IBM LinuxONE

IBM LinuxONE is a LinuxONE mainframe line that runs exclusively on Linux.

2022: LinuxONE release with on System Z platform

The company IBM announced the release of the fourth generation - Linuxservers LinuxONE, using the hardware platform of its mainframe System Z. This became known on September 19, 2022.

This server older LinuxONE Emperor 4 uses the same as processor Telum the latest generation of System, and can run Linux distributions from,, and Red Hat. SUSE It Canonical occupies a separate server rack and is equipped with 32 16-core Telum processors, comes in configurations with 39, 82, 125, 168 and 200 cores enabled and Redundant Array of Independent Memory (RIM) RAM up to 40 TB.

According to IBM, its Linux server provides seven 9s availability, which means no more than 3 seconds of downtime per year, and consumes four times less power than servers of the standard architecture.

The vendor positions it as a platform for consolidating various Linux applications, as well as for transferring such applications from outdated System Z models.

IBM plans to release mid-range and junior LinuxONE 4 models in the first half of 2023^[1].

2019: Red Hat OpenShift для LinuxONE

On August 1, 2019, IBM announced the transformation of its software product portfolio, which is now designed for cloud environments and optimized to run on the Red Hat OpenShift platform, and announced the launch of the Red Hat OpenShift solution for LinuxONE. Read more here.

2018: IBM LinuxONE Rockhopper II introduced

IBM Corporation on April 10, 2018 introduced IBM LinuxONE Rockhopper II, a mainframe for cloud environments. This model is available in single-frame racks that comply with the 19-inch industry standard and can be easily hosted in cloud data centers as well as private cloud environments.

IBM LinuxONE Rockhopper II

According to IBM, compact mainframe models can process more than 850 million encrypted transactions per day on a single system, do not require additional space, as well as special cooling and power supply. At the same time, they provide information encryption and include Secure Service Container technology for creating a trusted information processing environment and reliable data maintenance on an industrial scale.

IBM's updated systems are designed to provide security for Linux environments with extensive use of IBM Secure Service Container technology. With them, you can take steps to protect data both from internal threats at the system level, for example, from high-access users or from hackers who hack accounts, and from external threats. However, you do not need to make any changes to the applications. Software developers do not need to create separate proprietary code to take advantage of these advanced security capabilities. All you need to do is put the application in the Docker container to deploy the Secure Service Container. You can manage the application using the Docker and Kubernetes tools, which are already integrated into the solution to simplify the use of Secure Service Container environments.

The LinuxONE Rockhopper II model assumes a significant increase in capacity, performance, memory and cache in almost all respects. A complete redesign of the system increases capacity while reducing footprint by 40% and aims to place the product in any data center.

Among the features of the LinuxONE Rockhopper II model at IBM are:

• 19-inch standard solution, 50% more processor resources and twice (8TB) more memory than the previous version;
• Certified infrastructure for Docker EE with integrated management and proven scaling of up to 330,000 Docker containers. Thus, developers can build high-performance applications and integrate the microservice architecture without delays or scaling constraints.

2017: IBM LinuxONE Emperor II announced

On October 4, 2017, IBM introduced the IBM LinuxONE Emperor II mainframe, the next generation of the line of enterprise systems running Linux operating systems. The platform delivers high levels of information security and privacy amid unpredictable data and transaction growth, the company said.

The LinuxONE Emperor II platform is equipped with a fast microprocessor and has an I/O architecture that provides the ability to use up to 640 cores specifically designed for I/O processing.

Opportunities

Vertical scalability, implementation of resource sharing approach in system design enable LinuxONE Emperor II:

• Scale a single instance MongoDB to 17 TB on a single system, 2.4 times more performance, and 2.3 times less response time. This is due to the larger memory capacity of LinuxONE Emperor II compared to the previous model - LinuxONE Emperor. Applications get faster, safer access to information, and the ability to scale up while reducing complexity.

• Up to 2.6 times the performance of Java compared to x86 architecture, and use an integrated hardware solution to run Java garbage collection in the background. This allows critical workloads that use Java and require constant processing with high bandwidth and low latency to minimize the chance of unexpected transaction delays due to the need to perform this Java-mandatory procedure.

• Provide an infrastructure certified for use in Docker EE with centralized management and scaling, which has been tested on 2 million Docker containers. With it, developers will be able to create high-performance applications by implementing a microservice architecture that does not have response time or scalability limitations.

