IBM has announced the launch of its new System z10 mainframe computer, delivering what the Armonk, N.Y.-based company claims is "up to 100 percent performance increase" and a design that will "drastically increase efficiency."
According to IBM, the System z10 mainframe will help clients create a new enterprise data center. It will "dramatically increase data center efficiency by significantly improving performance and reducing power, cooling costs, and floor space requirements. It offers unmatched levels of security and automates the management and tracking of IT resources to respond to ever-changing business conditions."
IBM also announced it has invested $300 million in architects, technical skills, as well as design and benchmarking centers to help clients transform to a new enterprise data center. Qualified clients can receive free assessment services to prioritize and take action to implement a more efficient, shared and dynamic IT infrastructure.
"IBM's next-generation, 64-processor mainframe, which uses Quad-Core technology, is built from the start to be shared, offering greater performance over virtualized x86 servers to support hundreds to hundreds of millions of users," the company stated. The z10 also supports a broad range of workloads. In addition to Linux, XML, Java, WebSphere and increased workloads from Service Oriented Architecture implementations, IBM said it is working with Sun Microsystems and Sine Nomine Associates to pilot the Open Solaris operating system on System z.
From a performance standpoint, the new z10 is designed to be up to 50% faster and offers up to 100% performance improvement for CPU intensive jobs compared to its predecessor, the z9, with up to 70% more capacity, the company said. "The z10 also is the equivalent of nearly 1,500 x86 servers, with up to an 85% smaller footprint, and up to 85% lower energy costs. The new z10 can consolidate x86 software licenses at up to a 30-to-1 ratio."
There's no question that the venerable mainframe still maintains some advantages in computing power and security over many distributed systems, and IBM is banking on the IT buyers out there to recognize that fact. The training and incentives should provide an additional boost.
What's your take? Is this a positive development for an insurance industry that is still dominated by mainframes at its largest carriers? Share your views here.