Richard, You could also let z/VM handle the PAVs and define 64k 3390s for z/VM's data volumes (use smaller 3390s for z/VM's system, spool and page). And carve multiple minidisks from these big volumes for use by one or more Linux servers.
And if your I/O load requires it, you could use LVM to bundle a lot of smaller minidisks to create a larger Linux disk, letting z/VM handle PAV, if you do not mind the LVM initialization costs (I get the feeling the cost/time to start up an LVM is at least of the order n^2, and I've been burning a CP flat for more than 15 minutes starting up a 300 volume LVM. But it made the application so much faster, as it could do so much more I/O, that it was almost worth it). Ronald van der Laan
