Z Systems
z Systems (formerly zSeries or System z ) is the current mainframe architecture from IBM . Compared to the previous architecture S / 390 is such system is characterized mainly by the 64-bit - addressing of. Older programs that still run with 31-bit or 24-bit addressing are also still supported.
In the system design of the IBM z Systems, all components are completely redundant so that the models are particularly fail-safe and reliable. The "Z" in z Systems is sometimes interpreted as " Z ero downtime".
The IBM z14 model is able to run different operating systems in parallel with a maximum of 85 logical partitions ( LPARs ). Due to the unique system design, the IBM mainframe computers are still considered to be particularly scalable, particularly secure and with high throughput. In addition to the high virtualization rates, a high utilization of the system averaging 90–100% is not unusual.
The IBM mainframe computers have no built-in hard drives , but are FICON -called Fiber Channel adapter with storage servers or SAN connected. In older systems it was also possible to connect storage systems via ESCON (predecessor of FICON).
history
The history of IBM mainframes began on April 7, 1964 when IBM introduced the System / 360 . Since then, the focus has been expanded and supplemented several times. Starting from traditional workloads (many transactions, OLTP databases, batch and quality of service , QoS), Linux workloads ( WebSphere , Analytics and Oracle) and finally also the Java workload for mainframe users opened up in 2001 . Ten years later, the mainframe system was prepared for topics such as cloud, mobile and operational analytics.
On June 30, 1970, it was replaced by the S / 370 system . With the System 370 / XA, 31-bit addressing was introduced in 1981; the 32nd bit of the 4-byte data word was reserved as a control bit . Since then it has been used, among other things, to differentiate between 24- and 31-bit addressing. In 1972, IBM introduced the first virtualization product. IBM has been using the 370 / ESA architecture since 1988.
In September 1990 the System / 390 was introduced as the successor to the S / 370. A total of six hardware generations were released.
Models
z900, z800, z990 and z890
The first zSeries computers were the z900 (2000) and z800 (2002) systems. These were almost completely new developments compared to the S / 390, as 64-bit processors with 64-bit addressing were used in the system for the first time. The S / 390 series was replaced by System Z (the name at the time) - the competitors (Hitachi and Siemens, who had developed S / 390-compatible systems) could no longer develop a 64-bit system, and IBM-Z was again unrivaled . This was followed by the z990 (2003) and z890 systems .
The Linux operating system was ported to the IBM mainframe in 2001 through the commitment of the IBM Germany Research & Development laboratory in Böblingen .
z9
System z9 EC was announced in July 2005 , and System z9 BC was announced in April 2006 . Since then there has been a BC and an EC model per series: BC, like Business Class , includes the smaller systems, EC, for Enterprise Class , on the other hand, covers the upper performance range.
z10
On February 26th, 2008, the z10 EC system was announced with a capacity of around 1500 servers on x86 basis. The z10 BC system followed on October 21, 2008, with the performance of up to 232 x86 servers in an 83% smaller area and up to 93% lower energy consumption.
z196
On July 22, 2010, the first next-generation model, the zEnterprise 196 (z196), was announced. The system offered the possibility of integrating resources from IBM System z, Power and System x into a complete system. The z196 had a total of 96 processor cores with a clock frequency of 5.2 GHz. This enabled a performance improvement of 60 percent per core and increased the total capacity for workloads based on z / OS , z / VM and Linux on z Systems by 60 percent compared to the previous model z10 EC.
z114
The following year, on July 12, 2011, the next BC model, the IBM zEnterprise 114 (z114), was announced.
zEC12 and e.g.C12
On August 28, 2012, a new generation was announced with the IBM zEnterprise EC12 (zEC12). The IBM zEnterprise BC12 (e.g. C12) was announced on July 23, 2013.
IBM z13
On January 14, 2015, the Enterprise Class IBM z13 (z13) was announced. The new system is designed to integrate the data and transactions on the mainframe.
