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KVM on IBM Z and LinuxONE
KVM for IBM Z® and LinuxONE is an open-source alternative to the IBM z/VM hypervisor for the virtualization of Linux® workloads on IBM Z and IBM LinuxONE systems.
Faced with rising data demands and security concerns, Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) open-source virtualization can help you to effectively meet these demands on your IBM Z and LinuxONE systems. KVM’s flexibility as a hypervisor, coupled with its open-source nature makes it a perfect choice for virtualization.
Browse KVM documentation to learn how to get started, find news and get hints about running KVM on IBM Z and LinuxONE.
Benefits
Promotes operational standardization through its architecture-agnostic characteristics, which make it compatible with platforms such as IBM Z and LinuxONE.
Provides confidential computing for VMs based on IBM® Secure Execution for Linux for maximum security.
Provides a standard set of Linux tools and interfaces that offer a common user experience across various platforms, making it easy for clients looking for trained staff to administrate their KVM deployments.
Features
IBM Secure Execution protects the data of workloads that run in a KVM and safeguards VMs from inspection, modification or compromise by other VMs or the KVM administrator.
Live virtual server migration enables the relocation of Linux guests around the KVM cluster without affecting the virtual server.
Get simplified infrastructure-as-a-service management for the virtual infrastructure that is based on Red Hat® KVM.
KVM supports the on-chip crypto acceleration and the Crypto Express adapter available with the IBM Z and LinuxONE platforms.
Use cases
Consolidate servers with KVM on the highly scalable IBM Z and LinuxONE systems to get high-density savings in terms of power consumption and floor space.
Protect digital assets by hosting them with KVM on IBM Z and LinuxONE, using IBM® Hyper Protect Virtual Servers for easy-to-use on-prem deployments.
Resources
See documentation on how to set up, configure and operate Linux as a guest of the KVM hypervisor.
Explore how Red Hat Enterprise Linux can run in the mainframe environment as virtualized by the KVM hypervisor.
Learn how SUSE Linux Enterprise Server can run in the mainframe environment as virtualized by the KVM hypervisor.
Explore how Canonical Ubuntu Server can run in the mainframe environment as virtualized by the KVM hypervisor.
Install a Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform by using minimum requirements and KVM hypervisor provided by Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Related products
Leverage lifecycle management for the virtual infrastructure provided by Cloud Infrastructure Center, based on Red Hat KVM (and IBM z/VM) and enabled by the automation of infrastructure services.
Use IBM z16 as a hardware platform for KVM to take advantage of capabilities such as high performance, high availability, high scalability and security.
Choose IBM LinuxONE 4 as a hardware platform for KVM to maximize the benefits of scalability, sustainability, superior performance and advanced security features.
Attain easy deployment of Secure Execution guests for digital assets use cases and scale the deployment of isolated workloads protected by Confidential Computing.
Use an operating system with highly secure and scalable hypervisor and virtualization technology designed to run Linux, z/OS®, z/VSE® and z/TPF virtual machines, as well as Red Hat® OpenShift® on IBM Z and LinuxONE servers.