This article has been published as a cover story of Enterprise Tech Journal Jun 2013 issue, at - http://enterprisesystemsmedia.com/article/build-your-private-cloud-with-paas-using-linux-on-system-z. Do you know that according to Gartner poll, Private Cloud project deployments are increasing significantly in 2013 and nearly 90% of customers are looking at Private Cloud implementation and are either in the planning or early deployment stages? Is your shop currently looking into Private Platform as a Service (PaaS) Cloud implementation? Have you looked into what zEnterprise has to offer in this space? This article gives insight on Private Cloud Implementation on zEnterprise and can help you learn how your organization can benefit from implementing a Dev/Test private cloud using PaaS with Linux on System z and why WebSphere Application Server (WAS) may be a perfect fit for a Dev/Test Private Cloud. Learn how your organization can cut IT costs by deploying “self-service” for developers, using Dev/Test Private Cloud. This article goes over what Applications are a good fit for Dev/Test Private Cloud and the benefits of this implementation, such as : • Reduce the number of Dev/Test WAS environments using dedicated resources • Reduce hardware and software license costs • Improve speed of upgrades • Standardize procedures and software levels • Let developers set up and use new environments in minutes instead of days or weeks • Simplify WAS infrastructure management Article also goes over the key differences in managing cloud infrastructure on distributed platforms vs. mainframes and shows how Linux on System z plays a critical role in creating PaaS clouds. • Mainframes can scale vertically, while distributed servers can scale horizontally. • Linux on System z has much higher densities of virtual machines per processor core compared to distributed servers. • Cloud implementation on zEnterprise can dynamically allocate workloads to available pooled resources. • Linux on System z leverages z/VM’s ability to virtualize CPUs and memory, as well as share those resources among many Linux guests. One IFL can run the equivalent of many distributed servers. • Consolidation of Linux workloads on a single physical hardware server allows multiple Linux images to run on z/VM IFLs without affecting IBM software charges for existing System z general processors. Creating private cloud to host dev/test environments can save your company money and increase efficiency. Start small, but think big; create a cloud strategy and roadmap that involves getting leadership buy in, building business cases and presenting them in stages within your organization, standardizing procedures and using a fit-for-purpose approach to select pilot applications. Connect with author of this article, Elena Nanos, on Linkedin at http://www.linkedin.com/pub/elena-nanos/1/a47/70a

1. Jun 20
Build Your Private Cloud With PaaS Using Linux on System z
by Elena Nanos in Enterprise Tech Journal
Many large organizations are implementing private clouds to enable on-demand network access to a shared pool of computing
resources they can easily and quickly configure and provide. Although the main focus of cloud computing has been on the
distributed infrastructure, organizations have learned that the zEnterprise also works well for implementing private cloud using
Platform as a Service (PaaS).
Learn how your organization can benefit from implementing a development/test (dev/test) private cloud using PaaS with Linux on
System z and why WebSphere Application Server (WAS) may be a perfect fit for a dev/test private cloud.
Private Cloud Initiatives
Customers have begun moving beyond the market hype of private clouds to pilot and mainstream deployments, and studies show
that 2013 promises to be a year of many new private cloud production deployments.
Worldwide private IT cloud infrastructure investments will grow to $18.9 billion by 2015, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate
(CAGR) of 25.7 percent, according to an IDC market analysis report (see www.marketresearch.com/IDC-v2477/Worldwide-
Private-Public-Cloud-Infrastructure-6797018/).
A December 2012 Gartner poll shows that private cloud project deployments will increase significantly in 2013. Nearly 90 percent
of customers are looking at private cloud implementation and are either in the planning or early deployment stages (see Figure 1).
In a recent CA survey, more than half of both U.S. and global respondents say they believe the mainframe is or will be a highly
strategic platform in their cloud computing efforts (see www.ca.com/us/news/Press-Releases/na/2012/CA-Technologies-Survey-
Finds-Mainframe-to-Drive-Innovation.aspx).
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2. Why Consider a Dev/Test Private Cloud?
If your organization needs to cut IT costs and is looking for “self-service” for developers, then a dev/test private cloud could be the
answer.
