The popularity of the Internet and the affordability of information technology (IT) hardware and software have resulted in an explosion dramatic increase in the number of applications, architectures, and platforms. Workloads have changed. Many applications, including mission-critical ones, are deployed on a variety of platforms, and the IBM® System z® design has adapted to this change. It takes into account a wide range of factors, including compatibility and investment protection, to match the IT requirements of an enterprise.

This IBM Redbooks® publication provides information about the IBM zEnterprise® BC12 (zBC12), an IBM scalable mainframe server. IBM is taking a revolutionary approach by integrating separate platforms under the well-proven System z hardware management capabilities, while extending System z qualities of service to those platforms.

The zEnterprise System consists of the zBC12 central processor complex, the IBM zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager, and the IBM zEnterprise BladeCenter® Extension (zBX). The zBC12 is designed with improved scalability, performance, security, resiliency, availability, and virtualization. The zBC12 provides the following improvements over its predecessor, the IBM zEnterprise 114 (z114):

Up to a 36% performance boost per core running at 4.2 GHz
Up to 58% more capacity for traditional workloads
Up to 62% more capacity for Linux workloads

The zBX infrastructure works with the zBC12 to enhance System z virtualization and management through an integrated hardware platform that spans mainframe, IBM POWER7®, and IBM System x® technologies. The federated capacity from multiple architectures of the zEnterprise System is managed as a single pool of resources, integrating system and workload management across the environment through the Unified Resource Manager.

This book provides an overview of the zBC12 and its functions, features, and associated software support. Greater detail is offered in areas relevant to technical planning. This book is intended for systems engineers, consultants, planners, and anyone who wants to understand zEnterprise System functions and plan for their usage. It is not intended as an introduction to mainframes. Readers are expected to be generally familiar with existing IBM System z technology and terminology.