In the past, the z/Series has been known for its virtualization of Linux servers (over 10,000 possible!). Now, someone is showing OpenSolaris running on z/Series at the Gartner Data Center Conference in Las Vegas. There is an excellent write-up from the Mainframe blog, and another post from Marc Hamilton.
There is also an excellent open source IBM zSeries emulator called Hercules which can run Linux, MVS, DOS/VSE and others – and now, soon, OpenSolaris.
There is a very interesting speech given at Linuxworld by Guru Vasudeva from Nationwide about how his company implemented virtual Linux machines on IBM zSeries with z/VM.
When I first saw this (from IBM’s web site) I thought it was laugh out loud funny – and it still is. It also gives a hint at the power of the IBM z/Series, and shows one of the reasons I’m excited about the power one of these has.
I just love the deadpan Joe Friday responses from the cops, and some of the quotes:
- “Could it be an inside job? We’re inside, right?”
- “I need my pills!”
- “What’s a server?”
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