users.

The z10 also supports a broad range of workloads. In addition to Linux, XML, Java, Websphere and increased workloads from Service Oriented Architecture implementations, IBM is working with Sun Microsystems and Sine Nomine Associates to pilot the Open Solaris operating system on System z, demonstrating the openness and flexibility of the mainframe.

From a performance standpoint, the new z10 is designed is designed to be up to 50% faster and up to 100% performance improvement for CPU intensive jobs compared to its predecessor, the z9, with up to70% more capacity. * 2 The z10 also is the equivalent of nearly 1,500 x86 servers, with up to an 85% smaller footprint, and up to 85% lower energy costs. The new z10 can consolidate x86 software licenses at up to a 30-to-1 ratio.

Hewitt Associates, one of the world’s foremost providers of human resources outsourcing and consulting services, uses z10 mainframes as a cornerstone of its operations. “We’ve implemented z10 systems in our parallel Sysplex environment, which is running live, mission-critical benefits applications for the world’s top employers – so availability, performance, and reliability are of utmost importance,” said Sandee Kotowski, manager of mainframe infrastructure, Hewitt Associates. “The IBM mainframe has been a key part of our IT infrastructure over the years, with clear cost benefits, but this new system takes that value proposition a leap ahead. The capacity and scale of this system changes the economics of the mainframe and is a significant step forward in addressing our constantly evolving technology needs.”

Designed as Engine to Manage IT as a Service; Drive the New Enterprise Datacenter

Businesses are working to not only greatly reduce the inefficiency and complexity of today's datacenters, but also share IT resources more efficiently and better align them to specific business objectives and ever-changing business conditions.

At the same time, they are grappling with how to log, track, audit, and chargeback every business transaction. Their end objective is to move beyond basic virtualization (in which different computing tasks are partitioned on a server) to an environment in which their entire IT infrastructure, including business applications, security, storage, processing power, etc., is provisioned on demand.

The end result is that businesses can manage IT as a service -- using a policy-driven system that doles out, manages, and tracks appropriate IT resources where and when needed – to create the new enterprise data center.

The z10 is the industry’s only server providing a complete range of policy-driven functions, including:

• Authorization Management to authenticate and authorize who can access specific business services and associated IT resources. Designed with encryption algorithms, the built-in features allow for System z10 administrators to dictate multiple layers of security and security clearance to allow authorized users to access sensitive information that resides on the System z. For example, an employee with entry-level clearance to search employee records for histories of volunteer work for a corporate report might not be able to access salary, promotion, and HR information for those same employees -- based on the level of access that employee has been given as part of the authorization management policies built into the System z.



• Utilization Management to drive maximum use of the system. Radically different from other classes of servers, the System z10 is designed to run at up to 100 percent utilization - based on the varied demands placed on it by users.



• z/OS, one of the operating systems for the z10, can manage transactions based on preset policies, adjusting on the fly to peaks and valleys. For example, customers going to a bank have multiple needs - some need cash - which is an instantaneous response, while other are applying for a mortgage - which is a longer process. The mainframe and the integrated OS can be configured to decide which requests are mission critical and timely and allocate utilization based on these needs.



• Just-in-Time Capacity to deliver additional processing power and capacity when needed to help businesses better manage risk (e.g. more computing power during a peak retail season).

For the first time, the 64-processor z10 will automate the provisioning of processing power when needed to address changing business conditions. For example, financial services and retail institutions can schedule and automatically provision pre-set levels of processing power to manage spikes in demand. Equally as important, the z10 can also automatically provision processing power when unanticipated demands hit.

z/OS anticipates when additional capacity is needed, for how long, and maps to that instantly. This is known as "Just In Time Deployment of Capacity Resources." The feature is built upon transaction needs and how customers prioritize them.

• Virtualization Security with the U.S. government's highest level of security, Evaluation Assurance Level 5 (EAL5), via z/VM. The IBM System z is the only server on the planet that has achieved this level of certification for security and partitions (through the System z9 with plans in place to apply for EAL5 for the System z10). When customers are looking to allocate additional resources in the mainframe and partition them to save money and access capacity on demand, the EAL5 certification states that the virtual partitions that are opened running the specific operating systems are in effect the same as if you were running another server connected to the System z - the physical security for the virtual partition is the highest level it can be. This enables customers to allocate resources on demand, without fear of security risk to any of the information running through the operating systems, improving performance and enabling 24/7 availability.

System z Skills Continue to Rapidly Expand around the World with IBM Academic Initiative, Tied to Mainframe’s Resurgence; New Rational Tools Drive Continued Ease of Use

Launched in 2004, the IBM Academic Initiative offers a wide range of technology education benefits through IBM’s deep technology capabilities and experience – from IBM supplied instruction to technology -- that can scale to meet the goals of colleges and universities around the world.

Academic Initiative: System z works with schools to enable courses, labs, senior design projects, and research in large systems thinking. IBM today announced a new milestone as it topped the 400th University participating in the program around the world (up from 23 universities in the program in 2004). The news demonstrates the dramatic growth of the program tied to the resurgence of the mainframe in the data center (see separate press release on today’s Academic Initiative news).

In addition, as part of IBM's $100 million Mainframe Simplification investment announced in 2006, IBM today announced new Rational software for System z to speed the deployment of applications running on System z and continue to drive ease of use. For example, the new Rational software translates COBOL applications into Web services eliminating the need for new developers to learn the COBOL programming language. (see separate press release on today’s Rational software news).

Also as part of IBM's Mainframe Simplification investment, IBM today announced a new set of software that automates the management of complex IT disciplines (such as storage, databases and new software deployments) and delivers a single, integrated view of the impact on critical applications hosted on customers' mainframes. The IBM Tivoli Service Management Center for System z shows the linkages between IT assets and business applications and enables enterprises to monitor the overall service delivery from IT in support of specific business objectives in finance, security and customer satisfaction, among others. (see separate press release on today's Tivoli software news).

New Information on Demand Software for System z

IBM today is announcing new Information on Demand software for System z, including Cognos 8 Business Intelligence (BI) for System z. IBM Cognos 8 BI for System z combines the proven reporting and analysis capabilities of IBM Cognos 8 BI with the power and reliability of System z, enabling customers to use their data for competitive advantage, improve decision-making and optimize their business performance. IBM is also announcing a Cognos 8 BI for Linux on System z customer beta program. IBM Cognos 8 BI for Linux on System z will be available in the second half of 2008.

IBM’s Information on Demand strategy is helping customers gain access to the right information they need, when they need it, along with key business insights needed to address and respond to changing market demands. By deploying Cognos 8 BI for Linux on System z, customers will be able to easily report and analyze hundred of millions of transactions directly on the mainframe - ensuring everyone across the organization can quickly identify and respond to critical business trends.

IBM is also announcing the immediate availability of DB2 for z/OS Value Unit Edition, which provides a new one-time-charge offering that enables the deployment of new application workloads. This offering strengthens the role of System z as a cornerstone for key business initiatives such as SOA, Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence and packaged applications such as SAP. DB2 for z/OS Value Unit Edition and IBM Information Server enable System z clients to further deliver trusted information for their dynamic warehousing requirements.

In addition, IBM will bring new Master Data Management capabilities to System z in the second half of this year. This will include the InfoSphere Master Data Management Server for Linux on System z, which allows businesses to centrally manage customer, product, and account data for use across an enterprise.

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