The current of change that is now surging through Information Technology is challenging us to answer some fundamental questions about the future of our industry. With the growing dominance of big data, cloud and engagement technologies, we must ask ourselves:
- How can we handle digital technologies needed for mobile, social and other demands?
- How can we make better decisions based on the explosive growth of data – and turn data into a resource?
- How can we build an infrastructure that optimises digital marketing strategies? How can we do it all faster? Cheaper? And better?
How can we do it all faster? Cheaper? And better?
No one has all the answers, but for more than 20 years now, Linux and IBM have been in the forefront of a movement in open source collaboration that has inspired ground-breaking innovation, expanded capabilities for developers and taken us to the brink of a new IT era. This week Linux, IBM, and an extensive partnership ecosystem joined forces to raise the bar yet again. While Linux has been available on the mainframe for the past 15 years, we are now introducing LinuxONE, the fastest, most secure and most open family of enterprise-grade Linux systems built on IBM’s mainframe technology.
[easy-tweet tweet=”LinuxONE can scale up to 8,000 Virtual Machines, the most of any single linux system” user=”comparethecloud” hashtags=”linuxcon”]
LinuxONE is the world’s most advanced Linux system. It can perform up to 30 billion RESTful web interactions a day with more than 470,000 database accesses per second. It can scale up to 8,000 virtual machines – the most of any single Linux system. And it builds on the mainframe’s phenomenal ability to deliver near 100% uptime for business critical workloads.
LinuxONE offers the Linux KVM hypervisor
In addition, LinuxONE offers the Linux KVM hypervisor, allowing organisations to manage LinuxONE virtual machines with the same operational process and skills they use for the rest of their IT environment. I have spent more than 30 years in and around the enterprise space with z Systems and I have never been more excited about the breakthrough in the Linux and open source technology. But beyond all the purely technical advantages, what does this mean to you, the developer?
For me, this is all about standardisation in two important areas. First, we are giving developers what they want – the strongest integration of Linux with the enterprise grade capabilities of LinuxOne, with greater access and choice and all the tools developers know and love. With this set of tools, they are no longer limited in what they can develop or deploy on this great platform. Developers can use the LinuxOne system with agility and confidence.
[easy-tweet tweet=”With the #Linux Foundation @IBM will support the newly formed Open Mainframe Project” hashtags=”linuxcon”]
The second big advancement is in the management of the platform. By adopting technologies like the KVM hypervisor and OpenStack extensions, we are integrating tools that standardise the operational control of the Linux environment, lower cost, and eliminate the need for new training and specialised skills. And of course, the KVM hypervisor for LinuxOne will be equipped with the optimisation our clients have come to expect from a mainframe.
I am also proud that IBM is taking significant steps to bolster our already strong commitment to open source innovation. This includes donations of industry leading IT analytics technology to help identify and prevent failures before they occur and cause service disruption. And in collaboration with the Linux Foundation we will support the newly formed Open Mainframe Project. The new community will foster collaboration by enabling knowledge sharing around Linux on the mainframe. Founding members include IBM, CA Technologies, Canonical, L3C, Red Hat and SUSE.
When the mainframe concept was conceived more than 50 years ago, it was IBM’s desire that it be “future made” – capable of adapting and being compatible with evolving technology. LinuxOne has more than fulfilled that promise. The enhancements we have just announced, including the greater integration of Linux and enterprise server technology, and the strengthening of our commitment to strong open, ecosystems ensure that we continue to build a “future made” infrastructure that is always one-step ahead of the next big disruption.
[easy-tweet tweet=”We will continue to build a #futuremade infrastructure” user=”IBM and @Linux” hashtags=”linuxcon”]
Jeffrey Frey, IBM Fellow and Chief Technology Officer, IBM z Systems