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Microsoft Windows, On a Mainframe
coondoggie writes with an excerpt from Network World: "Software that for the first time lets users run native copies of the Windows operating systems on a mainframe will be introduced Friday by data center automation vendor Mantissa. The company's z/VOS software is a CMS application that runs on IBM's z/VM and creates a foundation for Intel-based operating systems. Users only need a desktop appliance running Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) client, which is the same technology used to attach to Windows running on Terminal Server or Citrix-based servers. Users will be able to connect to their virtual and fully functional Windows environments without any knowledge that the operating system and the applications are executing on the mainframe and not the desktop."
One simple word : WHY?
Yes, I'm left. You have a problem with that?
the technology cycle is kinda funny. first it was dumb terminals, then the push to get everything on the desktop, now we're back to dumb terminals.
Wohoo. Queue up some Elton John.
Sent from your iPad.
You can use Windows and Mainframe in the same sentence.
You can even use Reliability and Mainframe int he same sentence.
But, seriously, using Windows and Reliability together??? You must be from marketing.
What is it with trying to get everything back on a mainframe? It's dead already, just manage your desktops and stop trying to revive it.
Dead? That would be news to IBM and the other mainframe vendors. Mainframes have many advantages:
- Solidity. You can buy mainframes with a warranty and guarantee, meaning that IT WILL NOT CRASH.
- Performance. There is lots of literature detailing the performance of mainframes under real-time conditions.
Now, these factors aren't important to everybody, but they are to some.
On the other hand, I doubt the price of PC virtualization on a mainframe is going to beat virtualizaion on Sun or VMware.
Rocket powered hamster indeed.
Why wouldn't you just spend the money on a small ESX farm with a couple of nodes and a NFS or iSCSI SAN?
That's something your in house techies can manage. If something busts, you get a new part and install it yourself. No need to call Big Blue up and have the wizard come down just to replace a failed processor. You get the redundancy, and reliability that you need for mission critical services.
Running Windows on a zSeries is just lame. zSeries != x86, so you're emulating a processor /anyways/, and I can't imagine the performance would be that stellar anyhow. Chances are if you paid for a zS, you've got better things to put your processor capabilities towards rather then emulating Windows. Plus I can't imagine that *any* software that runs on a zSeries is cost effective...
-AC
actualy for MS exchange it is the reverse of what you claim.
Exchange runs quite well with very few problems in and of it's self - but if there is an IO timeout or a fail to write or something of that sort or buggy hardware drivers you will have big problems.
While you do lose some to over head virtulizing exchange is a very good idea in pratice - it plays very well and is exceptional stable in a VM.
the trick is not to never let exchange talk directly to the outside world but rather to trusted hosts you manage - which any decent size exchange deployment should be doing.
I've been running exchange in an VM for over 3 years now and have had zero problems with stability or preformace.
Don't knock it till you've tried it.. although i do have to scratch my head on doing it on a mainframe..
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
Imagine,
1979, then again in 1985, then again in 1996, then again in 2001 and now in 2009...
People forgetting the huge roadblocks and drawbacks of the thin client model and imagining it solving every problem with home PCs...again (oh but this time will be different!).
See you again in another eight to ten years.
You posted to Slashdot. You're using a thin client. It's called a Web browser. Welcome to the future.
Quote:
"The product has been a bear for the development group but the thought of being able to run 3,000 copies of Windows on one System z so fascinated the team that we needed very little additional incentive"
That is one bizarre fascination.
Imagine.. you lose your internet connection (for whatever reason)...