Exclusively with Linux: IBM Introduces Its New Mainframe

Today IBM introduced the Linux Monarch 4, the fourth generation of its Linux mainframes, introduced in 2015. It runs exclusively on Linux and bypasses all other mainframe operating systems. The top model is positioned as a highly scalable Linux and Kubernetes-based platform for thousands of workloads based on the new z16 technology. It also offers features that can reduce customers’ energy consumption. The top-of-the-line Emperor 4 is expected to be generally available worldwide in early September 14, 2022; The fourth-generation entry-level and mid-range systems – called Rockhopper – will run in the first half of 2023.

Equipped with the Z16’s new Telum Dual Processor chip, the LinuxONE Emperor 4 has 16 cores in 7nm chip technology and runs at 5.2GHz. The system provides up to 40 TB of Redundant Array Independent Memory (RAIM) per system. The new model is available with up to 200 configurable cores in a single model. Overall, like the z16, there are five options when it comes to core capacity: Max39, Max82, Max125, Max168, and Max200.

Uniform workload, low power consumption

The platform already supports multiple Linux and OpenShift certified workloads, for example for data serving or core banking – not only from the manufacturer, but from partners such as Illmuio, METACO, MongoDB, NGINX, Fiorano, Fujitsu, Sysdig or Temenos Too. According to the manufacturer, consolidating Linux workloads on five of these systems—instead of running them on comparable x86 servers under identical conditions—could help reduce energy consumption by 75 percent, data center space by 50 percent and CO. Is.₂Reduce e-footprint by more than 850 tonnes annually. Specifically, five systems of machine type 3931 MAX 125, consisting of three CPC drawers with 125 configurable cores (CP, ZIIP or IFL) and two I/O drawers to support network storage and external storage, were used. The comparison was made to 192 x86 systems. A total of 10,364 cores. All x86 servers compared were 2 or 4 socket servers; Mainframes and x86 ran 24x7x365 with production and non-production workloads. Savings assumes a power usage effectiveness (PUE) ratio of 1.57 to calculate the additional power used to cool the data center.

Manufacturers already have solutions for designing, implementing and managing energy efficient infrastructure and innovations with a hybrid cloud approach. “Data centers are energy intensive and can account for a large portion of a company’s energy consumption. But data and technology can help companies implement sustainability goals,” said Marcel Mitran, IBM Fellow, Cloud Platform, IBM Linux CTO said. in the press release Cited. “Reduction in energy consumption in the data center is a solid possibility to reduce the CO₂ balance. In this context, the migration to IBM LinuxONE aims to help customers achieve their scaling and security goals as well as sustainability goals for today’s digital enterprise. It is a system that enables customers to run workloads with consistently high workloads while increasing efficiencies. This is achieved by activating unused cores without increasing energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Is.

Claim: Without compromising on security

Like the recently introduced z16 mainframe, the new system features quantum-secure algorithms for data protection and encryption of data-at-rest and in-flight. Introduced with the Z16, the Crypto Express 8S Adapter was designed to enable users to perform crystal dilithium signing operations.

An Emperor 4 with Krypto Express 8S adapter can run CRYSTALS dilithium signing operations with a Krypto Express 7S adapter at up to 52x the throughput of its predecessor, the LinuxONE III LT1. This was the result of a company-internal benchmark for CRYSTALS dilithium characters with a matrix size of 6×5 and 4 Kbytes of input data. The test environments for both Linux mainframes were configured in LPAR with RHEL 8.5 with 6 dedicated cores and 64GB of memory. The following Java packages were used for the benchmark: Semeru Open11 JDK 11.0.14.1.1 0.30.1-1 and JCCA Library 1.6.7.0 with Crypto Express Adapter CCA Domain.

Linux on z systems (formerly Linux on system z, zLinux, also z/Linux) is the result of the porting of Linux to the IBM mainframe system z and LinuxONE that began in 1998. It can be run directly on S/390 hardware, but can also be run in LPAR or as a virtual machine under z/VM. Today there are some non-commercial – for example Debian, CentOS – and commercial Linux distributions available such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and Ubuntu for mainframes and LinuxOS.

(FO)