Linux® on the Mainframe

Linux® on the Mainframe

by John Eilert, Maria Eisenhaendler, Dorothea Matthaeus, Ingolf Salm
Released June 2003
Publisher(s): Pearson
ISBN: 9780131014152

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

  • Leverage Linux on the mainframe for a true business advantage

  • Covers zSeries and S/390 mainframes

  • Contains over 100 pages of reference material

  • Includes detailed examples and maximization techniques

    • The complete mainframe guide to leveraging the power of Linux

    Linux on the Mainframe is the comprehensive guide to the fastest growing trend in IT. IBM's Linux experts present peerless instruction in the art of planning for and making the most of a Linux mainframe. This book's in-depth coverage includes virtualization, deployment, data management, debugging, security, systems management, application porting, and much more.

  • Sample companies that demonstrate the strengths and potential shortcomings of Linux on the mainframe

  • Complete business analysis, including Total Cost of Ownership, server consolidation techniques, and IT infrastructure simplification

  • Examples of deploying middleware and other tools

  • In-depth introductions to the latest trends, developments, and technologies related to Linux on the mainframe

  • Background information on mainframes and Linux for the lay reader

  • Key techniques for deploying Linux servers and building integrated server environments

    • For anyone involved in the planning, deploying, management, or administration of a mainframe, Linux on the Mainframe is a vital resource.

    Table of contents

    1. Copyright
    2. About Prentice Hall Professional Technical Reference
    3. Trademarks
    4. Foreword: Linux in the Emerging On Demand World
    5. Preface
    6. Linux on the Mainframe – an Introduction
      1. Introducing Linux
        1. Benefits of the Linux operating system
        2. The role of the Open Source community
        3. The role of distributions
        4. Linux structure
        5. Summary
      2. Introducing the Mainframe
        1. The mainframe's birth
        2. General-purpose computer architecture
        3. Distinguishing features of the mainframe
        4. From real to virtual
        5. Summary
      3. Introducing Linux on the Mainframe
        1. Why Linux fits the mainframe
        2. What was done to fit Linux onto the mainframe
        3. How Linux fits the mainframe
        4. Six reasons to run Linux on the mainframe
        5. Summary
    7. Planning for Linux
      1. Overview of What You Can Do with Linux on the Mainframe
        1. Horizontal and vertical growth
        2. ISPCompany and its new business application
        3. StoreCompany and its business application
        4. Summary
      2. Sample Projects
        1. Building a team
        2. Choosing the right Linux project
        3. Summary
      3. Total Cost of Ownership: the Challenge
        1. Total cost-of-ownership factors
        2. The mainframe and the TCO equation
        3. Linux and the TCO equation
        4. ISPCompany: TCO considerations
        5. StoreCompany: TCO considerations
        6. Summary
    8. Is Linux on the Mainframe for Me?
      1. The Value of Virtualization
        1. What is z/VM?
        2. How Linux can run on z/VM
        3. What does z/VM provide?
        4. What is logical partitioning?
        5. Why run Linux on z/VM?
        6. Summary
      2. Security Considerations
        1. The role of security policy
        2. Risk assessment
        3. Before opening the doors: hardening
        4. Opening the doors
        5. Preventing attacks
        6. Keeping up to date on security issues
        7. Summary
      3. Setting Up Linux on the Mainframe
        1. Distribution considerations
        2. Running Linux on the mainframe
        3. Creating images
        4. Purpose of Linux images
        5. Setting up for secure and efficient I/O
        6. Summary
      4. Communicating in a Virtual Environment
        1. Communication methods under z/VM
        2. Scenario: networking in a virtual environment
        3. Virtual failover solutions
        4. Communicating with the outside world
        5. Summary
      5. Achieving Higher Availability
        1. What is high availability?
        2. The zSeries hardware availability
        3. Redundancy and single points of failure
        4. High availability for the ISPCompany example
        5. High availability for the StoreCompany OaK example
        6. A quick look at the future
        7. Summary
    9. Making the Most of Linux on the Mainframe
      1. Systems Management
        1. Controlling the cost of systems administration
        2. Systems management disciplines
        3. Policies
        4. Procedures
        5. Using tools
        6. Using a framework
        7. Summary
      2. Availability Management
        1. Availability policy
        2. Health monitoring
        3. Automation
        4. Change management
        5. Key factors to consider in availability
        6. Summary
      3. Data Management
        1. Keeping data on the mainframe
        2. Introduction to backup and restore
        3. Quota
        4. Data, policies, and tools
        5. Database management
        6. Performance tuning and capacity planning
        7. Summary
      4. Performance and Capacity Planning
        1. Day-to-day performance
        2. Relative capacity and capacity planning
        3. Summary
      5. System Administrator Tasks
        1. Expanding the system administrator's role in your organization
        2. Change management
        3. Tasks that are unique to Linux on the mainframe
        4. Tools policies
        5. Becoming familiar with the mainframe
        6. Summary
    10. Running Applications
      1. Deploying Linux Servers
        1. Where can you find applications for Linux on the mainframe?
        2. Simple server hardware consolidation
        3. Summary
      2. Porting Applications to Linux on the Mainframe
        1. What you can gain by porting an application to Linux on the mainframe
        2. Before you decide to port
        3. What effort to expect
        4. What you need
        5. Where to get more information
        6. Summary
      3. Building Integrated Server Environments
        1. Inter-image communications
        2. Example for an integrated environment
        3. Connectors to back-end systems
        4. Consolidating a 3-tier environment
        5. Enriching your mainframe environment with new applications
        6. Summary
    11. Reference
      1. Linux-on-the-Mainframe Reference
        1. Linux distributions for the mainframe
        2. Overview of Linux directory structure
        3. Exploiting mainframe processor architecture
        4. Linux-on-the-mainframe device drivers
      2. Mainframe Reference
        1. The mainframe architecture
        2. Mainframe registers
        3. The program status word
        4. Integrated Facility for Linux (IFL)
      3. Debugging and Dump Analysis
        1. What information you need
        2. Debugging under z/VM
        3. General Linux debugging facilities
        4. Linux kernel debugging tools
        5. Linux system dump tools
      4. Security Reference
        1. Security certification
        2. General security considerations
        3. z/VM tools
      5. Communications Reference
        1. zSeries virtual connections
        2. An example of server consolidation based on Linux
      6. Systems Management Tools
        1. Availability management tools
        2. Data management tools
        3. Security management tools
        4. Performance and capacity planning tools
        5. System administrator tools
        6. Tools Web sites
      7. Performance Reference
        1. Tuning Linux guests under VM
        2. When to use kernel patches
        3. Performance tools
      8. Examples for Applications
    12. Appendices
      1. ISPCompany
        1. Corporate profile of ISPCompany
        2. Offerings
        3. Description of environment
        4. Example new client
      2. StoreCompany
        1. Corporate profile of StoreCompany
        2. Description of environment
        3. Programming model and middleware platform
        4. Project 1: Firewall and proxy server
        5. Project 2: Web application server
        6. Project 3: OaK project
    13. Glossary
    14. Further Reading
    15. Bibliography
      1. Books
      2. IBM Redbooks
      3. IBM articles and papers
      4. Other IBM publications
      5. Other articles and papers

    Product information

    • Title: Linux® on the Mainframe
    • Author(s): John Eilert, Maria Eisenhaendler, Dorothea Matthaeus, Ingolf Salm
    • Release date: June 2003
    • Publisher(s): Pearson
    • ISBN: 9780131014152