The Linux Executive Report from IBM
December 16, 2015
The Linux Executive Report from IBM: December 16, 2015. A monthly summary of important trends and market research, case studies and information about IBM's Linux initiatives of interest to senior management.
Linux News
In 2015, big data, mobility, IoT, expanding requirements for security and real-time analytics and the introduction of the Cognitive Era continued to place greater pressure on IT organizations. Linux and open source technologies are at the center of many of the most innovative software and hardware solutions that are addressing emerging enterprise requirements. Here's a look back at some of the most significant announcements in Linux and open source technology of 2015.
Inside Linux at IBM
Linux on IBM z Systems provides high levels of performance, scalability and security. A rich open source ecosystem is growing on the platform—from Node.js to MongoDB to Docker—which combines with IBM z's speed and other unique features to deliver business agility—the ability of an organization to get to market quickly and effectively in order to solve the business problems it faces.
Data will be the basis for competitive advantage for many organizations. IBM z Systems has stood the test of time, helping many organizations achieve a digital transformation using their IT infrastructure as the cornerstone.
Earlier this year, SAP and IBM announced that SAP Business Warehouse deployments on SAP HANA could be integrated with IBM Power Systems, achieving a level of flexibility, resiliency and performance that customers tell us is unique in the industry.
Three months ago, IBM announced a major investment in Apache Spark, committing thousands of researchers to the future development of what has been called the most important open source project in a decade being defined by data.
IBM LinuxONE is a portfolio of hardware, software and services solutions for an enterprise grade Linux environment. IBM LinuxONE brings together the flexibility and agility of the open revolution with the industry's most advanced, trusted and performance enterprise system.
IBM Spectrum Scale, based on IBM GPFS technology, is a high performance shared-disk file management solution that provides fast, reliable access to data from multiple nodes in a cluster environment.
A new data sheet summarizes the value of deploying the PeopleSoft Enterprise applications on the IBM Mainframe running Oracle Database. An architectural diagram is included.
A new video demonstrates how the combined power of Linux, IBM z Systems, the hybrid cloud, and IBM Cloud Manager with OpenStack enhance the benefits of each part to provide the most powerful and reliable enterprise solution.
In a world awash in data, the way that companies engage with their customers has forever changed. Where companies used to rely on telephone customer service centers and antique suggestion boxes, they are now inundated with data of all kinds, from multiple sources and devices, requiring different responses.
IBM now has three strategic virtualization platforms: IBM z/VM, IBM PR/SM, and KVM for IBM z Systems. KVM for IBM z delivers server virtualization based on open source KVM Linux technology. KVM for IBM z virtualization technology enables you to share real compute, memory, and I/O resources through server virtualization.
The IBM LinuxONE channel is expanding to meet global demands and address the increasing growth and requirements of Linux in the market. IBM Business Partners that are looking to add LinuxONE to their sales portfolio can get started today.
This blog provides a terrific developer resource focused on topics on container technology and its use in Linux on the mainframe. Go here.
IBM LinuxONE provides a portfolio of hardware, software, and services that combine the flexibility and agility of the open revolution with the industry's most advanced trusted, efficient and performant enterprise system for business critical applications. An increased emphasis on mobile, big data, and cloud is not only in sync with new industry trends it also responds to client demands for greater reliability, security, performance, and cost savings.
KVM for IBM z Systems provides open source virtualization for the IBM mainframe. Using a combination of KVM virtualization and IBM z Systems provides the performance and flexibility to address the requirements of multiple, differing Linux workloads.
Federal agencies have a mandate to provide a highly available and secure I/T infrastructure to provide services in an increasingly mobile environment. Challenges that agencies face today include architectural complexity, network latency, reduced availability, and steep software costs that outweigh the advantages of a scale out architecture.
Juju certainly isn't the world's best kept secret on quickly-and-easily modeling and bringing services to the Cloud, but what may be a more closely kept secret is that because IBM POWER8 supports Ubuntu, the power of POWER, coupled with the magic of Charms, brings open source cloud services modeling and orchestration to the world's premier open server platform!
In today's hyper-connected world, it is no longer enough to have a digital presence like a mobile channel or e-commerce site. The extra mile to strive for is interactive engagement at a cognitive level through bi-directional communication and always-on-services.
Open source software brings a broad set of new capabilities to LinuxONE and z Systems in the form of more solutions that are optimized for use on an enterprise-grade platform that leverages inherent strengths—speed combined with ultra-security application uptime, limitless capacity for growth, in addition to an inventive and collaborative ecosystem of developers and practitioners - all of which gives enterprises an important edge in improving their business agility.