Compared to the previous model zEnterprise EC12, the IBM z13 offers a performance increase of 40%, three times as much main memory (up to 10 TB), more LPARs (85 instead of the previous 60) and more I / O channels. By increasing the main memory, mainframe users can reduce their latency times for OLTP workloads, response times through fewer I / O waiting times and batch times.
In addition, IBM is introducing Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) and Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) instructions with this model series . There is a new card for hardware cryptography . In addition to the news about the z13 hardware, the announcement in January 2015 also included a preview of the new z / OS operating system.
On February 16, 2016, IBM announced the new z13s entry-level mainframe. The new computer model is similar to the Rockhopper model introduced shortly before.
IBM z14
In July 2017, the successor model IBM z14 was announced. The central processor has ten CPU cores that IBM clocks at 5.2 GHz. Each of them has a 128 KByte L1I / L1D cache, 2 MByte L2 instruction and 4 MByte L2 data cache, plus a shared 128 MByte L3 cache, consisting of embedded DRAM. The CP chip consists of 6.1 billion transistors and is 696 mm² in size. Five or six processor chips are connected on a slot in two clusters to a system control chip with a 672 MB L4 cache. The SC chip is also 696 mm² in size and contains 9.7 billion transistors. Both chips are manufactured at GlobalFoundries in a 14 nm SOI process. The memory DIMMs are also located on the slot, with five DIMMs connected to each CP chip.
In April 2018, IBM announced the IBM z14 Model ZR1 and IBM LinuxONE Rockhopper II. The new systems are based on a single-frame design in the 19-inch industry standard, which is intended to enable easy installation in data centers.
IBM z15
The IBM z15 model was announced in September 2019. The IBM z15 system has up to 190 configurable processor cores and up to 40 TB main memory.
The z15 Model T02 was announced in April 2020.
IBM LinuxONE
On August 17, 2015 the Linux systems LinuxONE were announced. These machines only run with GNU / Linux as the operating system. The larger LinuxONE Emperor model is based on the z13 system. Emperor is the English name for emperor penguins . The smaller model is called LinuxONE Rockhopper and was initially based on the system zBC12. Rockhopper is the English name for rockhopper penguins .
On January 26, 2016, IBM announced new machines and new functions for the LinuxONE systems. The Rockhopper model is now based on the z13s system and has the model number 2965. “The new Rockhopper can have up to 20 4.3 GHz cores and supports 4 TB main memory, compared to the maximum 12 4.2 GHz cores of the previous version with 500 GB main memory. The new Emperor retains the 141 5.0 GHz cores and 10 TB of main memory of its predecessor, but receives 667 Integrated Assist processors for high availability and I / O-intensive work, instead of the 640 special I / O processors of the old Vogel. “The Emperor model has a maximum of 141 cores and 10 TB main memory.
LinuxONE III
The LinuxONE III model is offered in configurations with 1-4 19 "racks.
In April 2020 the z15 Model LT2 was announced.
architecture
The development of the IBM mainframe architecture led from S / 360 and S / 370 through many intermediate steps, the functions of the previous systems were always retained and expanded. When moving from ESA / 390 to today's z Systems architecture, the following extensions were made:
- General and control registers are 64 bits long
- There is a 64-bit, a 31-bit and a 24-bit addressing mode ( big-endian format )
- Tables for the dynamic translation of 64-bit addresses are extended by 3 levels
A major difference between ESA / 390 and the z-Systems architecture is that z / OS can no longer use expanded storage in 64-bit mode . This was introduced together with the S / 370 -XA architecture because the addressability was then limited to 2 GB. Back then, this was a cheap way to expand main memory.
Depending on the model, the available main memory can be 64 GB (z9 BC), 512 GB (z9 EC), 1.5 TB (z10 EC), 3 TB (z196, zEC12) or 10 TB (z13).
A special feature of the z-Systems architecture is that the processor performance can be used without loss of performance in permanent operation up to 100% continuous load. The effects of decreasing performance with higher requirements known from other architectures are not present in this architecture.
