ZSeries - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

IBM System z, or earlier IBM eServer zSeries, is a brand name designated by IBM

IBM

International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

to all its mainframe computer

Mainframe computer

Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...

s.

In 2000, IBM rebranded the existing System/390 to IBM eServer zSeries with the e depicted in IBM's red trademarked symbol, but because no specific machine names were changed for System/390, the zSeries in common use refers only to one generation of mainframes, starting with z900.

Since April 2006, with another generation of products, the official designation has changed to IBM System z, which now includes both older IBM eServer zSeries, the IBM System z9 models, the IBM System z10

IBM System z10

IBM System z10 is a line of IBM mainframes. The z10 Enterprise Class was announced on February 26, 2008. On October 21, 2008, IBM announced the z10 Business Class , a scaled down version of the z10 EC...

models, and the newer IBM zEnterprise

IBM zEnterprise System

IBM zEnterprise System is the latest line of IBM mainframes, introduced on July 22, 2010. It consists of four components, zEnterprise 196 , zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension and zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager...

.

Both zSeries and System z brands are named for their availability — z stands for zero downtime

High availability

High availability is a system design approach and associated service implementation that ensures a prearranged level of operational performance will be met during a contractual measurement period....

. The systems are built with spare components capable of hot failovers

Failover

In computing, failover is automatic switching to a redundant or standby computer server, system, or network upon the failure or abnormal termination of the previously active application, server, system, or network...

to ensure continuous operations.

The zSeries line succeeded the System/390 line (S/390 for short), maintaining full backward compatibility

Backward compatibility

In the context of telecommunications and computing, a device or technology is said to be backward or downward compatible if it can work with input generated by an older device...

. In effect, zSeries machines are the direct, lineal descendants of System/360

System/360

The IBM System/360 was a mainframe computer system family first announced by IBM on April 7, 1964, and sold between 1964 and 1978. It was the first family of computers designed to cover the complete range of applications, from small to large, both commercial and scientific...

, announced in 1964, and the System/370

System/370

The IBM System/370 was a model range of IBM mainframes announced on June 30, 1970 as the successors to the System/360 family. The series maintained backward compatibility with the S/360, allowing an easy migration path for customers; this, plus improved performance, were the dominant themes of the...

from 1970s. Applications written for these systems can still run, unmodified, with only few exceptions, on the newest System z over four decades later.

Features

The z900 was a powerful machine (compared to its predecessors), a machine which introduced IBM's newly-designed z/Architecture

Z/Architecture

z/Architecture, initially and briefly called ESA Modal Extensions , refers to IBM's 64-bit computing architecture for IBM mainframe computers. IBM introduced its first z/Architecture-based system, the zSeries Model 900, in late 2000. Later z/Architecture systems include the IBM z800, z990, z890,...

into the 64-bit

64-bit

64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...

mainframe world. The new servers provided more than twice the performance of previous models. In its 64-bit mode the new CPU became free from the 31-bit

31-bit

Perhaps the only computing architecture based on 31-bit addressing is one of computing's most famous and most profitable. In 1983, IBM introduced 31-bit addressing in the System/370-XA mainframe architecture as an upgrade to the 24-bit addressing of earlier models...

addressing limits of its predecessors.

Major features of the eServer zSeries family:

Based on z/Architecture
Z/Architecture
z/Architecture, initially and briefly called ESA Modal Extensions , refers to IBM's 64-bit computing architecture for IBM mainframe computers. IBM introduced its first z/Architecture-based system, the zSeries Model 900, in late 2000. Later z/Architecture systems include the IBM z800, z990, z890,...

(64-bit
64-bit
64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...

real and virtual addresses), as opposed to earlier ESA/390
ESA/390
ESA/390 was introduced in September 1990 and is IBM's last 31-bit-address/32-bit-data mainframe computing design, copied by Amdahl, Hitachi, and Fujitsu among other competitors...

(31-bit) used in S/390 systems
- ESA/390 applications are fully compatible with z/Architecture
Offers up to 32 central processors (CPs) per frame (rack)
Frames can be coupled in up to a 32-frame Sysplex, with each frame physically separated up to 100 kilometers
Supports the z/OS
Z/OS
z/OS is a 64-bit operating system for mainframe computers, produced by IBM. It derives from and is the successor to OS/390, which in turn followed a string of MVS versions.Starting with earliest:*OS/VS2 Release 2 through Release 3.8...

, Linux on zSeries, z/VM
VM (operating system)
VM refers to a family of IBM virtual machine operating systems used on IBM mainframes System/370, System/390, zSeries, System z and compatible systems, including the Hercules emulator for personal computers. The first version, released in 1972, was VM/370, or officially Virtual Machine Facility/370...

, z/VSE, z/TPF, and MUSIC/SP
MUSIC/SP
MUSIC/SP was developed at McGill University in the 1970s from an early IBM time-sharing system called RAX...

operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...

s
Some models introduced multiple I/O channel subsystems (exceeding the previous 256 channel limit) and zAAPs

In July 2005, IBM announced a new brand name System z9

System z9

IBM System z9 is a line of IBM mainframe. It was announced on July 25, 2005 and the first models were available on September 16, 2005. The System z9 also marks the end of the previously used eServer zSeries naming convention, and it is the last z/Architecture 1 machine.- Background :System z9 is a...

using it to announce System z9-109 servers.

