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Obtaining Mainframe Experience w/o a Mainframe?

Posted by Cliff on from the chickens-and-eggs dept.

Nice2Cats asks: "So I'm reading all over about how companies are desperate for people who know how to work mainframes, especially now that IBM is shipping them with Linux. But how -- short of a course with Big Blue or some other exercise in expensive formal education -- can I acquire even the most basic information or experience with big iron? There doesn't seem to be many tutorials or introductions online; what would be nice, but I can't seem to find either, would be a simulator that would run on a PC. All I want to know is if I like enough to be seriously interested."

3 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. The Hercules System/370, ESA/390, and z/ Emulator by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Informative
    Hercules is an open source software implementation of the mainframe System/370 and ESA/390 architectures, in addition to the new 64-bit z/Architecture. Hercules runs under Linux, Windows 98, Windows NT, and Windows 2000.

    Hercules was created by Roger Bowler and is maintained by Jay Maynard. Jan Jaeger designed and implemented many of the advanced features of Hercules, including dynamic reconfiguration, integrated console, interpretive execution and z/Architecture support.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  2. Re:The Hercules System/370, ESA/390, and z/ Emulat by peterjt · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'vebrought up Hercules at home and it does a good job at the HARDWARE level. the real issue is that of getting an O/S that you CAN run.

    Older versions of MVS (ie MVT) are available, as are older versions of VM. However, these run in 370 mode, not in ESA or Z mode.

    I'm not sure about what Linux versions would run on this emulator.

    It is though still a good means of gaining some familiarity with the environment.

  3. Check Community Colleges by RobertEdwards · · Score: 5, Informative

    In my city, and I expect in others, the local two year community college teaches extension courses in what we used to call "Data Processing". Basic Tape Monkey and Console operator courses in mainframes and AS400s. JCL, CL, maybe a bit of Cobol, RPG, or some SQL queries. Nothing fancy, but the courses are hands on. These classes would not necessarily be for college credit - perhaps for adult education CEUs. Fees don't seem particularly expensive.

    This is obviously dependent on your local CC's resources, interests, and local demand. But check it out.