The processor performance (capacity setting) of the respective systems can be configured and ordered very granularly and is therefore precisely tailored to the requirements of the customer. For example, the zEnterprise BC12 model has 156 capacity settings and the zEnterpise EC12 model has several hundred capacity settings. The capacity setting limits the performance of the respective processors. Should an increase in performance be necessary, the capacity setting can be adjusted without additional hardware changes. This is usually done while the systems are running, so that no interruption of operations is necessary.
Another development feature is the channel subsystem . The transmission speed rose from 4.5 MB / s to 17 MB / s for the ESCON channels to over 800 MB / s for the fiber optic channels ( FICON Express 8).
The CPU
The systems of the IBM z system provide one or more processors based on a CISC processor architecture . The physically installed processors can be configured as different processor types: as regular ( general purpose ) processors (CP), as special processors for certain tasks of the z / OS operating system (ZAAP, or ZIIP), as processor for Linux and its virtualization with z / VM (IFL) or as a coupling facility of a parallel sysplex. The system also reserves some processors for input / output functions (Service Assist Processor: SAP) and as reserve processors (Spare), which transparently take over the task of the defective CPU in the event of CPU damage. The assist processors ZAAP and ZIIP are only available for certain workloads such as B. Java , DB2 or XML are available. All processor types are identical in terms of their hardware, but are limited to the execution of certain workloads by their microcode or by the operating system.
The performance of mainframe processors has also continued to develop throughout the history of mainframe servers. This applies to the design of the modules as well as the number of cores and the clock frequency. For example, a z900 still had a frequency of 770 MHz, a z990 1.2 GHz, and a z9 EC 1.7 GHz. With the z10 EC came a jump to 4.4 GHz, with the z196 to 5.2 GHz and with the zEC12 finally to 5.5 GHz. The current model IBM z 13 has 5.0 GHz, but this does not mean that this model is less powerful, since many components in the architecture of the mainframe together make up the performance.
The following hardware features are available to the programmer on a machine from z Systems:
- 16 general purpose registers
- 16 floating point registers
- 16 access registers
- 16 control registers
- 1 floating point control register
- 1 program status word
Mainframe generations
The IBM mainframe computers have already been further developed over several generations. In the following tables, the performance classification according to IBM is differentiated into business and enterprise classes.
LinuxONE
model | Type | Models | Processors | announcement | comment |
LinuxONE III | 8562 | LT2 | April 14, 2020 | corresponds to T02 | |
LinuxONE III | 8561 | LT1 | September 12, 2019 | corresponds to T01 | |
Rockhopper II | 3907 | LR1 | Max. 30th | April 10, 2018 | based on z14 |
Emperor II | 3906 | LM1, LM2, LM3, LM4, LM5 | Max. 170 | 12th September 2017 | based on z14 |
Emperor | 2964 | L30, L63, L96, LC9, LE1 | Max. 141 | January 26, 2016 | |
Rockhopper | 2965 | L10, L20 (1 drawer), L20 (2 drawer) | Max. 20th | January 26, 2016 | based on z13s |
Emperor | 2964 | Max. 141 | 17th August 2015 | based on z13 | |
Rockhopper | 2828 | L06, L13 | Max. 20th | 17th August 2015 | based on e.g.C12 |
Enterprise class
model | Type | Models | Processors | Main memory | announcement | comment |
