“The largest Linux machine in the world is a big hunk of
iron. Mainframe-style big iron is back in fashion as IBM and
independent developers alike have brought the Linux platform to the
S/390 mainframe running within virtual machines. In his
article “S/390: The Linux Dream Machine,” Scott Courtney introduced
the S/390 port of Linux and hinted at its potential as a high-end
system to support large clusters of independent virtual servers for
running Linux applications.”
“For those who think that the mainframe is a dead architecture
with limited potential, you should know that IBM and other vendors
now sell more mainframes than ever before. In fact, the mainframe
has flourished alongside the growth of the Internet as large
vendors strive to put their information systems online and need to
expand the capabilities of their mainframe systems to support the
added demand.”
“So what is this thing called the S/390? What is VM/ESA and
LPAR? Where did such a port come from? For those unfamiliar with
the S/390 system but interested in hearing about this Linux port,
this three part series will explain….”