The Mainframe and The Cloud

The mainframe
and the cloud

TheBathwickGroup
uocumenL number: 8C-lnl-W-00068uk-Ln-00
AuLhor: Cary 8arne
ubllshed: november 2010
All conLenLs 1he 8aLhwlck Croup LLd 2010
A Bathwick Group
white paper
The role of the
mainframe as a
host environment
for enterprise
cloud computing
All conLenLs 1he 8aLhwlck Croup LLd 2010 www.baLhwlck.com 2
1he ma|nframe and the c|oud - November 2010
TheBathwickGroup
AbsLracL
!"#$%& #%% () *+" ,-./0..-(1 #1, ,"2#*" .0$$(01,-13 /%(0, /(45013 5$".04". *+#* *+" -,"#% "1*"$5$-." /%(0,
"16-$(14"1* 7-%% 2" 20-%* (1 89: 5$(/"..($. -1 # 4#..-6"%& ./#%",;(0* #$/+-*"/*0$"< =1% $"/"1*%& *+"$" +#.
2""1 6"$& %-%" ,-./0..-(1 #2(0* *+" 5(*"1#% 2"1"!*. *+#* *+" 4#-1)$#4" ("$. *+" "1*"$5$-." #. # +(.* )($
# /%(0, /(45013 "16-$(14"1*<
>+-. 5#5"$ 5$"."1*. *+" 5(*"1#% 2"1"!*. *+#* "1*"$5$-.". /(0%, ,"$-6" )$(4 *+" 4#-1)$#4" #. # /%(0,
"16-$(14"1* -1 *"$4. () /(.*? $"%-#2-%-*&? ./#%#2-%-*&? ."/0$-*& #1, ""8-2-%-*&< @" #%.( ."* (0* *( +-3+%-3+* *+"
/+#13". *+#* +#6" *#A"1 5%#/" 7-*+-1 *+" 4#-1)$#4" "/(;.&.*"4 *+#* 4"#1 4#1& () *+" *$#,-(1#% /$-/-.4.
() *+" 4#-1)$#4" 5%#($4 #$" .-45%& (0* () ,#*"<
key facLs
1he laLesL verslon of Lhe malnframe lnLroduces:

A consolldaon plaorm LhaL could reduce energy consumpon, !oor space requlred, labour cosLs
and soware llcenslng cosLs by as much as 90

A vlrLuallsaon envlronmenL LhaL can supporL 1000s of malnframe, Llnux, and !ava envlronmenLs,
all wlLhln one physlcal machlne

An envlronmenL wlLhln whlch SysLem p blades (runnlng Alx) and - ln Lhe "rsL half of 2011 - Llnux
runnlng on SysLem x blades can run dlrecLly alongslde Lhe malnframe uslng Lhe same vlrLual
neLwork and bene" ng from slmllar levels of rellablllLy, avallablllLy and scalablllLy as Lhe malnframe
lLself.
key messages

Contrary to popu|ar myth, the ma|nframe |s a||ve and we||. We oen hear commenLaLors clalmlng
LhaL Lhe era of Lhe malnframe ls over", desplLe Lhe facL LhaL l8M's malnframe franchlse connues
Lo grow. ln one sense, Lhese sLaLemenLs are Lrue, Lhe malnframe of Lhe 1980s ls dead. 1he 80s
malnframe has been replaced by a plaorm LhaL ls more open, more cosL eecve and more
!exlble Lhan ever before.

1he ma|nframe represents a compe|||ng propos|on as a c|oud hosng env|ronment. 1he
malnframe oers an alLernave Lo Lhe masslvely scaled-ouL envlronmenLs LhaL are currenLly belng
LouLed as Lhe fuLure of cloud. Scale-ouL archlLecLures undoubLedly brlng advanLages, and ln some
cases Lhey cerLalnly do represenL Lhe besL approach, buL Lhe scale-up archlLecLure of Lhe malnframe
brlngs lLs own bene"Ls LhaL mean LhaL for some workloads lL oers slgnl"canL advanLages over
scaled-ouL sysLems. 1he key lles ln undersLandlng whlch slLuaons lndlcaLe one approach or
Lhe oLher.

D|spe|||ng the myths of comp|ex|ty, |ntegraon and cost. Crlcs of Lhe malnframe Lyplcally clLe Lhe
same seL of problems wlLh Lhe malnframe plaorm - lL ls expenslve", lL ls a closed envlronmenL",
lL ls hard Lo develop soware for Lhe malnframe". 1hese crlclsms may have been Lrue 13 years
ago buL ln Lhe lnLervenlng me Lhe malnframe has changed radlcally.
TheBathwickGroup

I8M's |atest ma|nframe transforms the va|ue propos|on. 1he malnframe value proposlon has
been undergolng a connuous Lransformaon over Lhe pasL Lwo decades ln Lerms of Lhe
soware sLack and Lhe hardware. 1he laLesL lncarnaon of Lhe malnframe, Lhe zLnLerprlse, Lakes
Lhls evoluon a slgnl"canL way furLher by maklng lL posslble Lo comblne malnframe and non-
malnframe hardware wlLhln a slngle managed envlronmenL.

