June 24, 2015

Linux on z Docker demo at DockerCon

Since a while there is an experimental version of Docker available for Linux on z. This has now been demoed at DockerCon. Here is the video link: the demo starts around 15:40. Of course they could have run everything on System z and some more visual bells and whistles could have been added fro marketing.
However from a technical point of view it shows the prototype running and integrating with all the cool cloud stuff from Docker :-) 

June 22, 2015

New Whitepaper "z/VM 6.3 HiperDispatch - Polarization Modes and Middleware Performance"

This white paper looks at the effect of using the HiperDispatch feature (introduced with z/VM 6.3) with a mixed Linux workload. It also provides results for applying the scalability APAR VM65586.
 The improvements in the mixed workload including Websphere and Oracle DB shows that this APAR is not only valuable for z13, but rather for everyone with a larger number of IFLs. And if you are still running an old pre 6.3 z/VM release, now is the time to upgrade!

June 11, 2015

Support information for IBM storage products

All the supported combinations for IBM storage can be found in the IBM System Storage Interoperation Center (SSIC).
For Linux on z the best way to get the number of combinations down is to first select "IBM z Systems" as the host platform and then continue with the storage family.

Very important: if your combination isn't listed there, please get a "Request for Price Quotations (RPQ)" submitted by your IBM rep as described on the SSIC start page.