IBM Announcement - Preview of IBM z/VSE V6.1

I'm catching up a bit on IBM announcements. As a matter of fact, this one was already announced last week : 'Preview: IBM z/VSE V6.1 - Get ready for the new z/VSE version! (ZP15-0149)'. I wasn't aware of this, but z/VSE is actually celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015. IBM z/VSE V6.1 will become available in Quarter 4 of 2015 and will run on a z10 or higher. Fast Service Upgrade (FSU) to z/VSE V6.1 will not be possible.

Some highlights from the announcement. IBM z/VSE® V6.1 is designed to:

Exploit innovative IBM z13technology

• Configurable Crypto Express5S for data encryption and SSL acceleration.
• FICON Express16S supporting a link rate of 16 Gbps.

Support enhanced IBM System Storage® options

• IBM System Storage TS7700 Virtualization Engine Release 3.2.
• IBM System Storage DS8870 Release 7.4 (ECKD™ and FCP-attached SCSI disks).
• IBM FlashSystem® V840 for use with FCP-attached SCSI disks.

Deliver CICS® TS for z/VSE V2.1
CICS TS for z/VSE V2.1 can only be used with z/VSE V6.1, and replaces CICS TS for VSE/ESA V1.1.1. New functionality includes:

• Update and control capabilities to CICS resources for the CICS Explorer® system management tool.
• New APIs to enable the transfer of large amounts of structured data between CICS applications to meet the needs of growing workloads.

Deliver TCP/IP for z/VSE V2.1

• This new version replaces TCP/IP for VSE/ESA and is designed to include firewall functionality.

Deliver IPv6/VSE V1.2

• This new release of IPv6/VSE will provide firewall functionality, increased network availability, and other enhancements.

Add trigger functionality for the WebSphere® MQ Client for VSE

• The MQ Client Trigger Monitor will add trigger functionality for the WebSphere MQ Client for VSE to ease asynchronous message processing.

Selected enhancements are also available with PTFs for z/VSE V5.1 and z/VSE V5.2.