If you're cons|der|ng conso||dang SA, your web |nfrastructure or your 8I p|aorms, cons|der
the ma|nframe. l8M has focussed on exacLly Lhese appllcaon scenarlos ln developlng Lhe
new malnframe and even organlsaons LhaL don'L currenLly have a malnframe mlghL "nd Lhe
overall value proposlon compelllng.
ulspelllng some malnframe myLhs
1he nexL me someone says LhaL Lhe malnframe ls dead or LhaL Lhe era of Lhe malnframe ls over, ask Lhem
whaL compung plaorm manages Lhelr credlL-card paymenLs, conLrols Lhe A1M neLwork Lhey use Lo wlLhdraw
cash, or underplns Lhe globe's alrllne ckeng sysLems, almosL wlLhouL excepon lL's a malnframe.
ln Lhe 1980s Lhe malnframe was percelved as cosLly, complex, and closed. 1here was some [us"caon for
Lhls vlew and lL helped Lo drlve Lhe adopon of cllenL-server compung as a cheaper, less complex and more
open approach Lo compung. Powever, over Lhe pasL Lwo decades, Lhe malnframe has undergone a dramac
Lransformaon almed aL dlrecLly addresslng Lhe shorLcomlngs of Lhe 80s malnframe.
!"# %&'()*&%# +) ,"# -./01 '1 2#&23 4#56+%# ,+ ,"# %&'()*&%# +) ,"# 70-01
ln Lhe 1980s cllenL-server compung emerged as a response Lo Lhe cosL and complexlLy assoclaLed wlLh Lhe
malnframe. CllenL-server compung promlsed lower cosL, greaLer !exlblllLy, and an envlronmenL LhaL was far
more open ln Lerms of Lhe ease wlLh whlch dlerenL sysLems could be lnLegraLed wlLh one anoLher. When
you look back aL Lhe malnframe of Lhe 1980s lL's easy Lo see why cllenL-server compung was regarded as a
beer, less expenslve alLernave.
-./01 8 95+1#2: ;*+;*'#,&*<: 6+1,5<
!"#$%&"'( )#*+&#,-+(.
1he ma|nframe of the 1980s I|gure 1.
TheBathwickGroup
ln Lhe 1980s Lhe malnframe was a forLress. Cn one hand, lL was secure, rellable and scalable, buL on Lhe
oLher hand lL was expenslve and lnaccesslble. Companles LhaL wanLed Lo lnLegraLe malnframe daLa wlLh Lhelr
emerglng cllenL-server appllcaons oen had Lo resorL Lo L1L soluons LhaL dumped Lhe malnframe daLa
onLo Lape so LhaL lL could Lhen be uploaded lnLo Lhe cllenL-server sysLem.
WlLhln Lhe malnframe envlronmenL, you were free Lo develop your own soware - provlded you used
malnframe programmlng languages llke lorLran, CC8CL or L/1. Meanwhlle, wlLhln Lhe world of dlsLrlbuLed
compung Lhere was an exploslon of lnnovaon ln Lhe world of programmlng languages, developmenL Lools
and mlddleware.
-..01 8 =+*,*#11 %&'()*&%# >#,1 & 2*&4?*'2>#
!"#$%&"'( )#*+&#,-+(.
ln Lhe 1990s l8M Look Lhe "rsL serlous sLeps Lo make lL easler
Lo lnLegraLe malnframe-based appllcaons and non-malnframe
appllcaons by lnLroduclng connecvlLy mlddleware and a number
of Lhlrd-pares (lncludlng Lhe llkes of 1uxedo and Soware AC)
developed alLernave mlddleware producLs LhaL made lL posslble
(albelL aL conslderable expense and eorL) Lo llnk Lhe malnframe
and non-malnframe worlds.
1hls was undoubLedly progress", buL Lhe malnframe was sll an
ocean away from belng a genulnely "rsL class clzen ln Lhe world
of dlsLrlbuLed compung. uevelopers sll had Lo use malnframe"
developmenL Lools and programmlng languages. Malnframe" mlddleware and Lhe malnframe was sll a
complex and cosLly envlronmenL Lo manage and run. 1he apparenL fallure of Lhe malnframe Lo respond Lo Lhe
challenges presenLed by cllenL-server compung coupled wlLh Lhe sheer volume of lnnovaon and creavlLy
wlLhln Lhe cllenL-server world resulLed ln a general bellef LhaL Lhe malnframe was a dylng plaorm. 1hls bellef
prompLed one commenLaLor Lo declare ln 1991 LhaL 1he lasL malnframe wlll be unplugged on March 13,
1996".
" I pred|ct that the |ast ma|n-
frame w||| be unp|ugged on
March 1S, 1996. "
B*"7#$* C%.(5? D1)(7($%, E#$/+
FGGF
TheBathwickGroup
70001 8 @#'(A#((> ,"# %&'()*&%#
!"#$%&"'(
)#*+&#,-+(.
8y Lhe end of Lhe 1990s, lL was clear LhaL l8M needed Lo Lake acon Lo re-lnvlgoraLe Lhe malnframe. ln 1999
l8M announced plans Lo work wlLh 8edPaL Lo brlng Llnux Lo Lhe malnframe plaorm and was able Lo oer
malnframe Llnux as a sLandard opon ln 2000.
A #$%#&'( #)'*+, &* -.$'.,+\
1he 2000s saw a number of profound changes Lo Lhe malnframe envlronmenL. 1he mosL lmporLanL Lheme
surroundlng Lhese changes was Lhe declslon Lo Lake a sysLems orlenLed approach Lo Lhe ongolng developmenL
of Lhe malnframe by lnLegrang Lhe eorLs of l8M's soware and hardware groups. ln 2003 l8M made a very
publlc commlLmenL Lo Lhe malnframe by lnLroduclng Lhe Malnframe CharLer - a promlse Lo lLs cusLomers
LhaL l8M would connue Lo lnvesL ln Lhe plaorm by lnvesng ln malnframe hardware deslgn, Lhe soware
ecosysLem and ln maklng lL easler Lo manage and lnLegraLe Lhe plaorm wlLhln a dlsLrlbuLed compung
envlronmenL.
1hroughouL Lhe 2000s, ma[or malnframe hardware announcemenLs wenL hand ln hand wlLh soware
announcemenLs and Lhe porollo of malnframe soware producLs became lncreaslngly allgned wlLh l8M's
non-malnframe soware porollo.
1he lmprovemenL Lhls sLraLegy broughL abouL ln Lerms of lnLegrang l8M's dlerenL malnframe oerlngs and
lnLegraon beLween l8M's non-malnframe producLs as well was slgnl"canL for Lwo key reasons, lL reduced
Lhe cosL and complexlLy assoclaLed wlLh provlslonlng a malnframe and helped l8M Lo oer a more lnLegraLed
alLernave Lo Lhe hosL of Lhlrd-parLy producLs LhaL are avallable for Lhe malnframe from vendors llke CA and
Compuware.
TheBathwickGroup
Soware and hardware a||gnment
1hroughouL Lhe 2000s l8M seL abouL allgnlng lLs dlsLrlbuLed and malnframe soware oerlngs,

