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IBM System z servers are supported by a multitude of operating systems, such as z/OS, z/VSE, z/TPF, Linux on System z and the z/VM hypervisor.

z/OS

z/OS has a long history of delivering innovative technologies for the enterprise, and with its leadership capabilities for security, availability, scalability, and workload management, some consider z/OS to be the best data serving environment in the industry. Now more than ever IBM System z® and z/OS® are the right choice for your infrastructure and workload needs. The epitome of investment protection, z/OS goes to great lengths to keep applications and data available, system resources secure, server utilization high, and programming environments adaptable while maintaining compatibility for existing applications.

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New z/OS Version 1 Release 13 (US)
This latest release of z/OS brings a new dimension to system availability, application development, and performance. It can help you get early warning of certain system issues before they become obvious to help you act quickly and decisively with integration between z/OS Predictive Failure Analysis and Runtime Diagnostics functions. This latest release delivers enhancements designed to help shorten your batch window, simplify batch programming, and give you more flexibility in deploying batch applications. z/OS V1.13 also delivers improved performance for web-based applications with better overall I/O response times for z/OS UNIX System Services workloads in a Parallel Sysplex, as well as improved performance for traditional workloads using the IEBCOPY utility to copy one PDS (partitioned data set) to another.

New z/OS Management Facility V1.13 (US)
IBM z/OS Management Facility (5655-S28) is the new face of z/OS. It is a modern management console for z/OS and is intended to enable system programmers to more easily manage and administer a mainframe system by simplifying day to day operations and administration of a z/OS system. z/OSMF V1.13 introduces new system management tasks which can clone z/OS images and deploy software more easily and consistently, and support easier monitoring of z/OS Capacity Provisioning functions. Existing tasks are updated and improve your ability to manage incident log data, network security configuration, and cross-platform resource monitoring. This release also creates a more unified z/OS experience with a new web-enabled ISPF interface, and the ability to link and launch between z/OSMF and other browser-accessible applications.

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Linux on System z

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Linux on System z combines the advantages of the IBM mainframes with the flexibility and open standards of the Linux operating systems. Linux can play a major role in the simplification of the IT infrastructure—not only because it helps simplify business integration through the use of open and industry standards, but also because it supports deployment of new solutions more quickly and accelerates time to market.

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Enterprise-class IT optimization and cloud computing
The Linux environment benefits from the enormous improvements of the IBM zEnterprise 114 and IBM zEnterprise 196 server capabilities, especially in the areas of consolidation, security and reliability.
You can run up to thousands of virtual Linux servers concurrently, with ensured isolation and protection of each virtual server environment. You can consolidate and deploy new workloads on one single System z server, which may result in software license savings, management effort savings, floor space and energy savings. You can "do more with less".

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Improve IT economics and drive greater performance with the Enterprise Linux Server. It can help you to reduce both cost of acquisition and cost of ownership. The Enterprise Linux Server can provide large scale consolidation that dramatically reduces the cost of per core software licenses, and can help to drive labor and floor space savings.

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z/VM

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The advanced virtualization technologies available with the z/VM hypervisor combined with the highly attractive economics on the highly secure and reliable System z10 servers are designed to help clients extend the business value of mainframe technology across the enterprise by integrating applications and data while providing exceptional levels of availability, security, and operational ease. z/VM virtualization technology is designed to allow the capability for clients to run hundreds to thousands of Linux servers as z/VM guests in a single mainframe while hosting other System z operating systems for non-Linux workloads, such as z/OS®, z/VSE, and z/TPF on the same System z server or as a large-scale Linux-only enterprise server solution. The proven capabilities of z/VM can help provide Linux guests with the mainframe's powerful resources.

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z/VM 6.2 - Accelerating the Journey to Smarter Computing
The highlight of the z/VM 6.2 release is Multi-system virtualization which clusters z/VM instances and helps clients in multiple ways. It offers a more manageable infrastructure for cloud computing by providing a set of shared resources that can be managed as a single resource pool. It also provides the ability to move Linux virtual servers without disruption across the System z family, between IBM System z10 EC, z10 BC, z196, and z114 servers. This support provides flexible workload balancing and reduces the impact of planned outages. Now clients will be able to plan outages on their timeline and move work to available resources in addition to the long standing capability to move system resources to work.

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z/TPF

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z/TPF remains the "high volume transaction processing" (HVTP) platform of choice for many of IBM's largest customers for many years. These customers cover several industries, including airlines, lodging, finance, health, and travel.

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z/VSE

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z/VSE is designed to help clients protect their investments into VSE applications and data. It addresses requirements for growing z/VSE workloads and consolidation of z/VSE systems, exploiting innovative IBM zEnterprise 196, 114 and IBM System Storage technology. z/VSE focuses on scalability, security, and hybrid solutions including Linux on System z. Learn more about z/VSE, z/Architecture, latest enhancements, and integration with Linux on System z.

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Announcement: IBM z/VSE V5.1 - 64-bit virtual for future workloads (US)
z/VSE Version 5 Release 1 again demonstrates IBM's commitment to z/VSE clients.
This new version is another significant step in the ongoing evolution of z/VSE. z/VSE V5.1 is designed to:

  • Provide 64-bit virtual addressing for growing workloads or new applications.
  • Exploit innovative IBM zEnterprise 196 technology.
  • Exploit enhanced IBM System Storage options.
  • Introduce an architectural level set (ALS) that requires IBM System z9 or later.

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