The System z9 servers add on top of that:

Up to 54 central processors (CPs) per frame
zIIP
ZIIP
In IBM System z9 mainframes, the System z Integrated Information Processor is a special purpose processor. It was initially introduced to relieve the general mainframe central processors of specific DB2 processing loads, but currently is used to offload other z/OS workloads as described below...

engines.
MIDAW
Advanced Encryption Standard
Advanced Encryption Standard
Advanced Encryption Standard is a specification for the encryption of electronic data. It has been adopted by the U.S. government and is now used worldwide. It supersedes DES...

(AES) cryptography implemented in hardware

The System z9-109 Model S54, with up to 54 processing units (PUs), is reportedly capable of performing approximately 18,660,000,000 core instructions per second. A single S54 can typically process one billion or more business transactions per day—double the throughput of its predecessor. The 54 PUs can be configured, or "characterized", for a variety of purposes including general purpose processing (CPs), zAAPs, zIIP

ZIIP

In IBM System z9 mainframes, the System z Integrated Information Processor is a special purpose processor. It was initially introduced to relieve the general mainframe central processors of specific DB2 processing loads, but currently is used to offload other z/OS workloads as described below...

s, IFLs

Integrated Facility for Linux

The Integrated Facility for Linux is an IBM mainframe processor dedicated to running the Linux operating system, with or without z/VM. IFLs are one of three types of IBM mainframe processors expressly designed to reduce software costs...

, and ICF

ICF

ICF is an acronym with several meanings:* Immunodeficiency, centromere instability and facial anomalies syndrome.* Insulating concrete form, building construction systems that use concrete in a permanent form made of a rigid insulation....

s.

The IBM System z10

IBM System z10

servers have many similarities to z9 servers but support more memory and can have up to 64 central processors (CPs) per frame. The full speed z10 processor's uniprocessor performance is up to 62% faster than that of the z9 server, according to IBM's z10 announcement.

The IBM zEnterprise System

IBM zEnterprise System

, or z196, introduced in July, 2010, supports up to 80 central processors of up to 5.2GHz, and 3TB of memory. The zEnterprise also supports x86 or Power blades attached as a zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension (zBX).

A direct comparison of System z servers with other computing platforms is difficult. For example, System z servers offload such functions as I/O processing, cryptography, memory control, and various service functions (such as hardware configuration management and error logging) to dedicated processors. These "extra" processors are in addition to the (up to) 80 main CPs per frame. System z cores include extensive self checking of results, and if an error is detected the server retries the instruction. If the instruction still fails, the server shuts down the failing processor and shifts workload, "in flight," to a surviving spare processor. The IBM mainframe then "calls home" (automatically places a service call to IBM). An IBM service technician replaces the failed component with a replacement part (possibly even a new processor book

Processor book

Memory and processors reside in what are termed books. The book concept was first introduced on the z990 machine of the IBM System z9. A book contains processors, memory, and connection to the I/O cages. Books are located in the CEC cage. Each System z configuration has one to four books....

, consisting of a group of processors). With System z9 servers, the technician installs the new book and removes the old one without interruption to running applications. (Note that IBM mainframe processors have a reported 40 year MTBF.) Similar design redundancies exist in memory, I/O, power, cooling, and other subsystems. All these features exist at the hardware and microcode

Microcode

Microcode is a layer of hardware-level instructions and/or data structures involved in the implementation of higher level machine code instructions in many computers and other processors; it resides in special high-speed memory and translates machine instructions into sequences of detailed...

level, without special application programming. The same concepts can extend to coupled frames separated by up to 100 kilometers in a Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex when z/OS is used.

System z servers are used by IBM customers for business-critical installations in medium and large organizations which need very high availability

High availability

High availability is a system design approach and associated service implementation that ensures a prearranged level of operational performance will be met during a contractual measurement period....

, where scheduled and unscheduled downtime costs are high, and at traditional mainframe shops such as banks and insurance companies which already have mainframe applications at the center of their business processes. For such organizations which have to consider a very high price for system failures and service outages, System z machines may provide a lower total cost of ownership

Total cost of ownership

Total cost of ownership is a financial estimate whose purpose is to help consumers and enterprise managers determine direct and indirect costs of a product or system...

than other platforms, especially when running a variety of business-critical applications concurrently (so-called mixed workload). Overall, mainframes like System z are mostly used in government, financial services, retail, and manufacturing industries.

Models (chronological order)

The older S/390 IBM mainframe servers are considered history since support for the last S/390 compatible version of z/OS

Z/OS

z/OS is a 64-bit operating system for mainframe computers, produced by IBM. It derives from and is the successor to OS/390, which in turn followed a string of MVS versions.Starting with earliest:*OS/VS2 Release 2 through Release 3.8...

(1.5) was dropped on March 31, 2007.

zSeries mainframes:

z900 (2064 series), for larger customers (2000)
z800 (2066 series), entry-level, less powerful variant of the z900 (2002)
z990 (2084 series), successor to larger z900 models (2003)
z890 (2086 series), successor to the z800 and smaller z900 models (2004)

System z9 mainframes:

z9 Enterprise Class (2094 series), introduced in 2005 initially as z9-109, beginning the new System z9 line
z9 Business Class (2096 series), successor to the z890 and smallest z990 models (2006)

System z10

IBM System z10

mainframe:

z10 Enterprise Class (2097 series), introduced on February 26, 2008
z10 Business Class (2098 series), introduced on October 21, 2008

zEnterprise System

IBM zEnterprise System

mainframe:

zEnterprise 196 (2817 series), introduced on July 22, 2010
zEnterprise 114 (2818 series), introduced on July 6, 2011

External links

Destination z
IBM: zSeries/z9 Mainframes
IBM: System z9 109
IBM: zSeries Timeline
Z6 microprocessor The follow-on to Z9, by Charles F. Webb of IBM

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Features

Models (chronological order)

See also

External links