ClCS was enhanced Lo supporL web servlces wlLh Lhe lnLroducon of SCA for ClCS

lMS added supporL for 8SS

l8M's malnframe developmenL Lools porollo was lnLegraLed wlLhln Lhe 8aonal
developmenL Lools famlly (8aonal ueveloper for SysLem z)

l8M's sysLems managemenL soware 1lvoll was lnLegraLed so LhaL key componenLs (llke
ldenLy managemenL, for example) could run on elLher dlsLrlbuLed or malnframe sysLems

u82 was enhanced Lo lmprove Lhe level of lnLegraon beLween Lhe malnframe and non-
malnframe verslons of Lhe daLabase

Malnframe managemenL was dramacally slmpll"ed wlLh Lhe release of SysLems ulrecLor
(a graphlcal managemenL Lool for Lhe malnframe LhaL auLomaLes a hosL of admlnlsLraon
Lasks)
1he hardware connued Lo evolve wlLh lmprovemenLs Lo Lhe prlce/performance of Lhe machlne lLself. 1hls
was furLher enhanced wlLh Lhe lnLroducon of Lhe ablllLy Lo o oad specl"c workloads (noLably !ava and
Llnux) from Lhe maln processors onLo less speclallsL processors LhaL were less cosLly Lhemselves and also
reduced Lhe number of core" MlS LhaL had Lo be llcensed. AL Lhe same me key l8M soware producLs
- u82, 8aonal developmenL Lools, Lhe Websphere mlddleware famlly and Lhe 1lvoll sysLems managemenL
sulLe all became lncreaslngly allgned wlLh boLh Lhe malnframe and dlsLrlbuLed plaorms.
SCA #/0,- ./ .), 0'&*1$'0,
Cne of Lhe key changes ln Lhe malnframe was Lhe addlon of much lmproved supporL for SCA. venerable
Lechnologles llke ClCS and lMS were all exLended Lo make lL posslble Lo lnLegraLe Lhem wlLhln an SCA-based
envlronmenL. ClCS now shlps wlLh supporL for SCA and web servlces. 1echnologles llke MC Serles acL as a
SCA brldge beLween Lhe malnframe and oLher envlronmenLs and Lhe comblnaon of mlddleware, securlLy
Lechnology and managemenL Lools mean LhaL for some organlsaons Lhe malnframe can serve as a slngle
organlsaon-wlde LS8.
TheBathwickGroup
70-0 8 !"# (#B, >#(#*&+(
!"#$%&"'(
)#*+&#,-+(.
1he next generaon of the I8M ma|nframe I|gure 4.
ln !uly 2010, l8M launched Lhe zLnLerprlse server, whlch dellvered Lwo seLs of bene"Ls. llrsLly, Lhe new
malnframe dellvers slgnl"canL lmprovemenLs Lo Lhe baslc performance of Lhe malnframe:

