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IBM launches Linux only mainframe

by on17 August 2015


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IBM has announced a new Linux-only mainframe aimed at both ends of the enterprise market.


The new mainframe is led by two servers called LinuxONE that Biggish Blue claims is the "world's most advanced Linux system." They both possess the fastest processor in the industry in and are designed for the "new application economy" and hybrid cloud era.

At the top of the range sits the LinuxONE Emperor which is based on IBM z13. It has a new processor design, faster I/O and the ability to address up to 10TB of memory -- three times as much as its predecessor. It can house up to 141 processor units in a single system and run as many as 8,000 virtual servers, the company says.

At a maximum 5GHz, the z13's processor is slower in terms of clockspeed thanthe chip in the z12, but IBM says it more than compensates for that with other improvements. The chip has eight cores compared with six for its predecessor, and it's manufactured on a newer, 22 nanometer process, which should mean smaller, faster transistors.

It also has the security and advanced encryption features needed by enterprises. The LinuxONE Rock hopper is an entry level product geared towards speed, security and availability benefits of the mainframe.

IBM is giving shedloads of access to developers. As part of the Linux Foundation's 'Open Mainframe Project' it has contributed some 500,000 lines of code including code related to IT predictive analytics that are on the lookout for unusual system behaviour to stop issues becoming failures.

The LinuxONE Developer Cloud acts as a virtual R&D engine for creating, testing and piloting of emerging applications such as links to engagement systems, mobile apps and hybrid cloud apps.

LinuxONE is provisioned as a virtual machine using the open standards-based KVM hypervisors.

It is all in the shops now IBM doesn't give pricing for its new mainframes, but will be more than $100,000.

Last modified on 17 August 2015
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