Overview
What is a Parallel Sysplex?
IBM® Parallel Sysplex enables you to run multiple copies of z/OS as a single image, so you can manage multiple systems and resources from a single point of control. In a Parallel Sysplex, operating systems can span multiple systems and share their applications and data, to scale out across the capacity of many z/OS images.
Benefits
Application availability
Application availability of 99.99999%¹ and single points of failure cut outs
Resource sharing
Business application permit for all the servers’ assets without altering data sharing settings
Multiple workloads balancing
Application share system resources allow you to meet the business goals you define
Dynamic workload balancing
System performance maximization and white space adjusting.
Productivity enhancement
Smart handle of multiple systems as one, from one point of control and in a single server.
Software licensing savings
Software savings by adding Machine Service Units, using Parallel Sysplex License Charging.
Features
Restart critical elements
Automatic Restart Manager recovers and restarts critical subsystems, either on the same system or on a different one.
Coupling Facility technology
Coupling Facility provides high-speed caching, list processing and locking.
Disaster Recovery
GDPS offers disaster recovery and high availability by using a cluster across two or more sites with data mirroring.
Workload Handling
Workload balancing and routing helps prevent a single point of failure and adjusts middleware workloads.
Physical resources sharing
Resource sharing enables physical resources such as files, tape drives, consoles and catalogs to be shared.
Time Synchronization
Server Time Protocol enables servers and coupling facilities to maintain common time synchronization.
Failed Elements removal
Sysplex Failure Manager specifies a policy for failure detection intervals and recovery actions to be automatically initiated.
z/OS Systems Workload Control
z/OS Workload Manager handles workloads via dynamic resource distribution to move workloads to systems with capacity.
Client success
...SAP application performance increased by up to a factor of two since migrating (...) to IBM Z. We’ve had positive feedback from clients.
Axel Herzberg
Manager
Footnotes
¹ Expected value calculated on internal measurements and projections data base. IBM Z servers must be configured in a Parallel Sysplex with z/OS 2.3 or above; GDPS data management and middleware recovery across Metro distance systems and storage and DS888X with IBM HyperSwap. Other resiliency technology and configurations may be needed.