1he fasLesL general purpose Cu ever, runnlng aL 3.2Chz

up Lo 40 performance lmprovemenL for Lradlonal malnframe workloads

80 lmprovemenL ln Llnux prlce/performance

A consolldaon plaorm LhaL could reduce energy consumpon, !oor space requlred, labour
cosLs and soware llcenslng cosLs by as much as 90

lnLroducon of 8AlM (redundanL array of lndependenL memory) whlch slgnl"canLly lmproves
Lhe rellablllLy of sysLem memory
Secondly, and perhaps Lhe mosL slgnl"canL feaLure of Lhls release, ls Lhe lnLegraon Lhe plaorm oers wlLh
non-malnframe hardware. 1he zLnLerprlse can be aached Lo a z8x, whlch provldes houslng for up Lo 112
p-Serles blades, runnlng Alx, x-Serles blades (runnlng Llnux) wlll be supporLed ln Lhe "rsL half of 2011. 1he z8x
ls connecLed Lo Lhe zLnLerprlse machlne vla Lwo prlvaLe neLwork connecons: a 10Cb LLherneL connecon ls
used by Lhe appllcaons Lo provlde ulLra hlghspeed connecvlLy, and a second managemenL neLwork (runnlng
aL 1Cb/s) ls used by Lhe machlne's managemenL soware Lo conLrol Lhe dlerenL hardware devlces wlLhln
Lhe sysLem.
1he blades housed wlLhln Lhe z8x are managed, along wlLh Lhe malnframe lLself, by a slngle managemenL
componenL called zManager. 1he zManager adds feaLures Lo blade Lechnology managemenL LhaL have
Lradlonally been Lhe sole preserve of Lhe malnframe. 1he managemenL componenL auLomacally dlscovers
new hardware, manages and monlLors runnlng hardware, and supporLs runnlng upgrades Lo soware and
"rmware.
1he z8x ls bullL wlLh levels of hardware redundancy comparable Lo Lhe malnframe lLself, so key componenLs
llke power supplles, power dlsLrlbuon unlLs, neLwork swlLches and fans are all shlpped wlLh aL leasL one
addlonal or redundanL componenL.
TheBathwickGroup
95+C2 '( & ?+B D E1'(> ,"# %&'()*&%# &1 ,"# "+1, )+* & 65+C2 #(A'*+(%#(,
Cloud compung ls belng heralded as Lhe nexL evoluon of sysLems archlLecLure. 1he bene"Ls of cloud
compung are prlmarlly bullL on Lhe noon LhaL cloud envlronmenLs allow you Lo galn bene"Ls ln Lerms of
cosL and !exlblllLy by vlrLuallzlng Lhe dlerenL workloads and deploylng Lhem wlLhln an envlronmenL LhaL can
auLomacally scale-up or down as workload demands change over me.
8roadly speaklng, cloud compung envlronmenLs can be,

ub||c
1he envlronmenL ls run on shared lnfrasLrucLure accesslble vla Lhe lnLerneL. ln Lhls scenarlo you pay
a Lhlrd parLy llke Amazon (LC2) Lo run your workload and are charged accordlng Lo Lhe Cu me your
appllcaons use, Lhe bandwldLh Lhey consume and Lhe sLorage you requlre.

Sem|-r|vate
1he envlronmenL ls run by a Lhlrd parLy ln much Lhe same way as a Lradlonal ouLsourclng conLracL,
buL you are charged on Lhe basls of ullsaon raLher Lhan paylng a !aL fee.

r|vate
1he envlronmenL ls run on your own premlses. ln Lhls scenarlo you malnLaln and run your own cloud
lnfrasLrucLure.
C(/%2 '*2 .), ,*.,$3$&-,
Whlle Lhere are undoubLedly cases where publlc cloud ls well sulLed Lo enLerprlse compung, Lhese cases
Lend Lo be where Lhe requlred funconallLy ls well de"ned and has clear boundarles. l8M and oLhers already
oer cloud-based developmenL envlronmenLs, for example, whlch allow developmenL Leams Lo qulckly ramp
up (or down) as Lhelr needs change.
ubllc cloud ls less sulLed Lo complex appllcaons where some of Lhe processlng or daLa can'L be run ln Lhe
cloud. lmaglne you have an L8 sysLem runnlng on your own lnfrasLrucLure, and you wanL Lo deploy a web
appllcaon LhaL ls avallable Lo your cusLomers. lL ls llkely LhaL you won'L be able Lo slmply deploy your L8
appllcaon ln Lhe cloud, so LhaL wlll have Lo remaln on your lnfrasLrucLure.
lf you deploy Lhe web componenLs" of Lhe soluon ln a publlc cloud envlronmenL, you wlll have Lo manage
Lhe llnk beLween Lhe cloud-based appllcaon and your L8 sysLem. Whlle lL ls posslble Lo do Lhls, and you can
do Lhls securely by creang a vn LhaL reaches beyond your lnfrasLrucLure lnLo Lhe cloud envlronmenL, Lhere
ls a real llkellhood LhaL you'll encounLer slgnl"canL performance headaches as Lransacons have Lo cross from
Lhe cloud envlronmenL, over Lhe neLwork, and lnLo your lnfrasLrucLure.
lf you could derlve Lhe same bene"Ls of scalablllLy, ease of managemenL, and auLomaon by deploylng cloud
Lechnology on your own lnfrasLrucLure, you can avold Lhe problems LhaL neLwork laLency creaLes - or aL
leasL you'll be ln a much beer poslon Lo manage Lhem, as Lhe whole appllcaon wlll be runnlng on your
neLwork.
TheBathwickGroup
FC'52'(> <+C* +4( 65+C2
Many pundlLs wlll say LhaL Lhe only way Lo bulld a prlvaLe cloud ls Lo deploy a vlrLuallsaon Lechnology, llke
vMware, and lnsLall a number of blades LhaL wlll provlde Lhe processlng horsepower for your cloud. 8uL Lhere
ls an alLernave Lo Lhe convenonal bellef LhaL scale-ouL" ls Lhe way Lo dellver cloud compung.
!"#$%&'( !"#$%&)'*
Sca|e-up and Sca|e-out compung I|gure S.
llgure 3 shows, ln very slmple Lerms, Lhe archlLecLural dlerence beLween malnframe or scale-up compung
(where many lmages run wlLhln a slngle mul-processor machlne) and scale-ouL where one or more lmages run
ln a number of machlnes, LhaL are Lhen managed as a slngle enLy by a vlrLuallsaon soluon llke vMware.
Looklng aL Lhe dlagram above, lL ls worLh asklng Lhe followlng quesons abouL Lhe Lwo approaches,

