In a smarter planet, information-centric processes are exploding in growth. The mainframe has always been the IT industry's leading platform for transaction processing, consolidated and secure data serving, and support for available enterprise-wide applications. IBM® has extended the mainframe platform to help large enterprises reshape their client experiences through information-centric computing and to deliver on key business initiatives.

IBM zEnterprise® is recognized as the most reliable and trusted system, and the most secure environment for core business operations. The new zEnterprise System consists of the IBM zEnterprise EC12 (zEC12), an updated IBM zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager, and the IBM zEnterprise BladeCenter® Extension (zBX) Model 003.

This IBM Redbooks® publication describes the zEC12, with its improved scalability, performance, security, resiliency, availability, and virtualization. The zEC12 has no peer as a trusted platform that also provides the most efficient transaction processing and database management. With efficiency at scale delivering significant cost savings on core processes, resources can be freed up to focus on developing new services to drive growth.

This book provides a technical overview of the zEC12, zBX Model 003, and
Unified Resource Manager. This publication is intended for IT managers, architects, consultants, and anyone else who wants to understand the elements of the
zEnterprise System. For this introduction to the zEC12, readers are not expected to be familiar with current IBM System z® technology and terminology.

This book was produced by a team of specialists from around the world working at the International Technical Support Organization (ITSO), Poughkeepsie Center.

Ivan Doboš is a Project Leader at International Technical Support Organization, Poughkeepsie Center. He has 15 years of experience with IBM System z. He has worked for four years for the Products and Solutions Support Center (PSSC) Montpellier, France, as the Technical Leader for Linux on System z projects in the System z Benchmark Center and as the IT Optimization Consultant in the System z New Technology Center. During the past nine years, he has worked with many clients and spent most of his time supporting new workloads on System z projects.

Wolfgang Fries is a Senior Consultant in the IBM System z HW Support Center in Germany. He spent several years at the European Support Center in Montpellier, France, providing international support for System z servers. Wolfgang has 35 years of experience in supporting large System z clients. His area of expertise includes System z servers and connectivity.

Parwez Hamid is an Executive IT Consultant with the IBM Server and Technology Group. Over the past 38 years he has worked in various IT roles within IBM. Since 1988 he has worked with many IBM mainframe clients, mainly introducing new technology. Currently, he provides Pre-Sales Technical Support for the IBM System z product portfolio and is the Lead System z Technical Specialist for the UK and Ireland. Parwez has co-authored a number of ITSO Redbooks publications and he prepares technical material for the worldwide announcement of System z servers. He is the technical lead for the IBM System z zChampions team in IBM Europe. This team is made up of key IBM System z client-facing technical professionals from the Server and Software groups. Parwez works closely with System z product development in Poughkeepsie, and provides input and feedback for future product plans. Parwez is a Technical Staff member of the IBM UK Technical Council that is composed of senior technical specialists that represent all IBM Client, Consulting, Services. and Product groups. Parwez teaches and presents at numerous IBM user group and internal conferences.

Octavian Lascu is a Project Leader at International Technical Support Organization, Poughkeepsie Center, specializing in Large Systems hardware and High Performance Clustering infrastructure.

Gerard Laumay is a System z IT Specialist in the IBM Products and Solutions Support Centre (PSSC) in Montpellier, France. Part of the System z New Technology Introduction (NTI) team that manages the System z Early Support Programs (ESP) in Europe IOT, he has more than 26 years of experience in the large systems field, as a consultant with IBM clients. His areas of expertise include IBM System z hardware, operating systems (IBM z/OS®,
IBM z/VM®, and Linux for System z), IBM middleware, new workloads, and solutions on System z platform. As a member of the zChampion worldwide technical community, he teaches at numerous IBM external and internal conferences. Gerard participates in international projects, and has co-authored several IBM Redbooks publications.

Swee Seng Ng is a senior IT Specialist working in Technical Sales Support for IBM Singapore.

Fernando Nogal is an IBM Certified Consulting IT Specialist working as an STG Technical Consultant for the Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Israel IMT. He specializes in advanced infrastructures and architectures. In his 30+ years with IBM, he has held a variety of technical positions, mainly providing support for mainframe clients. Previously, he was on assignment to the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) System z Technical Support group, working full-time on complex solutions for e-business. His job included, and still does, presenting and consulting in architectures and infrastructures, and providing strategic guidance to System z clients regarding the establishment and enablement of advanced technologies on System z, including the z/OS, z/VM, and Linux environments. He is a zChampion and a member of the System z Business Leaders Council. An accomplished writer, he has authored and co-authored over 28 IBM Redbooks publications and several technical papers. Other activities include serving as a University Ambassador. He travels extensively on direct client engagements and as a speaker at IBM and client events and trade shows.

