IBM recently introduced the System zEC12 – a model that offers 25% more computing power than its predecessor thanks to big improvements to the z processor, in cache, in the processor nest and also due to new instructions. Enterprise IT professionals, however, should look beyond the usual speeds/feeds/capacity improvements to the new System z, and should instead consider the message that IBM is sending with the improvements to the processor and related on-board cache. What IBM is trying to do is shift the mainframe conversation away from a discussion of technologies into a discussion about workload processing.
IBM’s new transaction-execution facility targets improving multi-threading performance. One System z user and SHARE member, Ed Jaffe, describes this facility as having the potential to “be the greatest single advancement in multi-thread performance on System z ever. Every indication is that this new facility is performing beyond IBM's wildest expectations.”
To learn more about zEC12, read the full blog post on the SHARE President’s Corner.