WhaL ls Lhe llkely dlerence ln physlcal fooLprlnL?

WhaL ls Lhe llkely dlerence ln power consumpon?

Pow qulckly can you lncrease capaclLy?

WhaL ls Lhe llkely dlerence ln rellablllLy?

WhaL ls Lhe llkely dlerence ln Lhe me lL would Lake for a requesL Lo be senL from one vlrLual
lmage Lo anoLher?
lew proponenLs of scale-ouL compung would clalm LhaL you can geL more processlng power per square fooL
of !oor space by Laklng a scale-ouL approach, Lhe LoLal power consumpon (facLorlng ln all power ullsed
ln order Lo operaLe Lhe hardware - lncludlng coollng) per processor of a scale-ouL soluon vs scale-up can
be as much as 20 mes more. lncreaslng capaclLy ln a scale-ouL soluon ls oen descrlbed as slmply a case
of pushlng anoLher blade lnLo a sloL", buL LhaL assumes LhaL you have a blade LhaL ls walng Lo be lnsLalled
(whlch seems llke a blL of a wasLe of caplLal and capaclLy) and LhaL you have a vacanL sloL lnLo whlch Lhe new
blade can be lnserLed. lf you don'L have a blade sLandlng by, or lf you need Lo lnsLall a new blade enclosure
TheBathwickGroup
Lhen addlng capaclLy could Lake a conslderable amounL of me. ln Lhe scale-up world, l8M can shlp servers
whlch are over-provlsloned ln Lerms of hardware, wlLh Lhe addlonal processors ready Lo be enabled on-
demand. Lven lf new hardware needs Lo be added, Lhls can be requesLed as parL of Lhe sLandard procuremenL
process and execuLed as parL of Lhe sLandard malnLenance process.
1he queson of rellablllLy ls a complex one. CerLalnly, a caLasLrophlc fallure wlLhln an SM based machlne
wlll resulL ln a compleLe ouLage, whlle a caLasLrophlc fallure wlLhln a blade (or even a blade enclosure) may
only resulL ln a paral ouLage for a subseL of users. 8uL lL lsn'L as slmple as LhaL. 1o begln wlLh, Lhe reslllence
of a scale-ouL appllcaon Lo componenL fallures depends, Lo a large degree, on Lhe deslgn of Lhe appllcaon.
Some appllcaons have been deslgned Lo recover from a paral fallure whlle oLhers may fall compleLely.
ln order Lo dellver hlgh levels of rellablllLy and avallablllLy ln a scale-ouL envlronmenL, you need Lo speclfy
mulple neLwork devlces, redundanL power supplles, and mlddleware LhaL supporLs fall-over and recovery. ln
Lhe malnframe envlronmenL Lhe same sLeps have been Laken, buL Lhese are lnLernallsed wlLhln Lhe machlne
lLself. 1aklng a slmple example llke 8AM (faulLy 8AM ls one of Lhe more common reasons for Lhe fallure of
a blade) malnframe 8AM ls deslgned Lo be faulL LoleranL, faulLy memory locaons can be quaranned and
errors can be reporLed before Lhey resulL ln a sysLem fallure. WlLh Lhe laLesL release of Lhe malnframe l8M
has lnLroduced 8AlM - Lhe 8AM equlvalenL of 8Alu.
1he lasL queson depends on Lhe laws of physlcs. lf an elecLron has Lo Lravel 3 meLres lL wlll Lake 10 mes longer
Lo reach lLs desnaon Lhan one LhaL has Lo Lravel 30 cenmeLres. 1hls lgnores Lhe dlerenL layers of soware
and neLwork hardware LhaL Lhe elecLron (or requesL) may have Lo pass Lhrough on lLs [ourney. 1he malnframe
supporLs vlrLual neLworklng, whlch ls slgnl"canLly fasLer Lhan machlne Lo machlne communlcaon.
8oLh approaches carry Lhelr own bene"Ls and dlsadvanLages - and Lhe alm of Lhls paper lsn'L Lo say LhaL
scale-up ls Lhe only, and besL, way Lo dellver lnLernal cloud. 8uL Lhe ldea LhaL scale-ouL ls Lhe only, and besL,
way ls equally unLrue.
A* ,*2-%-,$ #'-, -.%2\: MA8SP
Marsh ls Lhe world's largesL lnsurance broker and rlsk advlsor,
wlLh 24,000 employees worldwlde and annual revenues of
almosL $3 bllllon. lLs Luropean, Mlddle LasLern and Afrlcan
(LMLA) buslness unlLs have Lhelr headquarLers ln London,
and Lhe company employs approxlmaLely 11,000 people.
1he company Look Lhe declslon Lo modernlze an exlsng
malnframe appllcaon by developlng a modern web-based
lnLerface Lo lL. 1he company chose Lo use l8M 8aonal