Setting up a new environment involves procuring and configuring hardware, installing the operating system, installing and
configuring middleware and loading your applications on the system software stack. Given this complexity and long lead time,
there’s a strong incentive to keep the old environments around just in case, rather than releasing resources when no longer in use.
This type of usage model quickly consumes hardware resources, even though many application-serving environments aren’t being
used actively. This usage model is inefficient and costly. Cloudtimes.org recently noted that 70 percent of the conventional IT
budget is spent on keeping idle servers turned on (see http://cloudtimes.org/2012/10/18/private-cloud-funding-model-challenges/).
Using a dev/test private cloud with virtualization enables fast setup and consistent resource management. With this approach,
developers can obtain IT resources on demand, releasing them when no longer in use. Since they no longer need to wait days or
weeks to do the testing, productivity and time to market can be improved greatly while hardware and software charges are
reduced.
WAS is an application that may be a perfect fit for a dev/test private cloud. A dev/test private cloud can address these common
challenges for large WAS shops:
• Need to support, manage and upgrade many WAS Java Virtual Machines (JVMs)
• Rapid growth of new initiatives
• Need to maintain many different levels of WAS
• Software upgrades take a long time given the size of the environment
• New environment creation and many upgrades can take a long time due to hardware provisioning
• Need to support very large WAS non-production environment
• Many dev/test environments are idle most of the time
• High costs for test environments
• Need for rapid access to WAS topologies
• Need to maximize efficiency.
If your shop faces these challenges, you may benefit from a dev/test private cloud; it has the highest potential return and lowest risk
of implementation compared to other cloud implementations.
Having a dev/test private cloud will:
• Reduce the number of test/dev WAS environments using dedicated resources
• Reduce hardware and software license costs
• Improve speed of upgrades
• Standardize procedures and software levels
• Let developers set up and use new environments in minutes instead of days or weeks
• Simplify WAS infrastructure management and eliminate errors caused by inconsistent configurations and different software and
hardware levels.
Development Infrastructure Pain Points
A test/dev private cloud can address typical pain points such as:
• Long provisioning time
• Inability to dynamically allocate processing power or reclaim resources when no longer needed
• Power, cooling and floor space
• Software management issues
• Tech refresh issues
• Extended support cost for software releases no longer supported.
Using the test/dev private cloud will give your developers speedy access to new test environments when needed. To set up new
distributed servers, they won’t need to go through approvals for hardware provisioning and issue requests to storage, network and
security teams.
Applications That Are a Good Fit for Test/Dev Private Cloud
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3. We suggest you use a fit-for-purpose approach when selecting applications for implementing test/dev private cloud. Good
candidates include applications that:
• Require many test/dev environments
• Need provisioning of new WAS test/dev environments
• Seek to expedite upgrades to new releases (WAS V8.5.5, for example) and the ability to test new features or functionality
• Can benefit from rapid access to dynamically scalable IT resources
• Are looking to reduce software and hardware license costs.
Private Cloud Using zEnterprise
Virtualization with zEnterprise accommodates dynamic provisioning of resources, over-allocation of real resources and the ability
to easily consolidate standardized virtual images.
There are key differences in managing cloud infrastructure on distributed platforms vs. mainframes. Cloud implementation on
zEnterprise can dynamically allocate workloads to available pooled resources. The challenge with distributed servers is managing
all that across a wide field of machines.
Mainframes can scale vertically, while distributed servers can scale horizontally. In a server-farm architecture, to add more
capability, you would typically need to add another machine. zEnterprise can provide increased processor power on demand and
can de-provision on demand. Private cloud implementation on zEnterprise can leverage virtualization under z/VM, where it can
deliver thousands of Linux on System z guests. For maximum virtualization benefits, Linux on System z is a top choice to consider;
it has much higher densities of virtual machines per processor core compared to distributed servers. This can be a driving factor
behind the savings in license fees, particularly when software is licensed per processor core.