Frank Packheiser is a Senior z IT Specialist at the Field Technical Sales Support office in Germany. He has 20 years of experience in zEnterprise, System z, IBM zSeries®, and predecessor mainframe servers. He has worked for 10 years for the IBM education center in Germany, developing and providing professional training. He also provides professional services to System z and mainframe clients. In 2008 and 2009, he supported clients in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) as a zIT Architect. Besides co-authoring several Redbooks publications since 1999, he has been an ITSO guest speaker on ITSO workshops for the last two years.

Vicente Ranieri Jr is an Executive IT Specialist in the IBM STG Advanced Technical Skills (ATS) team supporting System z in Latin America. He has more than 30 years of experience working for IBM. Ranieri is a member of the zChampions team, a worldwide IBM team participating in the creation of System z technical roadmap and value proposition materials. Besides co-authoring several Redbooks publications, he has been an ITSO guest speaker since 2001, teaching the System z security update workshops worldwide. Vicente also presents in several IBM internal and external conferences. His areas of expertise include System z security, IBM Parallel Sysplex®, System z hardware, and z/OS. Vicente Ranieri is certified as a Distinguished IT Specialist by the Open group. Vicente is a member of the Technology Leadership Council – Brazil (TLC-BR), and he is also a member of the IBM Academy of Technology.

Karan Singh is a Project Leader at International Technical Support Organization, Global Content Services, Poughkeepsie Center.

André Spahni is a Senior System Service Representative working for IBM Global Technology Services® in Switzerland. He has 10 years of experience working with and supporting System z clients. André has been working for the Technical Support Competence Center (TSCC) Hardware FE System z for Switzerland, Germany, and Austria since 2008. His areas of expertise include System z hardware, Parallel Sysplex, and connectivity.

Esra Ufacik is a System z Client Technical Specialist in the IBM Systems and Technology Group. She holds a B.Sc. degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from Istanbul Technical University. Her IT career started with a Turkish Bank as a z/OS systems programmer. Her responsibilities included maintaining a parallel sysplex environment with IBM DB2® data sharing; planning and executing hardware migrations; installing new operating system releases, middleware releases, and system software maintenance. She also is responsible for generating performance reports for capacity planning. Esra joined IBM in 2007 as a Software Support Specialist in IBM Integrated Technology Services (ITS), where she worked with mainframe clients. Acting as their account advocate, Esra was assigned to a Software Support Team Leader position in ITS and became involved in several projects. Since 2010 she has been with STG, where her role covers pre-sales technical consultancy, conducting System z competitive assessment studies, presenting the value of System z to various audiences, and assuring technical feasibility of proposed solutions. Esra is also a guest lecturer for "System z and large scale computing" classes, which are given to undergraduate Computer Engineering students within the scope of Academic Initiative.

Hans Wijngaard is a Client Technical Specialist, who has been with IBM for over 26 years. He started as a hardware Customer Engineer, but worked most of the time as a z/OS Systems Programmer at IBM client sites. For more than 20 years, he gained a broad experience in z/OS performance and tuning, as well as installing, migrating, implementing, and customizing various both IBM and non IBM software. For the past four years, Hans has been working in the System z hardware area, as a Client Technical Specialist. He is currently supporting IBM Marketing Representatives, IBM Business Partners, and clients in various System z business engagements.

Zhaoxu Zhang is a Senior System Service Representative at the IBM Global Technology Services in Beijing, China. He joined IBM in 1998 to support and maintain System z products for clients throughout China. Zhaoxu has been working in the Technical Support Group (TSG) providing second-level support to System z clients since 2006. His areas of expertise include System z hardware, Parallel Sysplex, and IBM FICON® connectivity.

This project has been coordinated by Bill White, IBM ITSO Global Content Services System z Portfolio Manager.

Thanks to the following people for their contributions to this project:

Debbie Beatrice, James Caffrey, Ellen Carbarnes, Edward Chencinski, Doris Conti, Jim Coon, Kathleen Fadden, Leslie Geer, Susan Greenlee, Christian Jacobi, Paul Jones, Kenneth Kerr, Georgette Kurdt, Amy Lander, Patrick Rausch, Peter Relson, Robert Rogers, Donald M. Smith, James Sweeny, Elpida Tzortzatos, Romney White, and Doug Zobre
IBM US

Marcel Mitran
IBM Canada

Jia Lei Ma
IBM China

Juergen Kuhn and Horst Sinram
IBM Germany

Here’s an opportunity to spotlight your skills, grow your career, and become a published author—all at the same time! Join an ITSO residency project and help write a book in your area of expertise, while honing your experience using leading-edge technologies. Your efforts will help to increase product acceptance and customer satisfaction, as you expand your network of technical contacts and relationships. Residencies run from two to six weeks in length, and you can participate either in person or as a remote resident working from your home base.

Find out more about the residency program, browse the residency index, and apply online at:

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