PosL Access 1ransformaon Servlces (PA1S) Lo supporL Lhe
web-enablemenL of Lhe appllcaon, and Lhen seL abouL
deLermlnlng Lhe ldeal hardware envlronmenL for Lhe new
funconallLy.
" Cur cost-bene!t ana|ys|s showed
that a d|str|buted arch|tecture based
on x86 cores wou|d be s|gn|!cant|y
more expens|ve than an IIL eng|ne -
wh|ch shows that |t's de!n|te|y worth
|nvesgang the Lnterpr|se L|nux
Server opon even for re|ave|y
sma|| env|ronments. "
1lm 8enne - ro[ecL Manager, Marsh
TheBathwickGroup
1he company had lnlally lnLended Lo bulld a new
Llnux envlronmenL on sLandard x86-based servers,
when l8M proposed uslng an LnLerprlse Llnux Server
soluon lnsLead, uslng an lnLegraLed laclllLy for Llnux
processor ln Lhelr SysLem z9 8uslness Class server,
Lhey conducLed a comparlson of boLh opons. 1he
concluslon of Lhe sLudy was LhaL Lhe malnframe-
based soluon oered beer levels of rellablllLy and
!exlblllLy, aL slgnl"canLly lower cosL Lo Lhe lnLel based
proposal.
Slnce Lhe company already had an l8M malnframe,
Lhe deploymenL of Lhe new lnfrasLrucLure was slmply
a maer of upgradlng Lhe machlne, a Lask LhaL was
compleLed by an l8M englneer durlng a scheduled malnLenance wlndow.
A* ,*2-%-,$ #'-, -.%2\: .), u*&4,$-&.\ /1 8'$&
1he unlverslLy of 8arl (unlverslLa dl 8arl) ln lLaly has chosen Lo bulld a cloud compung servlce on Lop of an
l8M SysLem z malnframe runnlng Lhe Llnux operang sysLem wlLh u82, WebSphere and 1lvoll mlddleware
from l8M.
1he goal of Lhe pro[ecL ls Lo help local buslnesses, lncludlng "shermen, wlnemakers and Lrucklng companles,
galn access Lo compung power LhaL would oLherwlse be unavallable Lo Lhem.
Cne example allows local "shermen Lo deLermlne demand ln local "sh markeLs ln real me, uslng a slmple
Louch screen lnLerface lnsLalled ln Lhelr boaLs. 1he "shermen enLer Lhe Lype of "sh caughL [usL mlnuLes ago
and lnsLanLaneously sLarL a vlrLual aucon wlLh wholesalers on Lhe docks. AnoLher pro[ecL llnks wlnemakers
aL up Lo 60 co-operave wlnerles Lo enable Lhem Lo deLermlne markeL demand for varlous Lypes of wlnes,
Lhen package and shlp wlnes demandlng Lhe hlghesL prlce.
1he overall pro[ecL ls belng underLaken as parL of Lhe ualsy-neL consorum, whlch comblnes publlc and
prlvaLe organlsaons from "ve reglons of souLhern lLaly. ualsy-neL researches, develops and provldes Lransfer
and Lralnlng acvles for new Lechnologles ln Lhe lnformaon and communlcaon Lechnology secLor and
beyond.
G(,*+2C6'(> ,"# H(,#*;*'1# I'(CB J#*A#* 8 95+C2 '( & ?+B
1he LnLerprlse Llnux Server (LLS) ls made up of an l8M z-Serles malnframe LhaL shlps wlLh Lhe hardware and
soware necessary Lo creaLe and manage a prlvaLe cloud of Llnux servers. 1he sysLem Lakes advanLage of
Lhe malnframe's bullL-ln supporL for vlrLuallsaon, comblned wlLh l8M's 1lvoll Servlce AuLomaon Manager,
whlch provldes Lhe managemenL and provlslonlng framework for Lhe machlne.
1he LLS can also be used Lo supporL Llnux-based deskLop vlrLuallsaon, uslng eyeCS, an open-source vlrLual
Llnux ueskLop plaorm.
" Compared to procur|ng severa| new Inte|
servers, wa|ng for them to be de||vered,
!nd|ng space for them |n the data centre,
connecng a|| the cab|es and so on, |t was a
rea||y qu|ck and easy process. We d|dn't need
to buy any new hardware, and we comp|eted
the who|e |mp|ementaon dur|ng a standard
weekend ma|ntenance s|ot, so there was no
d|srupon for our users. "
1lm 8enne - ro[ecL Manager, Marsh
TheBathwickGroup
1he key feaLures of Lhe LLS are LhaL lL ls bullL on maLure
Lechnology, and makes exLenslve use of l8M's soware
porollo (1lvoll, 8aonal, SysLems ulrecLor) Lo provlde all of
Lhe core lnfrasLrucLure LhaL you need ln order Lo deploy an
lnLernal cloud - all wlLhln a slngle hardware fooLprlnL.
1he sysLem allows users Lo de"ne Lhelr own sLandard lmages
LhaL can dramacally reduce Lhe me lL Lakes Lo deploy
