Q&A: The Impact Of IBM's zEnterprise On Your Data Center Workloads

IBM's recent launch of the zEnterprise system has generated a wide range of questions from infrastructure and operations (I&O) clients with large mainframe deployments. In particular, there are two new components that require a deeper dive: the IBM's zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension (zBX) hybrid "BladeFrame" technology and the zManager cross-platform management framework. These new capabilities let I&O managers do "fit-for-purpose" workload placement and optimization as companies strive to find the optimal systems for consolidating and virtualizing their computing environments. But to maximize these efforts, I&O teams will need to better understand: 1) where zManager fits relative to other key investments in System Director and Tivoli; 2) the workloads and Linux environments that run best on the zBX; and 3) what zEnterprise enhancements are coming down the pike.