I'm interested in how zLinux (i.e. Linux on z/VM) compares to, say, Vmware. Do you know of any more or less objective documents not produced/sponsored by IBM? On 1/9/09, Shawn Wells <swells@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Kenneth Holter wrote: > >> Hi. >> >> >> Does anyone have experience with running RHEL on IBM mainframe? In >> particular, I'm curious about what implications this has for the linux >> system administration part of it, such as these: >> >> > Hi Kenneth, > > I'm the lead solutions architect for Linux on System z at Red Hat -- feel > free to ping me offline. > > > - Whick package repositories are available? >> >> > Pretty much all of them. The largest difference is that there is not GFS > or RHCS at this time. > > - Are there any EPEL-like repos for zLinux? >> >> > Yes. > > - Can we use our Red Hat Satellite Server to manage packages for zLinux? >> >> > Yes. The largest catch is when you do provisioning -- you'll need to > assign the virtual machine resources through z/VM, then upon your first IPL > you can connect into satellite. > > - Are there many tweak and issues I need to be aware of? >> >> > Slight command differences, fdasd versus fdisk kind of things. Memory > management is also completely different -- a 64mb allocation of memory > suites many peoples needs. > > We currently have quite a few RHEL servers based on x86 hardware, so I'm >> basically interested in what kind of changes/adjustments I must implement >> to add IBM mainframe to our list of hardware platforms. Please let me know >> if there are other mailing lists that are more suitable for this topic. >> >> >> > If you have an option, run the RHN Satellite off the Mainframe. When it's > on the Z it can utilize hipersockets -- a network stack in memory -- for > high throughput. 15-30 second provisioning can be achieved. It will still > manage distributed boxes in the same way. > > If looking at this from an economical standpoint, your consolidation ratio > makes or breaks the business case. RHEL for System z is offered on a > per-IFL subscription basis with unlimited virtual machines. At one customer > they run ~55 virtual machines per IFL on a z9, but do note they're low-end > web servers, DNS, ftp, etc. > > You'll need to decide how you want to virtualize your system -- z/VM or > LPAR. LPAR+RHEL is common criteria'd, sponsored by IBM. I've found it > easier to train a Linux staff member on z/VM than a z/VM person on Linux -- > but that's my own perception, talent of your team matters most. IBM has a > few training classes out there, but the one's I've seen are mostly > install-lab type activities (versus detailed storage management, memory > management, etc). > > Read into CMM1 -- it may yield you significant performance boosts. > http://www.vm.ibm.com/perf/reports/zvm/html/530cmm.htm > > For a manual, you'll find the RHEL5 RedBook handy. > linuxvm.org/Present/misc/virt-cookbook-RH5.pdf > > Linuxvm.org is a great resource for presentations, > http://linuxvm.org/Present/index.html > > -Shawn > > -- > redhat-list mailing list > unsubscribe mailto:redhat-list-request@xxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list > -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:redhat-list-request@xxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
