IBM Marries Mainframes with Virtualization, Distributed Workloads 
IBM’s latest mainframe modernization strategy uses workload integration and virtualization to extend mainframe-caliber features to select POWER7, System x environments, including governance, management and near real-time analytics.
IBM’s latest mainframe modernization strategy uses workload integration and virtualization to extend mainframe-caliber features to select POWER7, System x environments, including governance, management and near real-time analytics.
IBM is shipping its zEnterprise mainframe server with a new systems design to allow workloads running across a mainframe, POWER7 and System x servers to share resources and be managed as a single, virtualized system. With the ability to manage workloads across systems as one, the zEnterprise System can drive up to 40% lower acquisition costs and reduce cost of ownership by 55%.
The efforts are the end result of contributions across IBM mainframe and server hardware and OS units, as well as IBM Cognos, Tivoli, Rational and others.
IBM’s new design combines the new zEnterprise mainframe server with new technology, the IBM zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension and the IBM zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager for workload management.
The architecture allows customers 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.
“These features have a lot of benefits for the data center and mainframe professionals,” IBM Rational Program Director Scott Searle told IDN. “With this approach, customers can get their tiered applications across their mainframe working screamingly fast.”
As an example, using IBM’s zEnterprise System, zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension and IBM’s zEnterprise URM, a financial services company can manage credit card transactions and tap into analytics in seconds. Previously, it would have taken hours for the two disparate systems to integrate databases and operations.
IBM’s zEnterprise System is already changing the way IT executives look at mainframe integration at Citi. In a statement, Martin Kennedy, Managing Director of Citi's Enterprise System Infrastructure said IBM’s latest offerings are “a potentially revolutionary change…in the evolution of highly efficient, scalable processing, opening up the possibility of hosting entire workloads on a single highly integrated system."
“For a tiered environment, our form factor can still be tightly integrated, and easily fits with existing core systems,” Searle added. As an example of its workload optimization features, Searle explained that the transaction processing takes place at the back-end mainframe, and the new products are fine-tuned to balance that need with other workload requirements, such as web and portal interfaces as well as analytics.
The parade of new technology offerings for data center and workload efficiencies was among the year’s biggest. Here is a review of notable offerings in support of zEnterprise:
IBM zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager
IBM’s Unified Resource Manager is firmware designed to integrate
multiple platform resources as a “single virtualized system.” bringing mainframe-caliber QoS, security and reliability to distributed workloads across select Power and System x systems. With URM, more than 100,000 virtualized servers can be managed as a single system on a fully-configured cluster of zEnterprise Systems.
Smart Analytics Optimizer
IBM also unveiled its Smart Analytics Optimizer, designed as an “accelerator” for analytic workloads. SAO allows customers to analyze data to anticipate emerging business trends, capture new opportunities and avoid risks up to 10 times faster. SAO works in conjunction with zEnterprise with DB2 10 for z/OS (currently in beta), Cognos Business Intelligence and SPSS Predictive Analytics.
Tivoli Integrated Service Management (Update)
IBM also updated the Tivoli integrated service management for zEnterprise to provide visibility, control, and automation for applications, business services, infrastructure, and data resources.
Rational Developer for System z (Update)
The design-time environment adds a Unit Test feature to boost zEnterprise development productivity by off-loading mainframe application development and testing to a workstation. This approach frees the mainframe to run high-value core business applications.
The Rational IDE portfolio has been undergoing consistent optimization for tiered environments, all aimed at helping customers reduce costs and improve operations from design cycle and runtime, Seale added. “Bringing these optimizations to [distributed] workloads across mainframes, POWER and System z, and just the right tooling, is another powerful step forward” for getting the most from combining virtualization and mainframe environments.