z15 | 8561 | T01 | Max. 190 | Max. 40 TB | September 12, 2019 | Successor to the z14, 1-4 19 "racks |
z14 | 3906 | M01, M02, M03, M04, M05 | Max. 196 | Max. 32 TB | 17th July 2017 | Successor to the z13 |
z13 | 2964 | N30, N63, N96, NC9, NE1 | Max. 141 | Max. 10 TB | January 14, 2015 | Successor to the zEC12 |
zEnterprise EC12 (zEC12) | 2827 | H20, H43, H66, H89, HA1 | Max. 101 | August 28, 2012 | Successor to the z196 | |
zEnterprise 196 (z196) | 2817 | M15, M32, M49, M66, M80 | Max. 96 | July 22, 2010 | Successor to the z10 EC | |
System z10 Enterprise Class (z10 EC) | 2097 | E12, E26, E40, E56 and E64 | Max. 64 | February 26, 2008 | Successor to the z9 | |
System z9 Enterprise Class (z9 EC) | 2094 | S08, S18, S28, S38 and S54 | Max. 54 | July 27, 2005 | originally z9-109 | |
eServer zSeries 990 (z990) | 2084 | A08, B16, C24 and D32 | Max. 32 | May 13, 2003 | Successor to the larger models of the z900 | |
eServer zSeries 900 (z900) | 2064 | 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 1C1, 1C2, 1C3, 1C4, 1C5, 1C6, 1C7, 1C8, 1C9, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 2C1, 2C2, 2C3, 2C4, 2C5, 2C6, 2C9, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216 |
Max. 16 | October 3, 2000 |
business class
model | Type | Models | Processors | Main memory | announcement | comment |
z15 | 8562 | T02 | Max. 65 | Max. 16 TB | April 14, 2020 | 19 "rack, single frame, successor to the z14 ZR1 |
z14 | 3907 | ZR1 | Max. 30th | Max. 8 TB | April 10, 2018 | 19 "rack, single frame, successor to the z13s |
z13s | 2965 | N10, N20 (1 drawer), N20 (2 drawers) | Max. 20th | Max. 4 TB | February 16, 2016 | Successor to the zBC12 and z114, based on z13 |
zEnterprise BC12 (e.g. C12) | 2828 | H06, H13 | Max. 13 | 23rd July 2013 | Successor to the z114 | |
zEnterprise 114 (z114) | 2818 | M05, M10 | Max. 14th | July 12, 2011 | Successor to the z10 BC | |
System z10 Business Class (z10 BC) | 2098 | E10 | Max. 5 | October 21, 2008 | Successor to the z9 | |
System z9 Business Class (z9 BC) | 2096 | R07 and S07 | Max. 7th | April 27, 2006 | Successor to the z890 | |
eServer zSeries 890 (z890) | 2086 | A04 | Max. 4th | April 7, 2004 | Successor to the z800 and the smaller models of the z900 | |
eServer zSeries 800 (z800) | 2066 | 0E1, 0A1, 0B1, 0C1, 0X2, 001, 0A2, 002, 003, 004 | Max. 4th | February 19, 2002 |
software
The operating systems z / OS, z / VM, z / VSE , z / TPF and Linux are usually used on IBM mainframes .
The architecture is also characterized by its own terminology, for example the boot process is referred to as IPL (Initial Program Load). Restarting the entire server (switching it on) is also called POR ( Power On Reset ).
In addition to the operating system and the virtualization software, middleware ( CICS , WebSphere etc.) runs on the IBM mainframes, as well as software such as databases ( DB2 , IMS , Oracle), programming languages (COBOL, Assembler, PL / I, Java, C), Job Flow (JES2, JES3), Transaction Servers (CICS / TS, IMS / DC, WebSphere ), Monitoring Tools (PFA, RTD, zAware) and others. Other IBM Software on z Systems are, for example, SPSS , Rational , Tivoli and Cognos .
Virtualization
The virtualization possibilities of the IBM mainframe architecture, which have matured over the decades, are considered mature and stable. Even today, architecture has a considerable technological lead over other platforms. Operating systems can be operated on the platform in the following modes:
- Native mode : all available hardware resources are used (this mode is no longer offered directly for customer systems with zSeries hardware)
- LPAR mode : Hardware resources are divided into "logical partitions" (up to 85 LPAR systems are currently possible here). The CPUs are virtualized here.
