IBM Aims for Smarter Data Centers with New Mainframe

fact sheet Vendor: IBM Vendor's Information: About IBM vendor resources Break Down IT Organizational Barriers with IBM zEnterprise Download this research report from Clabby Analytics to discover the organizational benefits that can be achieved by moving to a standardized management/governance environment for heterogeneous IT environments. You'll also learn more about IBM's new hybrid zEnterprise server/zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension (zBX)/Unified Resource Management offering. IBM zEnterprise System Delivers New Dimensions in Workload Management ITG Status Report: The new zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager extends System z management strengths to selected IBM blade servers. This enables extremely granular, real-time management of end-to-end workloads across multiple server platforms and architectural tiers. Download this report to learn more. IBM zEnterprise — The System to Unite All Others With 1.5 billion instructions in one second (BIPS), while consuming less energy than ever before, Wintergreen Research says IT departments need to sit up and take notice of this hybrid system that combines the System z with servers. Download this research report to learn more.

IBM is hoping to rewrite the rules of the data center with the release of its latest mainframe. IBM's new zEnterprise mainframe server is the most powerful and energy-efficient mainframe ever built, according to the company. It is capable of providing a boost of up to 10X for complex analytics performance and performs up to 60 percent faster than its predecessor, System z10, for new workloads.

Along with the new zEnterprise mainframe server, IBM also announced a new systems design that allows workloads on its mainframes and other servers to share resources and be managed as a single, virtualized system.

IBM Unveils a Path to Data Center Modernization Research Report: The optimal approach for application hosting is not to try to force all workloads to run on a one size fits all common type of server, but instead to use each type of server technology based on its fit for the type of workload to be run. The IBM zEnterprise System can recognize different types of workloads that will benefit from running on System z or another server technology and dynamically offload work to a connected appliance or optimizer to improve performance.

The zEnterprise System was designed to address the jumble of disparate technologies IT departments add over time to run specific applications and that operate in silos, sometimes unable to communicate with each other in real time and requiring separate staff and software tools to manage. As sophisticated, data-intensive workloads become the norm in an increasingly interconnected world, the challenge of disparate systems leads to dramatic increases in cost and complexity.

The new systems design combines IBM's new zEnterprise mainframe server with new technologies — the IBM zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension and the IBM zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager — that enable it to manage workloads running across System z and select POWER7 and System x servers.

IBM says that the new technology, an industry first, is the result of an investment of more than $1.5 billion in IBM research and development and more than three years of collaboration with some of IBM's top clients.

Thanks to that investment and R&D effort, IBM customers will be able to integrate the management of zEnterprise System resources as a single system and extend mainframe qualities, such as governance and manageability, to workloads running on select IBM POWER7 and System x blade servers. IBM estimates that the ability to manage workloads across systems as one can drive up to 40 percent lower acquisition costs and reduce cost of ownership by 55 percent.

IBM zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension
The IBM zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension supports IBM POWER7 and System x BladeCenter systems, as well as blades optimized for specific workloads such as analytics and managing Web infrastructure.

IBM blade servers inside the IBM zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension, which can be managed like mainframe resources, integrate with System z and can run tens of thousands of off-the-shelf applications. Later this year, IBM plans to deliver the zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension with support for IBM POWER7 blades running AIX, IBM's UNIX operating system. Next year, IBM plans to announce additional general purpose blades for the IBM zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension including select IBM System x-based blades running Linux. Additional workload optimized blades are planned to include IBM DataPower for improving website and network performance.

IBM zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager
New IBM Systems Software called Unified Resource Manager is first-of-its-kind firmware that integrates multiple platform resources as a single, virtualized system and provides unified management for zEnterprise. IBM says more than 100,000 virtualized servers can be managed as a single system on a fully configured cluster of zEnterprise Systems.

The zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager allows workloads running on select Power and System x BladeCenter systems to benefit from mainframe-like security and reliability. For example, IBM says the Unified Resource Manager can identify system bottlenecks or failures among disparate systems. If a failure occurs on a System x blade server, the Unified Resource Manager can instantly move the affected application to another System x blade to keep it running. At the same time, the Unified Resource Manager automatically sends an electronic message to IBM to initiate a service call. The Unified Resource Manager can also help prioritize compute workloads in line with changing business priorities.

It also improves network security across applications spanning the complete zEnterprise system, including workloads on IBM POWER7 and System x blades. This helps reduce complexity and the need for additional encryption and firewall security software within the zEnterprise environment.

The zEnterprise 196
From a performance standpoint, the IBM says the zEnterprise System is the most powerful IBM system ever. The core server in the zEnterprise System — called zEnterprise 196 — contains 96 of the world's fastest, most powerful microprocessors running at 5.2Ghz, capable of executing more than 50 billion instructions per second.

The new microprocessor technology includes software to optimize performance of data-heavy workloads, including up to a 60 percent improvement in data intensive and Java workloads. Increased levels of system performance in turn increase software performance, which can reduce software license costs.

The system offers 60 percent more capacity than the System z10 and uses about the same amount of electricity. For IBM clients selecting Linux on System z, a single virtualized server can be created and deployed for less than $1 per day, according to the company.

IBM says that energy efficiencies in the server were achieved through advances in microprocessor design, 45nm silicon technology, more efficient power conversion and distribution, as well as advanced sensors and cooling control firmware that monitors and makes adjustments based on environmental factors such as temperature and humidity levels and even air density. A water cooling option is also available for the z196 that can reduce energy use by up to 12 percent.

IBM claims that customers that adopt the zEnterprise System will be able to more quickly process complex, data-intensive workloads and save on their total cost of ownership. A financial services company using the zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension and IBM zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager to manage credit card transactions using an IBM blade optimized for analytics can gain insights from the information in seconds. Previously, it would have taken hours for the two disparate systems to integrate their databases.

IBM estimates that complex database queries can experience up to a ten-fold performance improvement in this hybrid environment. The same company can also use IBM's new design to extend the mainframe's always-on, reliable qualities to its customer service applications running on IBM blade servers.