Advantages
Linux on System z gives the flexibility of running Linux with the advantages of mainframe hardware. Using virtualization, numerous smaller servers can be combined onto one mainframe, gaining some benefits of centralization, but allowing specialized servers thanks to virtualization support, which can lower operating costs. IBM mainframes allow transparent use of redundant processor execution steps and integrity checking, which is necessary in the financial services industries. Mainframes typically allow hot-swapping of hardware, such as processors and memory. This swapping is typically transparent to the operating system, allowing routine repairs to be performed without shutting down the system.
When Linux applications access mainframe-based data and applications in CICS, IBM DB2, IMS, and other mainframe subsystems, running on the same physical mainframe, they can utilize HiperSockets – fast, memory-only TCP/IP connections. As compared to TCP/IP over standard network interface cards (NICs, in the mainframe world called Open System Adapters, OSAs), HiperSockets can improve end-user responsiveness (reduce network latency and processing overhead), security (since there's no network connection to intercept), and reliability (since there's no network connection to lose).
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