Best x86 practices currently limit the number of virtual machines per core to three or four. Server utilization generally shouldn’t
exceed 50 percent. For example, if you were consolidating 200 Linux servers, you would be looking at purchasing 20 relatively
high-end server machines. The ratio of virtual machines per core isn’t much different on VMware, where the recommendation is to
run no more than four virtual machines concurrently per processor. This means it would require a high number of servers to
establish the cloud infrastructure on the distributed platform.
Using Linux under z/VM, you can establish repeatable automatic deployment for provisioning and lower dev/test environment
operating expenses by reducing the resources needed to run and support testing efforts.
zEnterprise is a proven virtualization platform that provides the unique capability to create a heterogeneous cloud solution in one
single, managed environment. All applications benefit from near 100 percent availability and the ability to share data across all
Linux on System z images/servers. The IBM zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager (zManager) provides end-to-end management
of the heterogeneous environment of a zEnterprise System.
Private cloud and Linux on System z can increase utilization of infrastructure, standardize middleware, improve deployment speed
and simplify applications management. With dynamic creation of Linux on System z images on demand, providing new
environments can take minutes. Also, resource utilization can be greatly improved by using capacity on demand and optimizing
capacity fully.
zEC12
Introduced in mid-2012, IBM’s new zEC12 hardware can improve Java workload performance by up to 61 percent on the
mainframe using the WAS V8 JDK 7 SR3 level compared to a z196 running WAS V7 JDK 7 SR1 level (see Figure 2).
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4. IBM continues to aggressively invest in Java on System z and now has a set of new hardware features tailored and co-designed with
Java. For example, 2 GB page frames improve performance targeting 64-bit heaps and pageable 1 MB large pages using flash ease
memory management. These features are available using Java on System z only.
Cost per MIPS has decreased for traditional workloads while the cost per MIPS on IBM specialty engines has dropped 20 percent.
The specialty engines—Integrated Facility for Linux (IFL), System z Integrated Information Processor (zIIP) and System z
Application Assist Processor (zAAP)—can provide significant benefits and cost savings. Several IT analysts believe this is IBM’s
attempt to expand its System z application portfolio by capturing next-generation Java/Linux-based workloads on System z.
Why Do Virtualization on Linux on System z?
Linux on System z plays a critical role in creating PaaS clouds on zEnterprise and leverages z/VM’s ability to virtualize CPUs and
memory, as well as share those resources among many Linux guests. One IFL can run the equivalent of many distributed servers.
It’s wise to take advantage of the non-disruptive scale of the z/VM environment by adding hardware assets that can be shared with
every virtual server. By leveraging virtualization under z/VM, you can maintain and provide more than 10,000 Linux on System z
guests. z/VM 6.2 can support the rapid deployment of more Linux virtual servers than any other platform in a single footprint.
One of the strengths of running Linux on System z is the ability to centrally manage many Linux images. Software installed on the
Linux images must be serviced or updated, and there’s no way to do this other than servicing each image as if it were a standalone
server. System z has the ability to share file systems as VM minidisks (using WebSphere Shared binaries), which allows you to
install WebSphere once and use that installation for many other Linux images. For more information, please see this whitepaper:
http://public.dhe.ibm.com/common/ssi/ecm/en/zsw03055usen/ZSW03055USEN.PDF.
Consolidation of Linux workloads on a single physical hardware server allows multiple Linux images to run on z/VM IFLs without
affecting IBM software charges for existing System z general processors in the same hardware server. You can start small with
Linux on System z and non-disruptively grow the environment as business dictates. Deploying private cloud on Linux on System z
lets you dynamically add CPUs, memory, I/O adapters, devices and network cards to a running z/VM Logical Partition (LPAR).
A share-everything design philosophy underlying the System z server lets thousands of virtual machines use a common virtual pool.
Using Linux on System z, multiple processors—other than the CPUs that are dedicated to specific tasks (such as I/O)—let the CPU
cycles be used strictly for workload processing. This affords System z superior transactional throughput compared to an x86
platform. Also, a large internal communications bus expedites traffic between processors with higher throughput.
Other benefits of using Linux on System z include high-speed TCP/IP connections and network simplification with HiperSockets.
