INFS6212 Chapter 1
What are examples of how the mainframe was designed to scale up and out
(1) Adding more processsors to an existing hardware frame (2) Using Existing MIPS
Industries that currently use mainframe computers
(1) Banking (2) Finance (3) Health Care (4) Insurance (5) Public Utilities (6) Government
Mainframe workloads fall into one of these two categories
(1) Batch Processing (2) Online Transaction Processing (includes web-based applications)
What programming languages are examples of programming languages that can be run in batch jobs?
(1) COBOL (2) UNIX (3) JAVA
Parts that interact through interfaces include:
(1) Classes (2) Components (3) Subsystems
What was the original "green screen" terminal?
80x24-Character "green "screen" terminal, named for the old cathode ray tube (CPT) monitors from years ago that glowed green
Form of stored data that is typically used on mainframes.
EBCDIC
System design principle where the implementation takes future growth into consideration: Systemic measure of the ability to extend a system and the level of effort required to implement this: Can be added throughout the addition of new functionality or through modificiation of existing functionality.
Extensibility
The scale or level of detail present in a set of data or other phenomenon.
Granularity
Architecture can be recursively decomposed into ____ that intract through ____, ____ that connect _____, and _____ for assembling _____
An architecture can be recursively decomposed into parts that interact through interfaces, relationships that connect parts, and constraints for assembling parts
The ability to recover from the failure of a component without impacting the rest of the running system.
High Availability
As a control program, z/VM is
Hypervisor (because it runs other operating systems in the virtual machine it creates)
The basic physical and organizational structures and facilities
Infrastructure
Input Data -> Processes data to perform a particular task -> Output Data
Batch Job Flow
The running of jobs on the mainframe without user interaction.
Batch Processing
The first large machines, which arrived on the scene in the 1960s, became known as
Big Iron
System produces this in response to a failing software product, user job, or transaction
DUMP
Protection against unauthorized access, transfer, modification, or destruction, whether accidental or intentional
Data Security
Why are new mainframe hardware and software products idea for web transactions?
Designed to allow huge numbers of users and applications to rapidly and simultaneously access the same data without interferring with each other
In mainframe terms, what is the internet based on?
Largely based on interconnecting mainframes serving as major hubs and routers
What uses traditional count key data (CKD) disk devices and SAN-connected SCSI-type devices
Linux
Computing system that businesses use to host the commercial databases, transaction servers, and applications that require a greater degree of security and availability than is commonly found on smaller-scale machine
Mainframe
Refers to the availability of a computer system
Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF)
Reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set (ISA)
Microprocessor without interlocked pipeline stages (MIPS)
Can mainframes share information between linux and other mainframe operating systems?
No
A computer architecture (hardware and software)
Platform
The operations area monitoring the messages on the system console and the execution of jobs.
Production Control
The person who ensures that batch workloads run to completition without error or delay
Production Control Analyst
In the early days of the mainframe, these were often used to enter jobs into the system for execution.
Punched Card
(Reliability, Availability, Serviceablilty)
RAS
A large collection of servers
Server Farm
The system can determine why a failure occurred. This allows for the replacement of hardware and software elements while impacting as little of the operational system as possible. This term also implies well-defined units of replacement, either hardware or software
Serviceability
Distributed computing architecture in which each node is independent and self-sufficient, and there is no single point of contention across the system. More specifically, none of the nodes share memory or disk storage
Share Nothing (SN) Architecture
You have near-continuous availability for your business applications, which gives you a competitive advantage, allowing you to grow your business on demand.
Shared Everything (SE) Architecture
Redundant hardware components in critical paths, enhanced storage protection, controlled maintenance process, and system software designed for unlimited availability all hep to ensure consistent, high available environment provide the minimized risk of what?
Single Point of Failure (SPOF)
The person who maintains the critical business data that resides on the mainframe
System Administrator
The person who monitors and controls the operation of the mainframe hardware and software
System Operator
Assists the system operator in determining the proper course of action, and with the production control analyst, who works with the operator to make sure that production workloads are completing properly
System Programmer
Could be said to be ntended for small to midrange enterprise comuting, and delivers an entry point with granular scalability and a wide range of capacity settings to grow with the workload. Provides for maximum of up to 10 configurable PUs
System z Business Class (BC)
Provides granular scalability and capacity settings on a much larger scale and is intended to satisfy high-end processing requirements. Offers up to 64 Configureable CPs
System z Enterprise Class (EC)
The first general purpose computer introduced in 1964
System/360
Communications between online transactions using a Mainframe
User Activities <--> SNA or TCP/IP Network <--> Mainframe (Accesses Database) <--> Disk Storage Controller (Stores Database Files)
Rather then use the 3270 display terminals in the basic terminal architecture, what does Linux use?
