IBM shrinks z16 and LinuxONE techniques into normal rack configs

Massive iron isn’t all the time lovely. Simply ask IBM, which has up to date its z16 mainframe and lifted the covers off a shiny new LinuxONE 4, each of that are constructed for rack mount and single body configurations.

The techniques are meant to attraction to a broader viewers resulting from smaller measurement and diminished vitality consumption.

The servers’ configurations are examined to the identical {qualifications} as the present z16 excessive availability portfolio, however are available a rack-optimized format to be used with normal 19-inch datacenter racks and energy distribution items.

Ross Mauri, basic supervisor for IBM zSystems and LinuxONE, stated: “These new choices let firms of all sizes seamlessly co-locate IBM z16 and LinuxONE Rockhopper 4 with distributed infrastructure.”

The z16 was launched a 12 months in the past in a multi-frame incarnation, bringing with it a brand new 7nm Telum processor, which added on-chip AI inference options to energy stuff like real-time fraud detection checks on monetary transactions.

The LinuxONE vary are Linux-only variations of IBM’s mainframe tech, and the Rockhopper 4 fashions embrace the expertise from the LinuxONE Emperor 4, launched final September, in a extra compact format.

Nonetheless, they’re nonetheless highly effective techniques able to dealing with a quantity of processing that might in any other case name for a lot of x86 techniques. IBM claims that consolidating Linux workloads on a single Rockhopper 4 would let clients exchange no less than 36 x86 servers, decreasing vitality consumption by 75 p.c and area by 67 p.c.

Rockhopper 4 might be configured with as much as 68 Built-in Facility for Linux (IFL) processors operating at 4.6GHz and as much as 16TB of reminiscence. One benefit of that is the system is able to working giant databases on a single server eliminating the necessity for sharding, IBM says.

This isn’t the primary time IBM has shrunk its large iron to straightforward rack measurement after launch – Massive Blue did the identical with earlier fashions of z-series.

Placing the {hardware} into this smaller footprint opens alternatives to incorporate techniques in distributed environments with different servers, storage, SAN and switches in a single single rack, the corporate stated.

IBM Z and LinuxONE Product Administration veep Tina Tarquinio wrote that the brand new rackmount configurations had been additionally an opportunity for IBM to lure audiences which have particular datacenter design necessities.

“With capabilities for partition-level energy monitoring and extra environmental metrics, the one body and rack mount configurations can probably assist scale back a shopper’s carbon footprint,” she says.

Manoj Sukumaran, Omdia principal analyst for Information Heart Compute & Networking, stated this was an fascinating improvement that would assist to shift mainframes past their conventional monetary companies/transaction processing market.

“IBM Z techniques have sometimes been delivered as built-in racks and clients did not have the pliability so as to add mainframe together with their different datacenter {hardware},” he stated.

The benefits of this are that the {hardware} can be out there at a lower cost level, making the mainframe extra accessible. “LinuxOne and the combination of assorted Purple Hat applied sciences additionally make it extra cloud-like infrastructure than a conventional mainframe server, which makes it simpler to combine them into hybrid infrastructure and transition workloads between X86 and z16 techniques,” Sukumaran stated.

IBM additionally final month introduced a preview of z/OS 3.1, the following launch of its mainframe working system due for Q3.

The z16 and LinuxONE 4 single body and rack mount choices shall be usually out there from IBM and authorised biz companions from Might, IBM stated. ®