Using Linux containers and Docker radically changes the way applications are built, shipped, deployed and instantiated. A new IBM white paper explains how using Docker, IBM UrbanCode Deploy or Linux on IBM z Systems can help you quickly develop cloud-centric applications or micro services.
IBM has announced the XL C/C++ Linux on z Systems V1.2. The update delivers significant execution performance improvement over GCC with advanced optimization technology, enabling users to exploit z/Architectures (z10, z196, zEC12, z13) and increase overall platform competitiveness.
Linux and KVM Events
With the confluence of disruptive new forces, including big data, cloud, high performance computing, and new engagement technologies, organizations must innovate in terms of how they build their infrastructure, Doug Balog, General Manager, IBM Power Systems, emphasized in his keynote at Red Hat Summit 2015.
The OpenPOWER Foundation, an open development community dedicated to accelerating data center innovation by taking advantage of open interfaces, reference designs, and collaboration opportunities on the POWER processor architecture, has announced its 2016 OpenPOWER Summit: Revolutionizing the Datacenter.
The 12th annual Red Hat Summit will take place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from June 28 - July 1, 2016. Red Hat Summit is a premier open source technology event, bringing together thousands of customers, partners, and open source industry leaders from around the world for a high-energy week of innovation, education, and collaboration.
The history between SUSE and the IBM mainframe goes back more than 15 years, observed Michael Miller, SUSE's Vice President of Global Alliances, Marketing and Product Management, and Ross Mauri, General Manager, IBM z Systems, during a keynote conversation at SUSECon 2015.
The Linux Foundation has posted the dates and locations for all upcoming Linux Foundation and Managed Events in 2016.
Delivering the opening keynotes at LinuxCon North America for IBM, a Diamond Sponsor of the event, Dr. Angel Diaz, Vice President, Cloud Architecture and Technology, IBM, and Ross Mauri, General Manager of z Systems, IBM, reflected on the change taking place in the IT world.
Linux and KVM Success Stories
Seismic data processor Earth Signal has deployed IBM Power Systems S822L servers with IBM POWER8 CPUs running Linux to maximize core- and thread-count within the physical limits of its data center, enabling extremely fast delivery of seismic results to industry clients and 20 times greater server density.
EVERTEC, Inc., based in Puerto Rico, offers a comprehensive suite of services for core bank processing, cash processing and technology outsourcing. The company processes billions of financial transactions annually and must ensure 24/7 responsiveness and availability for its systems - or risk failing to provide customers with access to key services.
A new video showcases how low-cost carrier Allegiant Travel is leveraging big data without wait with IBM POWER8, DB2, and Flash. Allegiant Travel increased performance and scale, saved over $1 million over x86 solutions, freeing up resources to focus on innovation and serving customers better.
A new video explains how outstanding customer experiences demand waitless virtualization, cloud and analytics. Backed by Linux on POWER8, ZTEsoft clients can process 35,000 transactions per second with ease in virtualized cloud environments.
Sparda-Datenverarbeitung eG (SDV), the IT service provider for the Sparda-Bank Group in Germany, develops secure and innovative IT solutions for retail banking, payment, distribution and financing to improve the products and services of Sparda-Bank Group.
Banca Carige Group (Banca Carige), one of the largest banks in Italy, has built an analytics environment and a new mobile banking service using IBM software on IBM zEnterprise EC12 mainframes, which provide round-the-clock availability and high security.
LSU has collaborated with IBM to deploy a powerful supercomputer named Delta to advance big data research in Louisiana. The name references both the Mississippi delta region and the use of the term in the sciences to mean "change."
A major utility organization needed to expand its services to new regions in its domestic market while enhancing customer services. To achieve these goals, the company wanted to ensure that it could onboard and manage new suppliers and customers without impacting service quality.
Mizuho Bank, Ltd. needed to transform its online and mobile banking systems while decreasing IT costs. With the help of IBM, Mizuho updated online and mobile applications, keeping user satisfaction high and expanding its online presence by gaining scalability and sustainability while reducing overall costs.
Clients tell how they simplify, innovate and compete with the enterprise-grade platform for Linux.
The Met Office, the United Kingdom's national weather service, provides early, accurate severe weather reports. It strives to transform weather intelligence into a tool for business performance — and its goal is to empower organizations to use weather as an advantage. To process the massive amount of data it receives, the Met Office uses an IBM supercomputer that runs more than 100 trillion calculations in a second.