Late February, 2009, Mainframe Potpourri
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Late February, 2009, Mainframe Potpourri
Here's my semi-regular update on what's fascinating in the mainframe computing world, or at least what's interesting to me. Enjoy!
- IDC figured out that the server hardware industry suffered its worst quarterly drop in sales since the dot-com bust nearly a decade ago. (Has it been that long already?) However, high-end servers (that'd include especially mainframes) did best. Here's my theory why: Mainframe-related expenditures are always scrutinized. Those tend to be the upfront and honest expenses, with little or no hidden cost. However, in these distressing economic times, every other expenditure is under a microscope, and many of them are not (and never were) financially justified, especially when exposing previously hidden (but painfully real) costs.
- IBM announced full disk encryption, including support for safely and securely managing keys with z/OS. (Remember: If you lose the keys, you lose the encrypted data. It's a great idea for z/OS to manage your keys, including through disaster recovery procedures.) One interesting benefit: you no longer have to worry about wiping or destroying encrypted hard disks at the end of their lifecycles.
- Malaysian Electronic Payment System (MEPS) selects a new and highly resilient System z solution to provide interbank funds transfer in that fast growing southeast Asian market.
- Mantissa Corporation will show how you can run unmodified X86 software on System z under z/VM, including X86-based Linux and Microsoft Windows operating systems, middleware, and applications. (Yes, you read that correctly. Ain't virtualization nifty? Maybe IBM should call mainframes "System u," for universal.) Mark your calendars and ask lots of good questions at SHARE: Mantissa's unveiling starts at 8:00 a.m. Texas time on March 6.
- Looking for a talented z/OS mainframe professional or three? You might want to interview some of the most recent "Master the Mainframe" contest winners. The top 5 winners all receive MSI Wind computers, and IBM awarded many other prizes to nearly 1,000 other contestants. Bryan Weaver from Northern Illinois University took the top spot, followed by Yeming Hu (Dalhousie University), David Jones (West Texas A&M), Bin Sun (Syracuse University), and Jinhu Huang (Seneca College). Congratulations all! Missed this year's contest? Don't worry: check this page every so often for details on the next contest which will likely start in August or September.
- According to that Sesame Street song, "One of these things is not like the other": 1. "The Social Security Administration has no way to back up its data, and it's still six months away from bringing its initial backup online." 2. "....The agency still is using more than 38 million lines of Cobol code in a siloed and mainframe environment." I'm going to take a wild (but educated) guess that those 38 million lines of COBOL, along with their directly accessed data, are backed up and, further more, are the only valuable IT asset fighting against the Social Security Administration's data center space and power constraints referenced elsewhere in the article. Am I right?
- Erika was shot dead in the mainframe room? I guess I missed that episode.
- Henry Newman says that file system management is headed for (or is already in) trouble. "The funny thing is that ... mainframe people are laughing at us, as MVS has had this type of information for years."
- David Stephens has a new book and answers the question What on Earth is a Mainframe?
- Unisys drops support for the long-troubled Itanium CPUs, leaving HP as the lone major (or even medium-sized) remaining Itanium server vendor.
- Jason Perlow writes: "The mainframe never died folks, he was just sleeping and waiting for this moment to arrive."
- IBM has many more teleconferences scheduled, including "Build a Cost-Effective ESB Solution." Also, the z Oracle Special Interest Group meets April 20 to 24 for its annual conference, and IBM has a great Communications Controller for Linux on System z (CCL) installation and configuration workshop scheduled March 24 to 27 near Washington, D.C. (CCL replaces and consolidates 3745 and 3746 controllers. Contact Linda Harrison if you'd like more information on attending.)
- Sun Microsystems builds an "eco-friendly" data center in Colorado. Oh, there's a big reason why it could be so eco-friendly. (Take a look at the photo, front left.)
| by Timothy Sipples | February 25, 2009 Permalink |
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