X Window System
The mainframe's built-in security throughout the software stack means that z/OS, due to its architecture design and use of regitries, will not suffer from ___ _____ related problems caused by virii (viruses) that are characteristic of many distributed environments
buffer overflow
The Transaction of Business over an electronic medium, such as the internet
e-Business
Operating system is a special-purpose system that is used by companies with high transaction volume: once knopwn as Airline Control Program (ACP): can use mutiple mainframes in a loosely-coupled environment to routinely handle tens of thousands of transactions per second, while experiencing uninterrupted availability that is measured in years
z/Transaction Processing Facility (z/TPF)
Operating system popular with users of smaller mainframe computers - Provides small, less complex base for batch processing and transaction processing - originally known as Disk Operating System (DOS), first disk-based operating systme
z/Virtual Storage Extended (z/VSE)
When did the series of generations of mainframes begin?
1950
Before personal computers and intelligent workstations became popular, what was the most common way to communicate with online mainfraime applications?
3270 Terminals (dumb terminals)
This component of z/VM runs in a virtual machine and provides both an interactive user interface and the general z/VM application programming interface
Conversational Monitor System (CMS)
The mainframe's _____ executes at multiple layers of the infrastructure, which ensures protection of data throughout its life cycle
Cryptography
Built using a modular design that supports a packaging concept based on books: One to four books can be configured: each containing a processor housing that hosts the central processor units, memory, and high speed connections for I/O. Approach enables many of the high-availability, nondisruptive capabilities that differentiate it from other platforms
Current Mainframe Build
Accesses shared data on behalf of an online user
Transaction Processing
What do distributed system often lack that makes batch processing not common on them?
(1) Sufficient Data Storage (2) Available processor capacity, or cycles (3) Sysplex-wide management of system resources and job scheduling
What are the two mainframe models?
(1) System z Business Class (BC) (2) System z Enterprise Class (EC)
What type of servers are contained in server farms?
(1) Transaction Servers (2) Database Servers (3) Email Servers (4) Web Servers
Besides z/OS, what other operating systems dominate mainframe usage?
(1) z/VM (2) z/VSE (3) Linux on IBM System z (4) z/TPF
Generations/dates of Mainframes
(1st Generation) IBM 705 - 1954 (2nd Generation) IBM1401 in 1959 (3nd Generation) IBM System/360 (or S/360) in 1964 - Was First to use Microcode (firmware)
What attributes does the term mainframe typically imply?
(1) Compatiblity with System Z operating systems, applications, and data (2) Centralized control of resources (3) Hardware and operating system that can share access to disk drives with other systems, with automatic looking and protection against destructive simultaneous use of disk data (4) A style of operation, often involving dedicated operations staff who use detailed operations procedure books and highly organized procedures for backups, recovery, training, and disaster recovery at an alternative location (5) Hardware and operating systems that routinely work with hundreds or thousands of simultaneous I/O operations. (6) Clustering technologies that allow the customer to operate multiple copies of the operating system as a single system. (7) Additional data and resource sharing capabilities.(8) Optimized for I/O for business-related data processing applications supporting high speed networking and terabytes of disk storage
z/Virtual Machine (z/VM) basic components
(1) Control Program (2) Single-user operating System (3) Conversational Monitor System (CMS)
How does DB2 provide security
(1) Cryptographic Functions in the hardware (2) Security functions in the operating system (3) enable delivery of leading-edge security at low levels of granularity (individual rows and columns instead of tables)
Major examples of Middleware for the Mainframe
(1) DB2 (2) CICS (3) IMS
What are typical vender roles for mainframes?
(1) Hardware Support (2) Software Support (3) Field Technical Sales Support, systems engineer, or client representative
Examples of System administrator tasks
(1) Installing Software (2) Adding and deleting users and maintaining user profiles (3) Maintaining security resource access lists (4) Managing storage devices and printers (5) Managing network and connectivity (6) Monitoring system performance
Examples of Common system administrator tasks include:
(1) Installing software (2) Adding and deleting users and maintaining user profiles (3) Maintaining security resource access lists (4) Managing storage devices and printers (5) Managing networks and connectivity (6) Monitoring system performance
Characteristics of Transaction Systems
(1) Interactions between the user and the system are short (2) Supporting mission-critical applications (3) Continuous Avaailability (4) High Performance (5) Data Protection and Integrity
What 4 characteristics do batch jobs typically have?
