IBM 890 User Manual

■ Specialty engines for flexible

deployment of Linux workloads
and internal Parallel Sysplex
coupling facilities help to
better align z890 advanced
technology with your IT
infrastructure requirements

■ Flexibility to run multiple
applications and operating
systems on a single server.

IBM ^ zSeries 890

A mainframe sized and priced to suit your business needs

Highlights

■ IBM ^ zSeries
functionality at a lower entry
capacity level than previously
available on IBM z/Architecture
hardware, and with new
granular growth options

■ Optionally configured zSeries
Application Assist Processor
(zAAP), delivering a cost­effective and specialised
Java™ execution environment
for improved price/performance
benefits

A mainframe for the mid-sized enterprise

The wave of change that IBM first
called ‘on demand’ continues to gain
momentum. Customers ask more of
your company every day, demanding
that your technology infrastructure be
responsive, flexible and resilient. To
help meet the challenges of constant
change, your company must do more
than simply integrate its processes –
it must literally be able to provide
products and services to customers
on demand. Achieving success in
this environment requires an entirely
new approach. In short, it’s never
been so important for your business –
and your IT infrastructure – to
be flexible.

But what does it really mean to be
flexible? It means building an IT

infrastructure that can change as fast
as market demands. It means
maintaining the ability to grow along
with your business at your own pace,
increasing and decreasing capacity

the mid-sized enterprise. The z890 is
a mainframe with advanced on
demand capabilities at a size and
cost that fits your business.

How can the z890 help you control
costs? This new line of high

performance midrange servers
provides many of the capabilities
available in larger enterprise class
servers at a lower entry point, along
with extremely granular growth
options that allow you to buy the
capacity that best fits your needs.
The z890 is capable of running Linux
and mainframe operating systems at
the same time, and it provides the
flexibility to easily manage changing
business needs while maintaining
mainframe levels of availability
and security.

as needed and paying for only what
you use. It means running multiple
applications on a single server and
running multiple operating systems at
the same time. It means maintaining
flexible growth and upgrade options.
If your company can truly achieve
this flexibility, it can compete – and
win – in today’s marketplace.

From an IT perspective, flexibility has
sometimes seemed like a luxury
afforded only to larger companies.
While small and medium-sized
businesses struggled to do more with
less, bigger companies were able to
simplify their infrastructures through
high-end enterprise servers like the
IBM ^ zSeries 990 (z990).
Now, IBM brings the advanced
mainframe technology of the z990 to
your IT world with the new
IBM ^ zSeries 890 (z890),
designed and sized specifically for

With the z890, you can start at the
capacity setting you need to meet
your IT infrastructure requirements,
then easily add additional capacity to
meet your changing needs as you
grow. The four processors on the
z890 have seven engine levels,
giving you a total of 28 capacity
settings overall. The smallest z890 –
with capacity setting 110 – has most
of the same features as the other 27
capacity settings; however it has
smaller I/O configuration/expansion
capabilities.

To help you reduce the complexity
and costs of your IT infrastructure,
you can use the advanced
virtualisation technology of the z890
to run several operating systems at
the same time. Competitively priced
Integrated Facility for Linux (IFL)
engines help you run Linux
applications more cost-effectively,

z890 – Single model with multiple features for a range of capacity settings

Uni-Processor

variants

2 Processor

variants

3 Processor

variants

4 Processor

variants

110 210 310 410
120 220 320 420
130 230 330 430
140 240 340 440
150 250 350 450
160 260 360 460

170 – Full Uni 270 – Full 2P 370 – Full 3P 470 – Full 4P

Single machine: 2086 and a single model: A04

point. That’s not so bad, considering
the z990 is IBM’s most sophisticated
mainframe, with world-class
scalability, virtualisation, automation,
security and reliability.

The new IBM ^ zAAP,
planned to be available on the z890
and z990 servers, is an attractively
priced specialised processing unit
that provides an economical Java
execution environment for customers
who desire the traditional qualities
of service and the integration
advantages of the zSeries platform.
zAAPs are designed to assist and
operate asynchronously with the
central processors to execute Java
programming under control of the
IBM Java Virtual Machine (JVM). This
can help reduce the demands and
capacity requirements on central
processors which may then be
available for reallocation to other
zSeries workloads. The amount of
central processor savings may vary
based on the amount of Java
application executed by zAAPs, and
thereby may contribute to lowering
the overall cost of computing for z/OS
Java technology-based applications.
Best of all, IBM JVM processing

cycles can be executed on the
configured zAAPs with no anticipated
modifications to the Java
application(s).

