Overview

IBM Z Development and Test Environment (ZD&T) runs a z/OS® distribution on a personal computer or workstation Linux® environment. It creates an environment for mainframe application demonstration, development, testing, and employee education without Z mainframe hardware. It enables z/OS, middleware, and other z/OS software to run on Intel and other compatible computers, and emulates z/Architecture with virtual I/O and devices.

Important: ZD&T cannot be used for production workloads of any kind, nor robust development workloads, production module builds, preproduction testing, stress testing, or performance testing.
ZD&T is offered in three different editions:
ZD&T Personal Edition
ZD&T Personal Edition enables a single user to run an IBM® Z distribution on a personal computer. For more information about ZD&T Personal Edition, see Personal Edition.
ZD&T Enterprise Edition
ZD&T Enterprise Edition enables enterprises to host an IBM Z distribution on low-cost Intel-based x86 machines. Enterprise Edition provides a web-based interface. You can extract, deploy, and manage the application images from an existing Z or ADCD packages. For more information about ZD&T Enterprise Edition, see Enterprise Edition.
ZD&T Parallel Sysplex®
ZD&T Parallel Sysplex can be used to enable a Sysplex environment that is running within z/VM®. For more information about ZD&T Parallel Sysplex, see Parallel Sysplex.

The following table lists the differences of three ZD&T editions.

Table 1. Differences in three ZD&T editions
Feature Personal Edition Enterprise Edition Parallel Sysplex
License type USB
  • USB1
  • Software-based license
  • Authorized User Single Session (AUSS)
  • Rational® Tokens
  • USB1
  • Software-based license
  • Rational Tokens
Single user Yes Yes Yes
Multiple users No Yes Yes
Scalable2 No Yes Yes
Cloud/VM support3 No Yes Yes
Web-based interface No Yes No
Native Linux interface Yes Yes for advanced Linux users Yes
Dataset transfer support No Yes No
Volume transfer support No Yes No
Integration with IBM AD No Yes No
OpenStack Cloud support No Yes No
Note:
  1. The USB licensing for ZD&T Enterprise Edition and Parallel Sysplex is end of market. If you did not purchase the USB license for Enterprise Edition and Parallel Sysplex, you cannot purchase this type of license now. If you purchased a USB license, you can continue to use the license until it is end of support.
  2. You need to have enough Resource Value Units (RVUs) or Central Processors (CPs) that are available to scale your ZD&T environment. Also, your Linux hardware needs to support it.
  3. ZD&T Enterprise Edition and Parallel Sysplex can work on cloud and VMs. You need to make sure that the underlying hardware is not changed by your cloud service provider. CPU or hard drive needs to be a static entity to ensure that all ZD&T editions work.