Mainframe –
Intro to Hardware
Lena Roesch
IBM
November 2019
Session AA
1
What is a
MAINFRAME?
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MAINFRAME
A computer used by large organizations
for CRITICAL applications that require
high Reliability, Availability, Serviceability
(RAS) and Security
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Evolution of the mainframe
Characteristics of the mainframe
RAS (Reliability, Availability, Serviceability)
Performance and Scalability
Virtualization and Clustering
Security
Future of the mainframe
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Evolution of the mainframe
System/360 System/370 System/390 Z/ z15
architecture architecture architecture architecture
April 7, 1964 June 30, 1970 September, 1990 2000 - Start of Linux support September 2019
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Who is using mainframes?
Most of us use a mainframe every day and we don’t even know it…
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92
of the top 100 worldwide banks
>30 billion 10
out of 10 of the world’s largest insurers
business transactions
per day run on Z 23
vs. 5.6 billion Google of the top 25 US retailers
searches per day 23
out of 25 of the world’s largest airlines
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Why do organizations
use mainframes?
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Performance & Virtualization &
Security
Scalability Clustering
RAS (Reliability, Availability, Serviceability)
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Reliability Availability Serviceability
Designed for application availability of
99.999%
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Performance & Virtualization &
Security
Scalability Clustering
RAS (Reliability, Availability, Serviceability)
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Purpose built for mission-critical applications
Feature based sizing
IBM z15 (z15) IBM LinuxONE III
- # of CPC drawers, I/O drawers and Memory
dependent on configuration
- Maximum configuration: 5 CPC drawers and
12 I/O Drawers
CPC Customer Max
Drawer PUs Memory
5 190 40 TB
4 145 32 TB
3 108 24 TB
2 71 16 TB 15.6 miles of wires, 9.2B
transistors and 26.2B wiring
1 34 8 TB connections
12
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Modular and scalable, 1-4 19” frames
depending on capacity requirements
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PDU-based
configuration,
rear view (max.
configuration)
CPC
Drawers
I/O
Drawers
Z A B C 14
Mainframe - Intro to Hardware / GSE 101 Stream / Nov, 2019
System level power and cooling
IBM z15 operates with two Two system power options:
sets of redundant power Option 1: Option 2:
supplies Intelligent PDU Bulk Power (BPA)
(iPDU) based based system power
system power
Power requirements depend on
Number of CPC drawers
Number and type of I/O units
Cooling facility: Air or water
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Cooling manifold
Memory DIMMs
System Controller 4 x Single Chip
Cooling manifold (SC) Modules (SCM)
connectors
Per CPC drawer:
4 SCM (Single Chip
Modules) - up to
12 cores per SCM
Fanouts and ICA SRs
12 x PCIe+ Gen3
1 System
Controller chip
PCIe+ Fanout slots
Max. 8TB Memory
per drawer
Front Cooling Manifold
FSP / OSC
FSP / OSC
Rear
SMP Conn
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12 core processor chip detail
14 nm SOI Technology
9 - 12 cores per chip
5.2 GHz On-Chip
compression
9.2 Billion (New!)
Transistors vs 6.1 Billion on z14
Cache On-Chip
cryptography
– On Core L1/L2 Cache
– On chip L3 Cache
(Communicates with cores,
memory, I/O and system
controller single chip
module)
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PCIe+ I/O Drawer – 16 slots
Storage Connection over FICON
protocol
8U LAN (Local Area Network) Connection
Cryptographic Cards (CryptoExpress Cards)
Shared Memory Communication
Coupling Connectivity
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Support Element and Hardware
Management Console
Support Element (SE) Hardware Management Console (HMC)
§ 2 integrated servers in A frame § Let’s you access SE functions
(one active / one backup) remotely
§ SEs are managed by keyboards, § You can add multiple mainframes
mouse, and displays that are to a single HMC (100 max)
mounted to the mainframe § You can add a single mainframe to
§ Workstations for monitoring and multiple HMC’s (32 max)
operating a system § You can connect to HMC remotely
§ Closed system
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Scalability
On Off
Permanent Planned Events On / Off
Capacity on Demand
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Performance & Virtualization &
Security
Scalability Clustering
RAS (Reliability, Availability, Serviceability)
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Virtualization enhances flexibility,
The hypervisors are designed to enable simultaneous execution of multiple operating
systems, providing operating systems with virtual resources.
utilization, scalability, and security
Multiple hypervisors can exist on the same Z platform (see Figure 4-1).
LPARs (Logical Partitions)
Type 2 Hypervisor
Type 1 Hypervisor
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Figure 4-1 Support for coexistence of different hypervisors 22
Logical processors
6 different types of logical processors
Hardware is the same
CP IFL zIIP ICF SAP IFP
Central Integrated Z Integrated Internal System Assist Integrated
Processor Facility for Linux Information Coupling Facility Processor Firmware
Processor Processor
Client configurable Needed for system
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Clustering – IBM Z Parallel Sysplex
Coupling Coupling
Removes Single Point of
Facility Facility
Failure of:
IBM Z Server
LPAR
Subsystems
Apps Apps Apps
Enables:
z/OS z/OS z/OS
Continuous Availability
Single System Image
Dynamic Session Balancing Shared Devices
Dynamic Transaction Routing
Scalable capacity
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Performance & Virtualization &
Security
Scalability Clustering
RAS (Reliability, Availability, Serviceability)
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The EU GDPR is the most
2/3 of established important change in data
$3.8M companies are leveraging
FinTech capabilities for
privacy regulation in
20 years
Average cost of a data growth. That number is
breach in 2018 2 expected to increase by Payment Card Industry
Data Security Standard
20% in the next
three years
(PCI-DSS)
28% - Harvard Business Review
Analytic Services
Likelihood of an organization having a Health Insurance Portability
data breach in the next 24 months 1
59% and Accountability
Act (HIPAA)
of companies in the US and UK
80+ say they experienced a data
breach via a third party. California Consumer
—2018 Ponemon Study on Global Privacy Act
Data privacy regulations, varying Megatrends in Cybersecurity
by industry, location, and geo 3
14
1 Source: 2018 Ponemon Study on Global Megatrends in Cypersecurity
2 Source: Breach Level Index -- http://breachlevelindex.com/
3 Source: https://www.privacypolicies.com/blog/privacy-law-by-country/#privacy-laws-by-country
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Security on Hardware and Software level
Pervasive Encryption:
Encrypting all the data on the platform
Data Privacy Passport (New!)
Data Centric Protection to protect data even when
it leaves the platform
Investments in Quantum Safe Cryptography
z15 Cryptographic acceleration designed for
EAL5+ and FIPS 140-2 Level 4
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Future of the mainframe
Hybrid cloud
Blockchain
High performance
and efficiency
Analytics tools –
High security & machine learning
encryption
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• Do it online at http://conferences.gse.org.uk/2019/feedback/aa
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