Mar 05 2008
New IBM Monster Machine
IBM just announced their new IBM z10 EC mainframe series. All I can say is WOW! These machines are truly the monsters of enterprise class (EC) computing. These machines are not cheap at around $1 million but the features are impressive.
- Up to 1.5TB of memory
- Up to 64 Quad Core processors specially developed for this machine
- Special energy efficient features (yes, a Green Monster) and it’s even got a green panel to prove it
- Small size (between 1300Kg and 2300Kg and 2.83 Sq meters)
- Built in encryption, internal Coupling Facility (CF) and many other security features
- On demand virtualization
- Up to 60 LPARs
- Up to 1Mb Page Frames
- 668 of 894 instructions implemented in hardware
- More than 50 new instructions to make use of the new hardware
- Specialized engines for Java and for Linux
In short this is a monster machine and as far removed from the System 360 box I started on 25 years ago as the horse and buggy is from the space shuttle. That machine had 32Mb of memory, 2 single core water cooled CPUs and supported an incredible workload. We had databases with over 80 million records giving sub-second response time to hundreds of online users working on old 3270 terminals (now you know how old I am 
)
In my opinion IBM just busted Moore’s law and produced a next generation server at least 3 times as powerful as the previous generation. So much for doubling the state of the art.
Read more about this monster at IBM z10 EC Announcement.
Disclaimer: Of course all these acronyms and model numbers are trademarked by IBM.