* IBM’s Series z9 mainframe
IBM last week exceeded everyone’s expectations with a new mainframe that is twice as fast as the T-Rex that preceded it.
The z9 took 5,000 engineers three years and $1.2 billion to build – something that only a company with the sheer size of IBM can do. The z9 https://www-03.ibm.com/servers/systems/systemz9/z9109/ lets customers consolidate workloads onto a single machine that can process a billion transactions a day.
“IBM’s new z9 systems suggest there is far more life left in the zSeries beast than its detractors claim,” says Charles King, principal analyst with Pund-IT Research.
The z9 has double the performance of the T-Rex zSeries z990 mainframe, which was introduced two years ago. It can run Linux and z/OS 1.7 operating systems and supports Java-based applications. For more info, see: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/072605-ibm-z9.html?rl
The new mainframe will also run IBM’s new Virtualization Engine 2.0, which allows users to create hundreds of virtual servers on a single system. It can be carved up into as many as 60 logical hardware partitions so customers can run Java and Linux applications on the same machine.
“Virtualization represents one of the most significant achievements in IT during the last few years – that is, virtualization of IT resources, not just CPU cycles, but memory, storage, networking, and increasingly just about everything else IT,” says Clay Rider, president of the Sageza Group.
The z9 also has double the memory of the z990, allowing it to support large-scale transaction-intensive environments. It is a 54-way box, which gives it twice the system capacity http://www.networkworld.com/news/2003/0526trex.html?rl of the z990.
Rider praises IBM’s advances.
“The announcement is prime example of what can happen when a vendor has money and decides to invest it in R&D,” says Rider in a research note. “A billion dollars or so later and suddenly there is a computer that out-performs, 2 to 1, one of the biggest, baddest systems ever, the T-Rex.”
The System z9 109 is available in five models ranging between one and 54 processors. Four models with one to 38 processors are expected to be available in September; the highest-capacity model is expected to be available in November.