(1) Large amounts of input data are processed and stored (2) Immediate response time is usally not required (3) Information is generated about large numbers of users or data entities (4) A scheduled batch process can consist of the execution of hundreds or thousands of jobs in a pre-established sequence
What are the non-ibm linux distributions that can be used on the mainframe (2 generic names)
(1) Linux on S/390 (2) Linux on System z
Each new generation of mainframe computers has included improvements in one or more of the following areas of the architecture:
(1) More and faster processors (2) More physical memory and greater memory addressing capability (3) Dynamic capabilities for upgrading both hardware and software (4) Increased automation along with hardware error checking and recovery (5) Enhanced devices for input/output (i/o) and more and faster paths (channels) between i/o devices and processors (6) More sophisticated I/O attachments, such as LAN adapters with extensive inboard processing (7) A greater ability to divide the resources of one machine into multiple, logically independent and isolated systems, each running its own operating system (8) Advanced clustering technologies, such as Parallel Sysplex, and the ability to share data among multiple systems (9) Emphasis on utility savings with power and cooling reduction (10) An expanded set of application runtime environments, including support for POSIX applications, C, C++, Java™, PHP, web applications, SOA3, and web services
What factors can influence the design of a company's transaction processing system
(1) Number of users interacting with the system at any one time (2) Number of Transactions per second (TPS) (3) Availability requirements of the application.
What provides built in security on the mainframe?
(1) Operating System (2) network infrastructure (3) Middleware (4) Application and Database Architecture
What do businesses today rely on the mainframe to do?
(1) Perform large-scale transaction processing (thousands of transactions per second) (2) Support thousands of users and application programs concurrently accessing numerous resources (3) Manage terabytes of information in databases (4) Handle large-bandwidth communications
What tasks do system programmers perform?
(1) Planning hardware and software system upgrades and changes in configuration (2) Training systems operators and application programmers (3) Automating operations (4) Performing capacity planning (5) Running installation jobs and scripts (6) Performing installation-specific customization tasks (7) Integration-testing the new products with existing applications and user procedures (8) Syste-wide performance tuning to meet required levels of service
What factors contribute to mainframe use
(1) Reliability, Availability, Serviceablility (2) Security (3) Scalability (4) Continuing Compatibility (5) Evolving Architecture (6) Extensibilty (7) Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) (8) Environmental Friendliness
Benefit of centralizing data in a business
(1) Saves customers from having to manage updates to more than one copy of their business data (2) increases likelihood that the data is current
Characteristics of Online Transactions
(1) Small amount of input data (2) Immediate Response Time (3) A Large number of users involved in large numbers of transactions (4) Round-The-Clock availability of the transactional interface to the user (5) Assurance of Security for transactions and user data
Mainframe operating systems exhibit RAS through
(1) Storage Protection (2) Controlled Maintenance Process (3) Parallel Sysplex clustering provides 99.999% time availability (4) Provides Qualities of Service to support high volume, transaction-driven application, and critical processing (5) Provides tremendous power and throughput for information-intensive computing requirements
Describes the organizational structure of a system
Architecture
Design, build, test, and deliver mainframe applications for the company's users and customer
Application Programmer
The system can recover from a failed component (hardware and software) with impacting the rest of the running system.
Availability
Gives companies confidence that they can run many different applications running on different operating systems (z/os, z/vm, etc) containing confidential data
Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 5 (EAL5)
The ability of a system both to run software requiring new hardware instructions and to run older software requiring the original hardware instructions.
Compatibility
Mainframe power cost vs others
Energy cost 2.8% increase pear year. (1) Servers: Customers are spending more than twice as much on power and cooling as they are spending on total server purchases (2) Mainframe has become environmentally friendly with .91 watts per MIPS
When client-server model of computing, with its distributed nodes of less powerful computers, emerged and challenged the dominance of mainframe computers in 1990s, what happened to mainframes?
Expended functions and added teirs of data processing capabilities, such as web serving, autonomics, disaster recovery, and grid computing
Single Point of Contact (SPOC)
For larger mainframe accounts, IBM frequently assigns a client representative, who is attuned to the business issues of a particular industry sector, to work exclusively with a small number of customers
Which machine operating system using ASCII character set rather then EBCDIC that most other mainframes use?
LINUX
Software "layer" between operating system and user or user application: supplies major functions that are not provided by the operating system
Middleware
(1) Self contained processing center (2) Part of a puzzle in distributed computing
Modern Mainframe
User Query -> Accesses shared data on behalf of an online user -> Reply to user
Online (interactive) Transaction
Transaction processing that occurs interactively with the user
Online Processing
Transaction processing that occurs interactively with the user.
Online Transaction Processing (OLTP)
Clustering technologies that allow the customer to operate multiple copies of the operating system as a single system: is analogous in concept to a UNIX cluster, but allows systems to be added or removed as needed, while applications continue to run. This flexibility allows mainframe customers to introduce new applications, or discontinue the use of existing applications, in response to changes in business activity.
Parallel Sysplex
Unproductive Processing
Overhead
The System's hardware components have extensive self-checking and self-recovery capabilities. The system's software ____ is a result of extensive testing and the ability to make quick updates for detected problems
Reliability
Desirable property of a system, which indicates its ability to either handle growing amounts of work in a graceful manner or to be readily enlarged.
Scalability
Prevents users from accessing or changing any objects on the system, including user data, except through system-provided interfaces that enforce authority rules
Secure Computer System