- VM Mode : Hardware resources are "virtualized" using hypervisor systems such as z / VM and Linux with a kernel-based virtual machine (KVM - Statement of Direction as of January 2015)
The common operating systems for applications such as B. z / OS and Linux support virtualization options such as:
- Dynamic addition and removal of CPUs : CPUs can be added and removed without restarting the operating system
- Dynamic addition and removal of RAM : RAM can be added and removed using various mechanisms without restarting the operating system
- Dynamic adding and removing of disk storage : Direct Access Storage Device disks or SCSI / FibreChannel disks can be added and removed dynamically
- Virtualized Ethernet adapters: Real network cards can be made available in many different virtualization modes on up to 1500 virtual network adapters per card for virtual systems. Using the z / VM hypervisor, very complex network or VLAN structures can be set up within the system.
- Cryptographic subsystems : Hardware to support cryptography is also available in virtualized form
- Virtual punch card reader / punch : Systems can send data to each other via virtual punch card reading or punching systems.
Emulators
With Hercules one is emulator available, which allows an IBM mainframe system under Windows , Mac OS X to emulate or Linux. However, IBM does not license the use of mainframe operating systems on a Hercules emulation computer.
FLEX-ES was available as a commercial emulation platform until the end of 2006 . The product enabled the operation of many S / 390 operating systems on one Intel computer. In contrast to Hercules, IBM licensed many S / 390 operating systems for use under FLEX-ES.
As a commercial product there is zPDT (IBM System z® Personal Development Tool) on which the S / 390 operating systems are offered again.
IBM mainframe and the next generation
The IBM Academic Initiative is a program that is being carried out at 1,000 schools and universities in 67 countries around the world. Furthermore, since 2005 there has been a worldwide competition called Master the Mainframe for students who are interested in small projects with and around the IBM mainframe. The Global Skill Initiative was founded for the topic of training and further education and offers public and private training via training partners.
See also
Web links
- Web offer for the product series at IBM (English)
- The z / Architecture Principles of Operation (English)
- MVS 3.8 Freeware (English)
- Explore IBM z13® (watercooled) Interactive Product Animation (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Solution Landscape - SAP on IBM z Systems. Retrieved February 14, 2017 .
- ↑ a b IBM z14 Technical Guide . IBM, accessed on 1/2018
- ^ IBM: System / 370 Extended Architecture: Design Considerations. P. 201 , accessed on September 9, 2017 .
- ^ IBM: Principles of Operation. Pp. 1-15, 4-6 and 7 , accessed September 7, 2017 .
- ↑ z900 Announcement. Retrieved June 26, 2018 .
- ↑ IBM Germany Research & Development Laboratory in Böblingen . IBM, accessed April 13, 2015
- ↑ Announcement System z10 EC . IBM, accessed March 28, 2008
- ↑ a b IBM launches new “System z10” mainframe . IBM, accessed October 18, 2008
- ↑ a b IBM Launches Next-Generation Mainframe for Midsize Customers . IBM, accessed October 28, 2008
- ↑ IBM Unveils zEnterprise System, Ushers in Era of Smarter Data Centers . IBM, July 22, 2010
- ↑ IBM zEnterprise EC12 . IBM
- ↑ IBM
- ↑ a b IBM z13 Press Release . IBM, accessed April 13, 2015
- ↑ IBM z13 Data Sheet . (PDF) IBM, accessed April 13, 2015
- ↑ a b New mainframe computers from IBM for more security in hybrid clouds
- ↑ IBM announces the new generation of its mainframes with the 'IBM Z14'
- ↑ Meet IBM z14
- ↑ golem.de: IBM's z14 with 5.2 GHz and an absurd amount of cache
- ↑ IBM press release, April 10, 2018: IBM unveils new cloud-ready mainframe based on single-frame design
- ↑ IBM press release, September 12, 2019: IBM presents z15 and revolutionizes data security in the hybrid multicloud
- ↑ IBM News Room, September 12, 2019: IBM Unveils z15 With Industry-First Data Privacy Capabilities
- ↑ IBM Z Data Sheet: IBM z15 (z15)
- ↑ Mainframe CPU: IBM's z15 gets 12 cores and 256 MB L3 cache - Golem.de. Retrieved September 22, 2019 (German).
