Neon updates zPrime mainframe accelerator
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Neon Enterprise Software, the cheeky provider of the zPrime systems software that allows production work normally running on IBM z/OS mainframe engines to be dispatched to cheaper zIIP and zAAP co-processors on those mainframes, has tweaked the tool so it can now offload even more work to those cheaper engines.
The zPrime tool was announced in July 2009 and move workloads that would normally run on plain vanilla mainframe engines and the z/OS operating system for System z servers and dispatch some or all of the workloads to the System z Application Assist Processor (zAAP) for offloading Java and XML workloads (announced in September 2004) or the System z Integrated Information Processor (zIIP) to accelerate DB2 databases by offloading certain functions from the regular engines (sometimes called CPs) running z/OS and DB2. (The zIIPs were announced in June 2006).
The zIIPs and zAAPs cost roughly a quarter the price of regular mainframe engines, which is a big deal considering that IBM charges hundreds of thousands of dollars per core for mainframe capacity, and equally importantly do not incur metered software charges for systems software, like regular mainframe engines do. Dispatching work to specialty engines can save customers some big ol' mainframe bucks.
Which is why it was not at all surprising that IBM started flinging FUD at mainframe shops right after zPrime launched and then Neon ended up suing Big Blue in December 2009 in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, located in Austin, for unfair business practices and anticompetitive behavior.
This resulted in the absolutely predictable countersuit by IBM in January 2010 in the same court, where IBM claims zPrime is analogous to stealing cable, the software violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and compels customers to break their licensing agreements with Big Blue, among other allegations.
With zPrime 2.1, announced today, Neon says that up to 90 per cent of the CICS transaction monitoring transactions that would normally run on standard mainframe engines atop the z/OS operating system on System z mainframes from IBM can now be offloaded to specialty processors and that virtually all DB2 database workloads running on System z mainframes can be offloaded to zIIPs and zAAPs.
The zPrime tool does not require changes to the application or systems software - changing the former would be a pain in the neck and changing the latter would be illegal as far as Big Blue is concerned. IBM sought an injunction to prevent Neon from selling zPrime, but has not received it.
zPrime 2.1 also includes a new Scan tool allows mainframe administrators to better match workloads to specialty processor capacity, which is managed by another tool called Attach that tells CICS, DB2, and other transactions to run on zIIPs or zAAPs.
The idea is to maximize utilization on each zIIP or zAAP and to minimize engine count, as mainframe shops are used to doing given the outrageous prices they pay to acquire mainframe hardware and rent systems software from IBM. zPrime 2.1 no longer requires z/OS exits to enable the workloads. This is presumably important for legal as well as technical reasons, but in prior releases, IBM could not stop zPrime because to disable z/OS exits would shut down all kinds of mainframe applications that rely on these exits.
COMMENTS
Specialty Engines?
I would have expected the Register to be more savvy... zIIPs and zAAPs are not specialty engines they are exactly the same as CPs but with a little microcode to only allow certain workloads to run on them. They are a sales tool, nothing more, so IBM are just tweaking their licenses and promoting certain workloads by providing zIIPs and zAAPs (Also a certain amount of marketing BS by calling them specialty engines!). This company is doing nothing innovative, all they are doing is hacking the license cost calculation 'app' for wont of a better analogy. If there was a tool you could run on pSeries that allowed you to fool the LPAR into thinking it had 1/2 the CPUs it really had and hence save 50% on license costs would you use it?
IBM sues again
Now IBM vs the Mainframe emulator TurboHercules case, has started to draw attention. IBM has released 511 patents and promised not to sue any companies. But Turbohercules has been sued!
Groklaw defends IBM vigorously on this and are using foul play. For instance, the TurboHercules founder is explaining his side on the case, and his comments are deleted - for everyone else except him. If he logs in to groklaw from another IP adress, his comments are deleted. But from his own IP adress, he can read his comments. So he believed that everyone could read his explanation, but groklaw is censoring him in a very sneaky way!
Start to read from the bottom and try to judge yourself about Groklaw. You should listen to both sides, not only IBM side.
http://ibmvshercules.com/
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According to this guy, Groklaw is an IBM FUD web site. The guy is trying to sell the IBM Mainframe emulator TurboHercules.
Groklaw who reported on IBM vs SCO case, is actually an IBM marketing channel. The founder of Groklaw, PJ, is an IBM FUDer and downtalks SCO and tries to make IBM look good. The result of this Groklaw site, is that IBM has gained lots of cred among open source people.
Ironically, IBM always was the evil company, until Microsoft took that role, but now MS has started to behave better. And IBM is getting back the role of the big evil company. IBM was the company that once started with FUD:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt#Definition
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