1 Introduction To The New Mainframe Stephen S. Linkin Houston Community College ©HCCS & IBM® 2008 Stephen Linkin

©HCCS & IBM® 2008 Stephen Linkin 1

Introduction To The New Mainframe

Stephen S. LinkinHouston Community College


The New Mainframe

Mainframe Computers Play A Central Role In Daily Operations

Coveted Place In Today’s E-business Environment. Banking, Finance, Healthcare, Insurance,

Public Utilities, Government Mainframe Computing Dominates Large-

Scale Business Computing.


The New Mainframe

70% of all web pages are stored on mainframe systems

Transaction Processing is a Prime use.


The S/360: A Turning Point In Mainframe History

IBM 701 Circa 1951 Univac System Circa 1950 IBM 1401 Circa 1956 IBM 360 Circa 1964



A Series Of Generations First Generation Systems – 1951 Second Generation – 1956 Third Generation - 1964



Standardized Mainframe Computers Microcode

Corrections Or New Functions Can Be Implemented By Updating

No Concern Over Compatibility Standardized Languages

Assembler, COBOL, FORTRAN, PL/1



Standardized Software Utilities


An Evolving Architecture

Definition Of Architecture



More And Faster Processors More Physical Memory And Greater

Memory Addressing Capability Dynamic Upgrading Of Hardware And

Software Automation Of Hardware Error Checking

And Recovery



Enhanced (I/O) More And Faster Channels Sophisticated I/O Attachments, E.G. LAN

Adapters Ability To Divide Resources Of One Machine

Into Multiple, Isolated Systems, Running Its Own OS

Advanced Clustering, Parallel Sysplex, That Share Data Among Multiple Systems.



Stable Secure Compatible


Mainframes In Our Midst

Mainframes Are Largely Invisible They Are Resistant To Viruses And

Trojan Horses. They Share Space With Other Hardware

Devices: External Storage Devices Hardware Network Routers Channel Controllers Automated Tape “Robots”


What Is A Mainframe?

The Largest Servers Server Farms

Networked ServersCentral Data Repository PlatformThe Single Box…



Style Of Operation Hosting Commercial Databases Transaction Servers Applications Requiring A Great

Degree Of Security



Style Of Operation Compatibility Centralized Control Of

Resources Shared Access To Disk Drives

On Other Systems



Style Of Operation Dedicated Operations Staff S.O.P

Clustering Technologies Parallel Sysplex


Who uses mainframe computers? Everyone

Perform large-scale transaction processing (thousands of transactions per second)

Support thousands of users and application programs concurrently accessing resources

Manage terabytes of information in databases Handle large-bandwidth communication

The roads of the information superhighway often lead to a mainframe.


Factors contributing to mainframe use

Reliability, Availability, Serviceability Security Scalabilty Continuing Compatibility Evolving Architecture



Reliability, Availability, Serviceability



Security



Scalabilty



Continuing Compatibility



Evolving Architecture


Typical mainframe workloads

Batch Interactive



BatchFig 1-2

Large Volumes Timed Activity Multiple Tasks




InteractiveFig 1-3

Immediate Short Response

Time Mission Critical



Roles in the mainframe world

System Programmers System

Administrators Application Designers

And Programmers System Operators Production Control Analysts


z/OS and other mainframe operating systems

z/OS z/VM® z/VSE™ Linux z/TPF



z/OS



z/VM®



z/VSE™



Linux



z/TPF


Summary

Read The Redbook

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1 Introduction To The New Mainframe Stephen S. Linkin Houston Community College ©HCCS & IBM® 2008 Stephen Linkin