Performance innovations in the IBM z14 platform

TLDR: The IBM z14 platform is discussed with a focus on the client value delivered through system performance and workload responsiveness, a comprehensive platform solution that enables efficient multiprocessor scaling for large single-image partitions and mixed-workload multipartition environments within a single platform.

Abstract: The IBM z14 platform brings together numerous innovations that collectively provide considerable performance gains over prior designs for the full spectrum of modern workloads being run on today's enterprise systems. These workloads range from traditional online transaction processing and batch workloads to Linux-based and cloud-based workloads, leveraging advances in analytics, mobile transaction processing, social data mining, cognitive applications, security (blockchain), and other areas. The performance gains in the z14 platform required advancements in the processor hardware microarchitecture, physical design, and instruction-set architecture, as well as in the firmware and hypervisor stacks. The result is a comprehensive platform solution that enables efficient multiprocessor scaling for large single-image partitions and mixed-workload multipartition environments within a single platform, while remaining responsive to the “bursty” demands of batch and transaction-based workloads. The performance gains present in the z14 are a direct result of the collaborative efforts between diverse teams within IBM working together to produce advancements in hardware, firmware, and software that outpace the gains of the individual contributions. In this paper, we discuss these results with a focus on the client value delivered through system performance and workload responsiveness.