Preview of z/VSE V5.1

Last Tuesday we also saw the preview announcement of z/VSE V5.1 : 'Preview: IBM z/VSE V5.1 offers 64-bit virtual addressing for future workloads (ZP11-0151)'. It will effectively become available somewhere in the fourth quarter of 2011 and it will require a z9, z10 or z196 to run on.

The highlights straight out of the announcement :

• "64-bit virtual addressing for applications.
  • 64-bit virtual support vastly increases the virtual storage available in a single address space.
• IPv6/VSE V1.1 exploitation of 64-bit virtual support.
• Exploitation of innovative IBM zEnterprise 196 technology:
  • Static power save mode allows you to reduce the power consumption of IBM zEnterprise 196 when full performance is not required. z/VSE supports this feature for clients using MWLC pricing with the subcapacity pricing option.
  • z/VSE V5.1 is designed to provide 4096-bit RSA keys for use with configurable Crypto Express3 for enhanced security.
  • z/VSE V5.1 is designed to participate in a private intraensemble data network (IEDN) that connects all elements of a zEnterprise ensemble.
• Exploitation of IBM System Storage options:
  • Copy Export function of the TS7700 Virtualization Engine Series for disaster recovery purposes
  • IBM Storwize V7000 Midrange Disk System
  • IBM XIV Storage System
• Networking enhancements."

The above mentioned 'static power save mode' is actually a chapter on its own. The announcement seems to indicate that this is new in z/VSE 5.1, but, if I see this correctly, it's already implemented in current versions on z196 with SCRT reporting. Does this exist for z/OS too ? Yes. So any customer who wants to know more about this can take a look at the most recent SCRT User's guide. You can find a link to the one for version 19.2.0 over here. There's a chapter on it in Appendix B.

There's one Statement of Direction : "IBM intends to provide CICS Explorer™ capabilities for CICS TS for VSE/ESA, to deliver additional value".