- ↑ a b IBM z15 Model T02 delivers the cloud you want with the privacy and security you need. IBM, April 14, 2020, accessed April 19, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c d Inside the new IBM z15 T02 and LinuxONE III LT2. In: IBM Developer. Retrieved April 19, 2020 (American English).
- ↑ a b Meet the 2 Newest Mainframes. In: DancingDinosaur. April 17, 2020, accessed on April 19, 2020 .
- ↑ Mainframe Comparison - Compare IBM Z multi-frame and single-frame systems. October 22, 2019, Retrieved April 19, 2020 (American English).
- ↑ a b c IBM LinuxONE Press Release . IBM, accessed September 18, 2015
- ↑ IBM data sheet for LinuxONE Emperor.
- ↑ IBM data sheet for LinuxONE Emperor.
- ↑ a b c IBM Enhances LinuxONE for Hybrid Cloud Environments . IBM
- ↑ IBM LinuxONE Rockhopper ( Memento of the original from January 31, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF) IBM Systems Data Sheet.
- ↑ Joe Fay: IBM dons winter gear, gives Emperors and Rockhoppers a refresh. In: The Register. January 26, 2016, accessed on September 7, 2017 (English, German translation of Ordes original text: “The new Rockhopper can run up to 20 4.3GHz cores, and support 4TB of memory, compared to the previous incarnation's 4.2GHz 12 core max, with 500GB of RAM. The new Emperor keeps its predecessor's 141 5.0GHz cores and 10TB of share memory, but gets 667 integrated assist processors for high availability, I / O intensive workloads, instead of the old bird's 640 dedicated I / O (input / output) processors.® ").
- ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: IBM LinuxONE Emperor (PDF) IBM Systems Data Sheet.
- ↑ IBM LinuxONE Data Sheet: IBM LinuxONE III
- ↑ Introducing the IBM LinuxONE III Model LT2, the Linux platform that provides the cloud you want with the privacy and security you need. In: IBM. April 14, 2020, accessed on April 19, 2020 .
- ↑ Family 3907 + 02 IBM LinuxONE Rockhopper II
- ↑ a b IBM unveils new cloud-ready mainframe based on single-frame design. April 10, 2018, accessed April 12, 2014 .
- ↑ Emperor II Datasheet. Retrieved October 8, 2017 .
- ↑ IBM Europe Hardware Announcement ZG17-0092. (pdf) September 12, 2017, accessed October 8, 2017 (English).
- ↑ IBM zEnterprise EC12 Press Release . IBM, accessed April 13, 2015
- ↑ IBM Unveils zEnterprise System, Ushers in Era of Smarter Data Centers . IBM
- ↑ IBM System z9 109 - The server built to protect and grow with your on demand enterprise . (PDF; 439 kB) IBM, accessed October 18, 2008
- ↑ z990 Announcement . IBM, accessed October 18, 2008
- ↑ zSeries 900 System Overview . IBM, accessed October 29, 2008
- ↑ z900 Announcement . IBM, accessed October 18, 2008
- ↑ IBM Redbooks: IBM z14 Model ZR1 Technical Introduction
- ↑ IBM zEnterprise BC12 Press Release . IBM, accessed April 13, 2015
- ↑ New IBM zEnterprise Mainframe Server Advances Smarter Computing for Companies and Governments in Emerging Markets and Mid-size Clients around the World . IBM
- ^ IBM Unveils Breakthrough Business Class Mainframe; Targets Growth of SOA Transactions and Data . IBM, accessed October 18, 2008
- ↑ IBM eServer zSeries 890 - A multipurpose server for an on demand world . (PDF; 351 kB) IBM, accessed October 18, 2008
- ↑ zSeries 800 System Overview . IBM, accessed October 29, 2008
- ↑ IBM Introduces Nine New Models of the IBM eServer z800 Family of Servers . (PDF; 261 kB) IBM, accessed October 18, 2008
- ↑ IBM System z® Personal Development Tool . IBM, accessed June 12, 2015