IBM mainframe updates to align with cloud computing era

IBM's big computers are about to be replaced, and to take advantage of the private and hybrid cloud markets, IBM upgraded it to make it faster, less expensive and more memory intensive.

The new zEnterprise mainframe, zEC12, with a 5.5 GHz processor, has seen more improvements than the z196. IBM also extended its 2,3,4 level buffer, and enhance the boot settings. This means that the zEC12 will be faster than the z196 and will be able to run more data.

These changes show IBM's new multi-load attempts. Joe Clabby, president of Clabby Analytics, a technology analyst firm, thinks this is partly due to the long-term viability of the mainframe, taking into account the perception that the mainframe is a "heritage."

Clabby said: "Over the past ten years, IBM has started to change, the introduction of open operating environment (Linux), but also to make mainframe support for new applications." Among these new applications, some Java, some business applications, as well as analysis Software, which means that IBM covers all of the underlying applications, leaving plenty of room for cloud applications, he said.

Clabby found a 2% to 7% reduction in price / performance licensing for standard MIPS loads. "This means that IBM wants to reward existing customers at a low price and encourage customers to provide room for new workloads on System Z."

Another boost to analysts excited, IBM introduced solid-state memory, called "Flash Express", which is used to deal with a new level of memory, faster than external disk. This is what Marc Wambeke wrote in his blog.

Insert a pair through PCI Express, each providing 1.6 terabytes of storage, up to four pairs, or 6.4 TB per system.

IBM said the introduction of Flash Express has nothing to do with the recent acquisition of Texas Memory Systems. The company declined to answer if TMS cards were introduced into the mainframe.

Another new feature that may be appealing to those in need of monitoring is IBM's new System Z Advanced Workload Analysis Reporter (zAware). This tool gathers data from the system and compiles into a behavior pattern that is unique to each installation. Clabby said that because zAware's data is in XML format, it supports other management tools.

Of course, other System Z monitoring tools are doing the same thing as zAware, but according to Wambeke's blog, this is the only tool that has self-learning mode capabilities.

The zEnterprise EC12 mainframe has four standard and one large version, which can be reserved on IBM's Web site.