IBM zEnterprise mainframe assimilates Unix and Linux servers

The zEnterprise is claimed as the most powerful server ever

IBM has updated its System z mainframe line with a new hardware architecture delivering closer integration with Power 7 and System X servers.

This configuration can be managed as a single entity, making workloads better able to share resources between the mainframe core and the discrete servers, according to IBM.

Set to ship later this quarter, the zEnterprise 196 is claimed by IBM as the fastest enterprise server in the world, with 96 processors operating at 5.2GHz delivering over 50 billion instructions per second.

Compared with its z10 predecessor, zEnterprise offers a greater than 90 per cent increase in performance when running IBM's Websphere software, and a 60 per cent boost in zLinux performance, the firm said.

However, IBM's pitch to customers is that the new system can simplify the management of mission-critical infrastructures by bringing workloads on Power 7 or System X servers under the control of the mainframe, extending its governance capabilities to these platforms as well.

"We've noticed that many of our systems are used in collaboration with other systems. For example, we have over 600 SAP clients that are typically running the application on AIX servers, connected to a back-end database running on z/OS," said Tom Rosamilia, general manager for IBM's System z business.

A common request among such customers has been to somehow make the entire environment run like z/OS, with similar management and provisioning capabilities, he added.

For this reason, the zEnterprise can be combined with a BladeCenter Extension that will accept Power 7 blades at launch, with support for select x86-based System X blades running Linux coming next year.

Integration is delivered through a new Unified Resource Manager that provides unified management across the zEnterprise core and any blades connected to it, extending the mainframe's security and reliability to cover workloads running on these.

It can detect a failure in a blade server and move the affected workload to another blade to keep it running, for example.

IBM is also pushing cost effectiveness with the zEnterprise, stating that it can run thousands of Linux virtual machines concurrently, each costing less than $1 (65p) per day to run.

Firing up a new Linux instance to support a project will be "much cheaper and much, much faster" than buying and provisioning a discrete server, and making sure it has a backup for disaster recovery, Rosamilia said.

IBM expects to gain new mainframe customers with the zEnterprise, but Ovum analyst Roy Illsley believes that the new system is more about keeping existing customers on side by demonstrating that the mainframe still has value and relevance in today's IT environment.

"IBM has finally recognised that it can extend the mainframe's reliability, security and cost-effective service delivery beyond the mainframe itself," he said.

However, Illsley warned that the move will only make significant waves in the wider IT industry if IBM looks beyond its own server blades and allows third-party kit, especially Windows Servers, to integrate into the system.

"Cloud providers in particular face a mammoth task managing their large, sprawling datacentres, and the zEnterprise with Unified Resource Manager would be ideal as the brain that can co-ordinate everything," he said.