Where Is the Mainframe Blade Server?
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Last week, IBM completed the rollout of the most powerful computer on Earth: the 'Roadrunner' hybrid Opteron-Cell supercomputer cluster. This machine was built for Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico by the U.S. Department of Energy so it can simulate nuclear explosions and the decay over time of warhead components in the American nuclear arsenal. Roadrunner is also something else other than the first machine to break through the 1 petaflops performance barrier. It is also the most powerful blade server setup in the world. READ MORE >

Top Mainframe Stories from Around the Web

(Fortune) My how things have changed for mainframe vendor Serena Software. It's a crazy mixed up mashup world, but you still might be surprised to find Facebook in a place like this. Get used to it. With a new CEO and a drive to become "relevant to the future," adjustments have been made for new products and new growth. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) IBM shifted into second gear with its Project Big Green, a billion dollar initiative that was launched a year ago and is now entering its second phase with plans to offer three new modular data center designs that are less expensive and require less time to build, and are designed to use less energy than the traditional data centers we are familiar with today. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Any talk about the demise of the operating system as we know it is a bit premature. Over at the Gartner analyst group, there are predictions that between 2007 and 2012, the operating systems market will grow by a compound annual growth rate of 6.8 percent. That's better than expected by some who consider multicore processors, virtualization hypervisors, and software as a service as reasons that the days of the OS are numbered. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) At its annual conference later this year, Computer Measurement Group will spotlight virtualization, green data centers and energy efficiency, and tutorial sessions on topics such as the development of capacity plans, using measured performance data; statistical analysis techniques for measured and monitored performance information; and monitoring and tuning mainframe systems. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

See our full calendar of events at
http://www.itjungle.com/big/big-calendar.html

August 10-15 -- San Jose, California - Service oriented architectures and the "SOA journey" as well as server virtualization and the benefits that big iron provides in terms of efficiency and reducing energy consumption are the key topics that will be discussed at the next SHARE user group meeting and expo, held in the heart of Silicon Valley. LEARN MORE >

August 25-28 -- Chicago, Illinois - The IBM Energy Efficiency Initiative takes center stage at the "See Blue, Think Green" Technical Conference that brings together technical experts and business leaders. Sessions will concentrate on best practices in energy efficiency, innovative power and cooling technologies, and eco-friendly asset disposal services. There will also be technical sessions and hands on labs featuring IBM's most recent System announcements (including Power Systems, Mainframe Systems, Storage System, and Modular Systems) to present platform-specific topics. LEARN MORE >

October 13-17 -- Las Vegas, Nevada - The IBM System z Expo will include more than 300 sessions featuring z/OS, z/VM, z/VSE, and Linux on System z. There will be an emphasis on the z10 Enterprise Class server, WebSphere application server, DB2, CICS and IMS support, GDPS and Parallel Sysplex support, service oriented architecture, virtualization, and data center energy efficiency. LEARN MORE >