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Introducing the IBM System z9 109

Such observations aren't based on mere guesswork either. According to Hoey, the mainframe has shown resurging numbers over the last five years when it comes to customer acceptance.

"If you go back five years, you'll see that the mainframe has taken back-in the server market of machines costing 250,000 dollars and more-considerable market share, with a lot of that due to the 2003 z990 release, but other factors as well," says Hoey. "We believe a big reason for this is due to customers being drawn to the way the mainframe is breaking down the complexity of sprawling IT shops, and that were drawing customers back from such companies as Sun and HP, particularly in the area we call new workloads. "

"So, the background of this new System z9 109 is that customers have been having difficulty managing the complexity of the IT infrastructures that they have put in place, and the System z9 109 is the first step in a new direction IBM has decided to take," adds Clementi. "It offers many of the features that have been drawing customers back over the years, but it also offers so much more."         

The IBM System z9 109

So, what does a "holistic" approach to systems design even mean? Quite simply, it means stressing the importance of the whole IT system and the interdependence of its parts.

In the case of the System z9 109, this means incorporating security, availability and scalability capabilities, as well as new software designed to better integrate applications and information, all while designed to enable resiliency across an enterprise, which may help to manage the entire scope of the infrastructure and simplifying IT operations. It can also mean improved interoperability with networking and storage devices, which may help improve responsiveness, lower costs and offer higher availability and improved   recoverability. And it aims to achieve all of this through an impressive array of innovative new-and improvements to existing-technologies.

According to Clementi, while considering what had to be included in the System z9 109, the designers wanted to achieve three things in order to establish the system as both a new leader and a traditional system familiar to its loyal user base.

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