Meanwhile, an ESS microcode upgrade -- version 1.2.2 -- provides a few other features, including better interoperability with Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows Server 2003 and UnitedLinux operating systems, including SuSE Inc. 8. The upgrade also gives the command-line interface (CLI) for ESS the full functionality of the graphical management tool.
The ESS microcode upgrade fine-tunes the system's caching algorithms, an improvement that IBM claims provides up to 50 percent better performance with AS/400 server environments and up to 25 percent with zSeries mainframes for sequential-read applications, such as data warehousing or video streaming. Sequential-read performance with Intel-based servers isn't affected, IBM says.
In addition, IBM has expanded its standby capacity-on-demand program. Now customers can install up to six 8-drive trays -- for up to 6.9 Tbytes -- for 10 percent of the list price of the storage. When users needs more storage, they pay IBM for the disk and then "unlock" the additional drives. Before, IBM offered a maximum of two drive trays for a 25 percent fee. "Customers wanted more flexibility in the capacity-on-demand options," Tuckwell says.
By the end of the year, IBM plans to deliver PPRC over Fibre Channel; currently, PPRC works only over the Escon protocol. It also plans to enhance the ESS API set to give third-party management tools access to its copy services.
The Shark upgrades come as IBM has unveiled a new mainframe, the zSeries eServer z990 (code-named T-Rex), which the company says is three times faster than the previous model, the z900.
To realize the benefits of cloud-native software, an application must actually be cloud-native—designed to run in the cloud, interacting with disaggregated cloud services, fully manageable as code—to deliver the expected benefits.
By combining resources and expertise, the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium will offer a blueprint for how industries can adapt to an AI-dominated future.
IT leaders should heed the guidance of cybersecurity insurance providers who think businesses should prioritize security education, incident preparedness, regular internal audits, and ongoing vulnerability scanning and patching.
