IBM z/OS V2.5 integrates mainframes with hybrid clouds, AI

IBM put a further piece of its hybrid cloud initiative in position with a new edition of its mainframe operating system that will work across many clouds and speeds development of AI-centered modernization assignments.

Model 2.five of the z/OS operating system has new features that make it a lot easier to use IBM z/OS Container Extensions and give builders obtain to a wider option of AI-centered resources, frameworks and libraries that consist of Linux-centered container programs they can deploy within the z/OS platform. Other new AI abilities consist of support for resources this sort of as TensorFlow and IBM Watson Device Finding out for z/OS.

With the looming threats posed by modern ransomware attacks, IBM also centered on strengthening cybersecurity abilities by increasing its pervasive encryption to new varieties of information sets, this sort of as sequential essential structure and huge structure SMS-managed information sets. This will allow end users to encrypt information without having the require to make any modifications to programs as properly as to much more simply just address compliance issues.

Some see the new edition as a further endeavor by IBM to make the mainframe a much more integral contributor to company users’ hybrid cloud environments and fewer a technological innovation outlier.

“Consumers want to transfer toward cloud-indigenous environments and leverage containers and things like OpenShift,” claimed Judith Hurwitz, president of Hurwitz & Associates LLC, a investigate and consulting agency centered on emerging technological innovation. “The a lot easier it is for end users to incorporate hybrid cloud environments without having owning to depart their [mainframe-centered] globe, the superior. It would make the mainframe a much more practical platform for the long term.”

The vast majority of current end users purchased into mainframes for the scalability, security and management abilities of the machine in the age in advance of hybrid clouds and AI, when there was small worry for tying their devices to these technologies.

The a lot easier it is for end users to incorporate hybrid cloud environments without having owning to depart their [mainframe-centered] globe, the superior. It would make the mainframe a much more practical platform for the long term.
Judith HurwitzPresident, Hurwitz & Associates

“10 a long time back, Z end users weren’t element of any other ecosystem. It was strictly a standalone system,” Hurwitz claimed. “But introducing OpenShift and executing much more cloud-indigenous things, [end users] are beginning to see the possibility of the mainframe becoming made use of as a further platform for controlling workflows.”

The new security abilities tacked on to the mainframe’s pervasive encryption scheme are similar to the additional vulnerabilities hybrid clouds normally existing to firms. Offering security across many cloud levels typically slows hybrid cloud implementations.

Other than the sequential essential structure and huge SMS-managed information sets, IBM additional anomaly mitigation features that make use of predictive failure examination, runtime diagnostics and a workload supervisor to superior detect anomalous conduct in serious time so end users can consider preventative techniques to avoid availability difficulties.

“A person of the impediments to hybrid clouds is the many levels of security IT ought to deal with,” claimed Frank Dzubeck, president of Communications Community Architects, Inc. “IBM Research has been concentrating on bridging the gaps in all these distinctive levels so end users can layer regulatory insurance policies across not just the cloud stack, but the on-prem stack and the edge stack. This [new edition] is developed to address this.”

The new launch also underscores IBM’s mentioned target of setting up a unified information and AI platform by tying alongside one another cloud, on-premises and edge platforms cutting down information silos, this sort of as mainframes and encouraging AI adoption. It also backs up the firm’s strategy at the rear of the information fabric, which addresses a further IT security worry.

“The strategy at the rear of the information fabric is to consider information that solves a distinct problem and put it into a lake or information warehouse and depart it there,” Hurwitz claimed. “This gets rid of the require to transfer mission-critical information all above the position, raising the danger of owning it intercepted by hackers. Rather you can now process information the place it resides and not transfer it to a further platform.”

IBM z/OS edition 2.five also involves features to support legacy end users much more conveniently modernize their mainframe environments by making it possible for tighter interoperability with mainframe and cloud-centered resources. The company has additional new interoperability between Java and Cobol by extending the two programming environments’ support for parallel 31-little bit and 64-little bit, creating modernization efforts a lot easier to achieve.

IBM also released new features to integrate cloud storage by means of transparent cloud tiering and support for item Access Technique cloud tier support, which can help reduce operating costs with information transfer to hybrid cloud storage environments.            

As Editor At Huge with TechTarget’s news group, Ed Scannell is dependable for writing and reporting breaking news, news examination and features centered on technological innovation issues and tendencies influencing company IT experts.