new servers. 1hls approach can have a slgnl"canL lmpacL on
hardware and soware cosLs (l8M has seen savlngs of up Lo
73 ln some scenarlos) as well as reduclng Lhe cosL and me
assoclaLed wlLh sysLems managemenL. AnoLher by-producL
of uslng sLandardlsed lmages ls Lhe reducon ln faulLs arlslng
from con"guraon errors (whlch ln some envlronmenLs can accounL for Lhe vasL ma[orlLy of appllcaon
fallures).
1), L*.,$3$&-, L&*%5 S,$4,$ &* '#.&/* '. A1CS
ALos Crlgln ls a ma[or lnLernaonal l1 servlces provlder, employlng 30,000 professlonals ln 40 counLrles.
1he company oers lnLegraLed deslgn, bulld and operaLe soluons Lo large mul-naonal cllenLs ln LargeLed
lndusLry secLors, and has annual revenues of around 3.8 bllllon. An lmporLanL parL of ALos Crlgln's uk buslness
ls managed servlces - from baslc server hosng Lhrough Lo full llfecycle managemenL for boLh hardware and
appllcaons.
ALos Crlgln recenLly developed a new Llnux-based appllcaon
LhaL would help rall LransporL companles dellver Lravel
lnformaon Lo sLa and passengers vla Lhelr moblle phones,
and wanLed Lo dellver lL as a shared servlce for several ma[or
rall companles. 1he company also wanLed Lo enhance lLs
servlce Lo cusLomers ln Lhe lnsurance lndusLry by upgradlng
from MCSerles lnLegraLor (MCSl) mlddleware Lo a new l8M
WebSphere Message 8roker soluon, whlch would provlde
supporL for Web Servlces lnLegraon for a number of core
lnsurance appllcaons.
ALos Crlgln declded Lo use Lhe l8M LnLerprlse Llnux Server
(LLS) Lo hosL Lhese sysLems. 1he LLS ls an l8M SysLem z10 8uslness Class server LhaL leverages speclallsed l8M
lnLegraLed laclllLy for Llnux (llL) processors Lo provlde a hlghly avallable envlronmenL for vlrLuallsed Llnux
workload.
We have been uslng llL processors for several years now, and ln our oplnlon, SysLem z has proved lLself as an
ldeal enLerprlse Llnux plaorm," says Colln Clews. WlLh a Lradlonal dlsLrlbuLed approach - even uslng Lhe
laLesL vlrLuallsaon-enabled x86 processors - you end up wlLh a loL of unrellable boxes Lo manage.
" A|||anz, a g|oba| |nsurance company
based |n Germany, eecve|y
m|grated app||caons from 60 d|str|b-
uted systems to one L|nux on I8M
System z computer |n 48 hours at |ts
Austra||an data centre. "
" We have been us|ng IIL processors
for severa| years now, and |n our
op|n|on, System z has proved |tse|f as
an |dea| enterpr|se L|nux p|aorm. "
Colln Clews - 1echnologles Manager, ALos
Crlgln
TheBathwickGroup
WlLh Lhe LLS, we can run hundreds of envlronmenLs
wlLhln a slngle physlcal fooLprlnL, and easlly dellver Lhe
24x7 avallablllLy LhaL our cusLomers demand."
1he addlonal capaclLy of Lhe z10 llLs ls avallable aL a
30 percenL lower prlce Lhan Lhe prevlous generaon
of SysLem z servers. 1he resulL ls a prlce-performance
lmprovemenL of up Lo 63 percenL.
8unnlng Lhe moblle appllcaon under Llnux on Lhe LLS
proved so successful LhaL ALos also declded Lo deploy
Lhe WebSphere Message 8roker soluon ln a slmllar
envlronmenL. 1he company has lnvesLed ln a second llL
Lo handle Lhls new workload.
8unnlng WebSphere Message 8roker under Llnux on Lhe LLS ls conslderably more cosL-eecve Lhan our
exlsng MCSl and z/CS envlronmenL," says Colln Clews. As a resulL, we noL only bene"L from Lhe exLended
funconalles LhaL Message 8roker oers - we can also dellver Lhem aL a more compeve prlce for our
cusLomers."
1o provlde dlsasLer recovery for Lhe SysLem z envlronmenL, Lhe producon LLS machlne ls mlrrored Lo a
smaller z9 server aL a secondary daLa cenLre. 1he z9 server feaLures l8M CapaclLy 8ackup upgrade (C8u),
whlch enables lLs capaclLy Lo be dramacally lncreased lf and when lL ls requlred Lo Lake over Lhe producon
workload from Lhe producon server. WlLh C8u, Lhls spare capaclLy aracLs no malnLenance or soware
llcenslng cosLs unl lL ls acLually acvaLed.