Another new feature for both the z890
and the z990 is the OSA-Integrated
Console Controller (OSA-ICC), which
offers system console (IPL) and
operations support for multiple logical
partitions (LPARs). The OSA-ICC
enables local and remote user
console session capability, as well as
encrypted remote connection for
configuration changes. Use of the
OSA-ICC can positively impact the
ongoing costs of running your
system by eliminating the requirement
for an external controller for console
support.

The zSeries is the enterprise class
e-business server optimised for
integration, transactions and data of
the next generation e-business world.
In implementing the z/Architecture
features with new technology
solutions, zSeries models are
designed to help facilitate the IT
business transformation and reduce
the stress of Business to Business
(B2B) and Business to Customer
(B2C) growth pressure. The zSeries
represents an advanced generation

Granular growth options

When it comes to growth, the z890
offers extreme granularity. The range
of capacities for the z890 has
increased from the processor on its
predecessor, the z800 – options for
low capacity have gotten lower and
those for high capacity have gotten
higher. What does that mean to your
business? It means you can start at
the capacity level you need to simplify
your IT infrastructure, then add
additional capacity to meet your
changing needs as you grow.

Built on z990 technology

Built on the powerhouse function of
the z990, the z890 offers many of the
features and functions of the z990 at a
considerably lower capacity entry

and specialised assist processing
with zAAPs delivers a newly designed
environment for running Java
technology-based applications along
with z/OS on the mainframe. Most
importantly, the z890 gives your
business many of the same
availability, scalability and security
features of the z990 – IBM’s
cornerstone e-business on demand
server.

The z890 can provide the power and
flexibility that seemed out of reach, in
a size that’s right for your IT world.

of servers that feature enhanced
performance, support for zSeries
Parallel Sysplex clustering, improved
hardware management controls and
innovative functions to address
e-business processing. The z890 may
be configured with an Internal
Coupling Facility (ICF) processor that
can be integrated with other central
processors or configured standalone
to allow the z890 to run as a
Coupling Facility.

The zSeries is designed to deliver a
high level of application availability in
response to today’s on demand
environment. It offers technology for
high reliability and is endowed with
self-healing, self-managing features
so your system can fine-tune itself in
key areas to help provide optimised
performance. Fault avoidance and
tolerance design features can help
minimise business disruptions and
permit concurrent maintenance
and repairs.

The IBM ^ Capacity Upgrade
on Demand

1

allows for the addition of
one or more Central Processors
(CPs), ICFs, Integrated Facility for

Linux (IFLs), and/or zAAPs to
increase your server resources when
you need them.

The IBM ^ On/Off Capacity
on Demand

1

capability of the z890 is
designed to provide even greater
flexibility by allowing you to turn on
temporary capacity resources at busy
times of the year and then turn them
back off when they’re no longer
needed. This can give you
exceptional control over costs
while you meet your dynamic
capacity needs.

The z890 processors can provide
reserved emergency backup CPU
capacity through their Capacity
BackUp

1

feature. This feature gives
extra capacity to your operation in
emergency situations where you have
lost capacity in another part of your
establishment and need to recover
capacity on a designated
z890 system.

* Additional terms and conditions apply.

Pay for what you use

The z890 and the z/OS or z/OS.e
operating systems can be a powerful
combination in helping to reduce
computing costs by leveraging the
sub-capacity benefits of Entry
Workload License Charges (EWLC).
Subcapacity EWLC aligns IBM
monthly license charge software
charges with the utilisation of an LPAR
or LPARs where a software product
executes. Exclusive to the z890 is the
EWLC Tiered Price Structure, which
IBM is introducing in order to provide
greater granularity and price/
performance for all flat-charge
IBM software products that run on the
z890.

IBM Global Financing, a leading
provider of IT financing services,
offers TOTAL Solution Financing –
an innovative, tailored approach to
financing that can make acquiring
your z890 fast, easy and affordable.
The financing charges for all your
hardware, software and services can
be included in a single monthly
payment to help simplify your
administration. By spreading your total
cost of acquisition over the term of the
financing, you turn large upfront