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IBM Announces First Linux-only Mainframes

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the big-step-up dept.

A reader writes "The new Z-series mainframe for Linux, which costs $400,000 and is aimed at processing transactions at large businesses, is IBM's first mainframe computer sold without IBM's traditional z/OS mainframe operating system. More info at the IBM zSeries page" This is something that IBM and others of Big Iron vendors of *NIX have said - as Linux grows in maturity, they want to replace their *NIX with Linux. However, there's still work to be done in that area.

3 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. A step in the right direction... by gillbates · · Score: 0, Troll
    I work on an OS/390 (now the z series) mainframe, and I can say Linux would be a welcome replacement for the ESA/VSE architectures that we are using now.

    But IBM still hasn't addressed the central problem with mainframes: In spite of the fact that they can run 16 processors, mainframes are still abysmally slow machines. The average 16 processor mainframe is a 120 MIPS machine, whereas the average 1.5 GHz desktop system is a 3000 MIPS machine. I like the mainframe architecture, but if IBM doesn't do something about the processor speed shortfall soon, mainframes will go the way of the dinosaur. It is becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to justify spending $500,000 for machines that are slower than PC's costing 1/100th of the price.

    Granted, the mainframe has a good architecture. But why should my company spend $400,000 for a Linux mainframe, when we could run Linux faster on a $2,000 PC server?
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  2. Imagine a... by supabeast! · · Score: 1, Troll

    Can you even build a beowulf cluster of these?

  3. Mainframe? by SIGFPE · · Score: 1, Troll

    What's a mainframe? Never heard of it.

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