Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter 2018 No. 1
We apologize for the delay in getting this issue out. I had some family medical issues which threw all my plans out the window. But the issue is finished now, and the publisher is working their magic on it, and we will hopefully have it available on our publications site (www.watsonwalkerpublications.com) later this week.
But don’t worry, the delay didn’t impact the size of the issue – you’ll have plenty of beach reading with this 140+-page barn burner. This issue has articles on IBM’s new pricing initiative (Container Pricing), a new JES2 SMF record, analyzing GRS resource consumption, the new z14 ZR1, several new User Experiences, and our indispensable News section (all the news that’s important to YOU). Many of these articles contain information that you can’t find anywhere else. One of Cheryl’s favorite articles is called “The Death of the Mainframe (again),” an article that shouldn’t be missed by any mainframer.
Cheryl Watson’s z Systems CPU Chart April 2018
On April 10, IBM announced the replacement processor for the z13s (see ENUS118-018) – the z14-ZR1. IBM is no longer classifying this as a Business level machine as opposed to an Enterprise-level machine, but it’s still the baby of the z14 models. The z14-ZR1 is a 3907 model that consists of 156 unique machines ranging from a 3907-A01 of 88 MIPS (11 MSUs) to a 3907-Z06 of 8036 MIPS (998 MSUs). For comparison, the small z13s machines ranged from a 2965-A01 of 80 MIPS to a 2965-Z06 of 7123 MIPS. So the new ZR1model provides about a 10% increase over the z13s models. We will be emailing the new CPU Chart spreadsheet out in the next few days, but it will also be on the Publications website (available only to subscribers) at the same time that the Tuning Letter is uploaded.
The most important part of the announcement according to some customers is that the frame of the ZR1 fits perfectly in data centers designed for industry-standard 19” racks. The new structure allows other drawers, switches, servers, PCI cards, and I/O elements to fit easily into the frame. Moving from a z13s to a ZR1 provides a Technology Update Pricing (TUP) of an additional 4-5% discount on MLC software costs. Naturally, the ZR1 comes with all of the enhancements that came with the z14 – support for pervasive encryption, Trusted Key Entry, Crypto Express6S, larger memory, SIMD, SMT, and support for Flash Memory and zHyperLink Express.
On a personal note, Frank and I are thrilled that the z14-ZR1 is a lot easier to write about than trying to differentiate between two z13s or one z13, as opposed to two z13ses (two z13s models) or one z13s. Aargh! 😊
Free Presentations
We’ve recently uploaded new material to our home website. Don’t miss the following from our website:
What is Container Pricing Really All About? (zTech University in Orlando, May)
A Consultant Looks at Country Multiplex and Container Pricing (zTech University in Orlando, May)
Issues That Arise in MLC Pricing (Why ISVs should use ISV SCRT Facility)
The Cheryl and Frank zRoadshow (SHARE in Sacramento, March)
See you this week at zTech University in London
If you’re attending IBM Systems Technical University (TechU) in London this week, please stop and say hello to us. Here’s when and what we’ll be presenting:
- 5/17, Thu, 13:45-14:45 – What is Container Pricing really all about?
- 5/17, Thu, 15:00-16:00 – The Cheryl Watson and Frank Kyne zRoadshow
- 5/18, Fri, 9:45-10:45 – A consultant looks at Country Multiplex and Container Pricing
Stay Tuned!