Llnux on Lhe malnframe ls also helplng ALos Crlgln develop an on-demand compung model for lLs cusLomers,
enabllng Lhem Lo pay for compung power on a Lransaconal basls. WlLh z/vM, we can provlslon new Llnux
servers very rapldly, and measure capaclLy usage very preclsely," says Colln Clews. lf cusLomers need more
power, we can [usL Lurn lL on almosL lnsLanLly, and blll Lhem accordlngly.
We Lhlnk LhaL Lhe on-demand !exlblllLy oered by Llnux on Lhe l8M LLS plaorm wlll be very aracve
Lo cusLomers who currenLly run large dlsLrlbuLed server envlronmenLs, enabllng Lhem Lo reduce cosLs and
lncrease responslveness."
Summary
lL lsn'L Lhe lnLenon of Lhls paper Lo say LhaL Lhe malnframe ls Lhe besL" hosL for all cloud compung
envlronmenLs, buL LhaL ln some slLuaons we belleve LhaL lL cerLalnly ls. Much of Lhe currenL dlscourse around
vlrLuallsaon and cloud compung lgnores Lhe power of large scale-up envlronmenLs llke Lhe malnframe
and Lhls ls slmply foollsh. 1he malnframe of Loday ls profoundly dlerenL from Lhe malnframe of Lhe 1980s
and when debang Lhe ldeal plaorm for cloud envlronmenLs, lL ls only falr Lo compare Loday's malnframe
wlLh non-malnframe Lechnology raLher Lhan relylng on a daLed undersLandlng of Lhe malnframe's value
proposlon.
" 1he z10 IIL eng|nes |n the new LLS not
on|y run L|nux env|ronments approx|-
mate|y tw|ce as fast as the prev|ous
generaon - they a|so oer around 40
percent more capac|ty, enab||ng us to
expand our L|nux footpr|nt w|thout
|ncreas|ng our costs. "
Colln Clews - 1echnologles Manager, ALos
Crlgln
TheBathwickGroup
AbouL 1he 8aLhwlck Croup
1he 8aLhwlck Croup ls a research-based consulng company LhaL helps cllenLs address Lhelr mosL presslng needs ln sLraLeglc
plannlng, go-Lo-markeL plannlng and execuon, and l1 lnfrasLrucLure eecveness:
Consu|ng
F&,"4'6K H(>&># A rapld collaborave consulng servlce comblnlng exLernal experLs and l proLecon
mechanlsms Lo expedlLe soluons Lo ma[or corporaLe challenges
H(,#*;*'1# G! 1,*&,#>< lannlng and conLracL supporL for enLerprlse l1 leaders, producvlLy and lnfrasLrucLure
aglllLy benchmarklng and besL pracce
G! A#(2+* 1,*&,#>< &(2 %&*K#(> CusLomer analysls and deep research for l1 vendors Largeng mld-markeL and
enLerprlse markeLs
JC1,&'(&?'5',< 1,*&,#>< Modelllng and benchmarklng for organlsaons wlshlng Lo embed susLalnable pracces and
mlgaLe sLraLeglc rlsks
kesearch and benchmark|ng
@#1#&*6" L5&+*% A !exlble soware plaorm for organlsaons Lo deploy Lhelr own surveys and benchmarks,
boLh lnLernal (e.g. employee surveys), or exLernal (e.g. markeL lnLelllgence)
M#2'& L5&+*% A research plaorm for onllne medla cusLomers, provldlng an engagemenL envlronmenL Lo
encourage reader reglsLraon and generaLe new revenues
Sa|es enab|ement
!"# 9C1,+%#* G(1'>", L5&+*% A soware plaorm LhaL supporLs deploymenL of sales guldance, cusLomer
assessmenLs, markeng collaLerals, 8Cl Lools, eLc. dlrecL Lo a seller's lapLop for onllne and o lne operaon, for
boLh dlrecL and channel sales supporL.
1he 8aLhwlck Croup also lncludes Lhe >+-1AC3#-1 H#$*1"$.+-5 IIH, a global collaborave research neLwork, whlch brlngs
LogeLher academlcs, wrlLers, buslness and pollcal leaders Lo generaLe new lnslghLs lnLo buslness producvlLy and perform-
ance, geo-pollcal and envlronmenLal lssues.
LVL03001-USEN-00

The Mainframe and The Cloud

Hochgeladen von

Dokumentinformationen

Originaltitel

Copyright

Verfügbare Formate

Dieses Dokument teilen

Dokument teilen oder einbetten

Freigabeoptionen

Stufen Sie dieses Dokument als nützlich ein?

Sind diese Inhalte unangemessen?

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

The Mainframe and The Cloud

Hochgeladen von

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

The mainframe

and the cloud

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen