Just a comment, the name z13s did not appear to me to be a name of a new
system, but rather just the plural of z13, i.e. "Look at those z13s run!".
Took me a while to figure out this was in fact a new name and a new offering.
Perhaps I'm the only one...
> Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 17:30:16 +0800
> From: sipp...@sg.ibm.com
> Subject: Introducing the New z13s: Tim's Hardware Highlights
> To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
>
> IBM is now taking orders for the new IBM z13s machines, and shipments
> should start next month (March, 2016). Here is my undoubtedly incomplete
> list of this new mainframe model's technical highlights, the ones I
> personally find most interesting and exciting in the system itself.
> (Operating systems and software are at least as important, but I'm not
> focusing on those important areas in this list.) Please note that the IBM
> z13 machines also pick up improvements and enhancements. If something is
> listed below it most likely also applies to the z13, excepting obviously
> model-specific characteristics as clock speeds, capacity models, etc.
>
> Here we go, in no particular order....
>
> 1. Memory! A single z13s can now support up to 4 TB of customer usable,
> RAIM-protected main memory. As Paris Hilton says, "That's huge." Also
> exciting is that you will never have to suffer with less than 64 GB of main
> memory (customer usable, RAIM-protected) because that's now the minimum per
> z13s machine, also a factor of 8 increase from the previous model -- and
> now both the z13s and z13 have the same minimum memory specification.
> Memory is also much more affordable, especially if you order lots of it in
> one go. Please do. It's darn useful and saves you real money.
>
> Just to underscore how revolutionary 4 TB of main memory is in the z13s,
> the zEC12 -- the largest model mainframe introduced in 2012 -- supported
> "only" 3 TB of main memory. This supposed "mid-range" z13s mainframe
> supports 33% more main memory than the biggest available mainframe did
> until 2015. "That's huge." Even the minimum physical N10 model z13s
> configuration supports up to 1 TB of main memory. That's still huge.
>
> Huge memory makes it possible to run completely new classes of workloads,
> for example enormous virtualized server landscapes, massive in-memory DB2
> tables, Java heaps that never garbage collect during a batch run, and big
> Blockchain public ledgers.
>
> 2. There's a new type of cross-LPAR in memory network connectivity
> available specifically for TCP sockets called "Shared Memory
> Communications-Direct Memory Access" or SMC-D for short. (I would have just
> called it "Super HiperSockets" or something like that, but I didn't get a
> vote and wasn't asked. SMC-D it is.) HiperSockets are great and still
> supported, and indeed you'll still use them in conjunction with SMC-D, but
> SMC-D is even faster and reduces processing requirements even more. SMC-D
> is designed for TCP socket connections between z/OS LPARs (minimum z/OS
> 2.2). It's part of every system at no additional charge. No application
> changes are required.
>
> 3. For z/OS, z/VSE, and z/TPF, subcapacity models are available ranging
> from 80 to 7123 PCIs (A01 to Z06 models), not counting specialty engine
> capacities and assist processors. A Z01 capacity model (single general
> purpose core) has a PCI rating of 1430. That's just a whisker shy of the
> zEC12 (1514), with the standard caveats about cross-model comparisons. The
> Z06 capacity model of the zBC12 had a PCI rating of 4958 as another point
> of comparison. By any measure the z13s is an extremely powerful system. The
> processor clock speed is 4.3 GHz continuous, up from 4.2 GHz in the zBC12.
>
> 4. IBM has greatly relaxed the data center environmental requirements for
> this model, expanding the temperature and humidity envelopes. It's much
> more realistic now to install the z13s in nontraditional data centers, or
> even places that aren't really data centers. Platforms that move, for
> example, or out in remote facilities. (In technobabble it's an ASHRAE class
> A3 system now instead of class A2.)
>
> 5. Both the Hardware Management Console (HMC) and Trusted Key Entry (TKE)
> are now available in "1U" rack mountable versions. It's not that you
> couldn't rack mount the previous HMC and TKE -- you could, many do. But now
> they only take up 1U of rack space each, and they're specifically designed
> for rack mounting. The traditional HMC and TKE are still available (and
> will be, as far as I know), so you can choose whichever you prefer. I
> prefer the new 1U form factors.
>
> 6. In the latest HMC driver level (2.13.1, the minimum to support the z13s)
> IBM has eliminated the Java plug-in requirement at least for several HMC
> functions. You should no longer need to wrestle with making Java applet
> support work in your Web browser. I don't know if IBM has completely
> eliminated the Java plug-in requirement yet -- perhaps somebody could check
> that and report back -- but at least the journey is well underway. Oracle
> has announced that the next version of their Java Runtime Environment (JRE)
> won't include a browser plug-in, so this change is inevitable. Of course
> you still need to make sure whatever client you're using for remote HMC
> access is well secured and that you follow good HMC-related security
> practices.
>
> 7. You can now have up to 40 Logical Partitions (LPARs) on the z13s, up
> from 30 on the zBC12. And there's a new administrative mode in PR/SM called
> "Dynamic Partition Manager" that makes it quicker and easier to create a
> new partition with I/O definitions. Dynamic Partition Manager works with
> FCP storage devices, Linux on z, and KVM, and it's optional -- you are not
> required to use this new mode. If you have z/OS, z/VSE, z/VM, z/TPF, and/or
> ECKD storage then you won't use this new administrative mode. Dynamic
> Partition Manager is also now available on the LinuxONE systems.
>
> 8. IBM has renamed the zAware partition type to zACI (z Appliance Container
> Infrastructure). The name suggests that IBM might have more virtual
> appliance offerings in mind in addition to zAware, and indeed IBM announced
> a new virtual appliance: the z/VSE Network Appliance. The z/VSE Network
> Appliance makes it much quicker and easier to implement Linux Fast Path
> (LFP). (Not that it was particularly hard, but easier is always better.) If
> you have a z/VSE license then you should be entitled to the z/VSE Network
> Appliance at no additional charge, as I understand it.
>
> 9. The OSA-Integrated Console Controller (OSA-ICC) connections now support
> TLS/SSL encryption, an excellent security improvement I recommend you
> implement as quickly as you reasonably can.
>
> 10. As with the z13, your zIIPs and your IFLs now support two threads each
> (SMT2), and you can also order two zIIPs (i.e. four zIIP threads) per
> general purpose processor (CP, whether subcapacity or not). You also pick
> up all the wonderful new processor instructions in the z13, including the
> new vector instructions, that the latest compilers and JVMs can already
> exploit.
>
> 11. There are several I/O improvements including FICONExpress16S (for
> 16Gb/s channels) and a range of other improvements for both FICON and FCP.
>
> 12. There's a very long list of crypto-related enhancements, including new
> algorithms, big performance improvements, and lots of improvements to the
> TKE.
>
> 13. New (lower) software pricing. Everybody makes out well. Single machine
> customers with 30 MSUs or less (244 z13s PCIs or less) should see the
> biggest percentage reductions in their IBM Monthly License Charge (MLC)
> software, typically a 13% lower MLC bill compared to running on a zBC12.
> [Yes, this example includes customers with single machine Parallel
> Sysplexes, and the percentage figure relates to the actual charge (dollars,
> yen, euro, whatever). I'm just reading from IBM's published announcement
> materials here.] That's not even counting the performance improvements you
> pick up in the z13s -- with Enterprise COBOL Version 6.1, for example.
>
> Likewise, the Processor Value Unit (PVU) requirement per IFL for IBM
> software licensing holds steady at 100, so you get more performance and
> throughput with IFLs (and two threads per IFL) with the same IBM software
> licensing quantity.
>
> That's my list for now, appropriately with 13 numbered bullets for the
> z13s. If you've spotted something you particularly like, please post a
> follow-up.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Timothy Sipples
> IT Architect Executive, Industry Solutions, IBM z Systems, AP/GCG/MEA
> E-Mail: sipp...@sg.ibm.com
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
> send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
