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Mumbai, Munich, New York, Tokyo (OBBeC) – In a bid to help clients create a new enterprise data centre, IBM has released the System z10 mainframe. The system z10 is designed to help increase the data centre efficiency by improving performance and reducing power, cooling costs, and floor space requirements. Boasting high levels of security, the system also automates the management and tracking of IT resources to respond to ever-changing business conditions.

In addition to the z10, IBM has also announced it has invested $300 million in architects, technical skills, as well as design and benchmarking centres to help clients transform to a new enterprise data centre. Qualified clients can receive free assessment services to prioritize and take action to implement a more efficient, shared and dynamic IT infrastructure.

IBM's next-generation, 64-processor mainframe, which uses Quad-Core technology, is built from the start to be shared, offering greater performance over virtualized x86 servers to support hundreds to hundreds of millions of users.

The z10 also supports a broad range of workloads. In addition to Linux, XML, Java, WebSphere and increased workloads from Service Oriented Architecture implementations, IBM is working with Sun Microsystems and Sine Nomine Associates to pilot the Open Solaris operating system on System z, demonstrating the openness and flexibility of the mainframe.

From a performance standpoint, the new z10 is designed to be up to 50% faster and offers up to 100% performance improvement for CPU intensive jobs compared to its predecessor, the z9, with up to 70% more capacity. The z10 also is the equivalent of nearly 1,500 x86 servers, with up to an 85% smaller footprint, and up to 85% lower energy costs. The new z10 can consolidate x86 software licenses at up to a 30-to-1 ratio.

The System z10 offers a complete range of policy-driven functions, including:

Authorization Management to authenticate and authorize who can access specific business services and associated IT resources. Designed with encryption algorithms, the built-in features allow for System z10 administrators to dictate multiple layers of security and security clearance to allow authorized users to access sensitive information that resides on the System z.

Utilization Management to drive maximum use of the system. The System z10 is designed to run at up to 100 percent utilization - based on the varied demands placed on it by users.
z/OS, one of the operating systems for the z10, can manage transactions based on preset policies, adjusting on the fly to peaks and valleys.

Just-in-Time Capacity to deliver additional processing power and capacity when needed to help businesses better manage risk (e.g. more computing power during a peak retail season). The 64-processor z10 will automate the provisioning of processing power when needed to address changing business conditions. z/OS anticipates when additional capacity is needed, for how long, and maps to that instantly. This is known as "Just In Time Deployment of Capacity Resources." The feature is built upon transaction needs and how customers prioritize them.

Virtualization Security with the U.S. government's highest level of security, Evaluation Assurance Level 5 (EAL5), via z/VM. When customers are looking to allocate additional resources in the mainframe and partition them to save money and access capacity on demand, the EAL5 certification states that the virtual partitions that are opened running the specific operating systems are in effect the same as if you were running another server connected to the System z - the physical security for the virtual partition is the highest level it can be. This enables customers to allocate resources on demand, without fear of security risk to any of the information running through the operating systems, improving performance and enabling 24/7 availability.

IBM has also announced the immediate availability of DB2 for z/OS Value Unit Edition, which provides a new one-time-charge offering that enables the deployment of new application workloads. According to the company, this offering strengthens the role of System z as a cornerstone for key business initiatives such as SOA, Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence and packaged applications such as SAP. DB2 for z/OS Value Unit Edition and IBM Information Server enable System z clients to further deliver trusted information for their dynamic warehousing requirements.

In addition, IBM will bring new Master Data Management capabilities to System z in the second half of this year. This will include the InfoSphere Master Data Management Server for Linux on System z, which allows businesses to centrally manage customer, product, and account data for use across an enterprise.