IBM Secure Service Container

The key element of the LinuxONE Emperor II system is IBM Secure Service Container technology, which allows you to protect data at the system level both from internal threats, for example, from users with privileged access or hackers who have seized accounts, and from external attacks, IBM emphasized. Moreover, to take advantage of security features, software developers do not need to include proprietary fragments in their code. All you need is to place the application in a Docker container to prepare it for deployment in Secure Service Container. In this case, the application is controlled using the Docker and Kubernetes tools, which are also included in the package for convenience.

2016: IBM updates LinuxOne for hybrid cloud

In January 2016, IBM announced new technological capabilities and joint projects as part of the development of the LinuxONE family. An expanded ecosystem of support for high-performance Linux systems will allow organizations of all levels to develop, implement, and manage cloud applications quickly, efficiently, and securely.

IBM LinuxONE provides customers with a wide range of cloud solutions that meet their reliability requirements and have improved performance.

Hybrid Cloud Capabilities - IBM is optimizing its Cloudant and StrongLoop technologies for LinuxONE. The new features will allow developers to use the well-scalable Node.js environment and create server applications in their preferred language.

Cloudant - an enterprise-scale managed NoSQL database - stores information in JSON format, which is often used for mobile data. This allows users to save time by saving data in the original format without having to convert it to a different language

Ecosystem Expansion - IBM expands supported software and capabilities for LinuxONE. IBM LinuxONE began to support the Go programming language developed by Google. It is designed to create simple, reliable and efficient software. Now developers have the opportunity to combine familiar and beloved software tools with the fast, secure and scalable LinuxONE platform. IBM will begin work on creating code for the Go programming language this summer.

By working with SUSE to create new technologies in the field of OpenStack, SUSE tools can be used to manage public, private and hybrid cloud platforms based on LinuxONE.

In March 2016, IBM Open Platform (IOP) became available free of charge for IBM LinuxONE portfolio. IOP provides a wide range of industry-standard Apache-based capabilities for analytical tasks and big data processing. Supported components include Apache Spark, Apache HBase, and others, such as Apache Hadoop 2.7.1. Acting on its previously stated intention to expand its presence in the open source community, IBM has optimized the Open Managed Runtime (OMR) project for LinuxONE. This made it possible to adapt IBM's innovative developments in virtual machine technologies to new dynamic programming languages, giving them the quality of enterprise-grade technology.

LinuxONE, introduced in August 2015, is optimized for a wide range of well-known open source tools, as well as those offered by various ISVs, including Apache Spark, Node.js, MongoDB, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, and Chef

2015: LinuxONE mainframe line

On August 18, 2015, IBM announced the LinuxONE mainframe line. It includes the Emperor (for large enterprises) and Rockhopper (for midsize companies and those who purchase a mainframe for the first time) models^[2].

LinuxONE Emperor supports the launch of up to 8,000 virtual machines or thousands of containers.

The system is made on the IBM z13 platform. The manufacturer claims that this is the most powerful and secure mainframe ever created: IBM spent five years and $1 billion on its development. Mainframes of this model are able to simultaneously calculate and scale. It is claimed that IBM z13 is a system that can process 2.5 billion transactions per day. In addition, this is the first complex in which a real-time encryption mechanism operates for all transactions using mobile devices.

LinuxONE Emperor, 2015

The entire LinuxONE line will use free software including Apache Spark, Maria, Posture and Chef. Software from Canonical, which supports Ubuntu, will be available. A version of this OS for LinuxONE and IBM z Systems is planned to be released in 2016. So far, Red Hat and Suse distributions are available for IBM mainframes.

The sale of products is advertised under the motto "Linux without borders." The mainframe names Emperor and Rockhopper are chosen according to the names of penguin species: Emperor is the largest and heaviest of the modern species of the penguin family, and the northern crested penguin (Rockhopper) weighing up to 2.7 kg is one of the smallest penguins in the world.

In promoting the line, IBM offered the ability to pay for mainframes "by subscription." The company sells 10 to 20 mainframes in the quarter. By offering a flexible payment model similar to cloud services, the corporation expects to increase the number of customers - mainframe computers will become available to those who previously could not afford them due to large capital expenditures. In this case, the mainframe will be located in the customer's data center. However, it will pay for it as it is used. The amount of payments will depend on the intensity of operation of the machine. The company did not give examples of cost. The ability to install Ubuntu and a standard set of Open Source programs also looks attractive to many potential customers.

According to IBM, the community has been provided with more than 250,000 lines of mainframe software code to make the platform open and promote innovation. This applies to predictive analytics tools that constantly monitor the operation of systems and prevent failures in them. It is announced that IBM will create a cloud solution LinuxONE Developer Cloud, as part of further support for developers, it will become a platform for developing, testing and piloting new applications.

Notes