Both can help reduce cabling, hubs, routers, switches and the maintenance effort, which translates into significant savings. Figure 3
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5. shows how z/VM works with z/OS.
With the IBM z/VM V6.2 Single System Image Feature (VMSSI), a running Linux virtual machine can be relocated from a
one-member system to any other system. This process, known as Live Guest Relocation, provides application continuity for
planned z/VM and hardware outages and flexible workload balancing that allows the workload to be moved to available system
resources. This is an added benefit of exploiting z/VM for private cloud PaaS implementation.
According to IBM, 75 percent of its top 100 customers have deployed IFLs and are running Linux on System z, taking advantage of
low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and highly sophisticated virtualization capabilities. IBM’s Linux on System z success stories
appear at www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/os/linux/success/.
IBM continues to enhance z/VM scaling efficiency and recently announced z/VM V6.3, which will be generally available this fall; it
offers improved economies of scale with z/VM support for 1 TB of real memory and has more efficient utilization of CPU hardware
resources underneath multiple layers of virtualization running multiple and diverse workloads. This translates into improved
scalability and better price performance, which strengthens z/VM as a foundation for optimized workload deployment with reduced
costs per virtual server. To learn more, see www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?subtype=ca&infotype=an&
appname=iSource&supplier=897&letternum=ENUS213-024.
WAS V8.5 and Private Cloud Implementation
If you’re considering implementing private cloud for WAS applications, take advantage of WAS V8.5 (Liberty Profile); it’s a
game-changer because it’s designed for virtual environments and has major memory and working set size reduction, allowing more
guests to run efficiently.
Using WAS V8.5 with a private cloud implementation on Linux on System z will help you expedite delivery of new functionality to
developers. The Liberty feature bundles allow you to select only the container services required, which reduces the memory and
processing footprint considerably. The smaller footprint is a big deal for developer productivity and infrastructure usage.
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6. IBM recently announced WAS V8.5.5 Liberty Profile (GA June 14, 2013), which is a new mod release of WAS with enhancements
for developers and entitlement to WebSphere eXtreme Scale with some WAS editions. According to IBM, WAS V8.5.5 enhances
Intelligent Management through integration of the On Demand Router capability into the WebSphere Web Server plug-in,
simplifying topologies and reducing TCO. Also, WAS 8.5.5 offers about 10 percent better performance than WAS 8.5.
IBM Workload Deployer: Pattern-Based Deployments in a Private Cloud
To ensure a successful private cloud PaaS implementation, you must establish standardized procedures. The IBM Workload
Deployer Hardware appliance can help standardize procedures and software levels and help you manage the WAS infrastructure
efficiently in a private cloud. The hardware appliance can help provide access to virtual images and patterns to easily, quickly and
repeatedly create application environments that can be deployed and managed in a private cloud. This speeds application
deployment and dramatically reduces setup time—from weeks to minutes—for WebSphere environments with pre-defined patterns
and virtual images. IBM Workload Deployer supports a provisioning platform that deploys consistent, repeatable environments into
private cloud. For details, see Redbook “IBM Workload Deployer: Pattern-based Application and Middleware Deployments in a
Private Cloud” at www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg248011.html.
Haddon Hill Group (HHG) is one example of a successful implementation that used IBM Workload Deployer (previously known as
the WebSphere CloudBurst Appliance) to roll out and roll back configurations for the WebSphere stack, reduce the complexity of
large environments and maintain server configuration consistency. The company used the Workload Deployer Appliance to help
customers reduce costs and gain efficiencies in deploying and maintaining their enterprise WAS environments. HHG began rolling
out the new environment with IBM Workload Deployer included to manage provisioning and keep servers tuned with the right
configuration. IBM WAS Hypervisor Edition is optimized for using WAS in virtualized environments on top of hypervisors such as
VMware ESX and ESXi, PowerVM and IBM z/VM. The benefit of this initiative at HHG is projected to be:
• $3 to $4 million for enterprise WebSphere implementations
• 13 to 15 times faster time to market (three to four days vs. 40 to 60 days)
• Six months to one year from go-live for investment payback.
Further details are available at http://haddonhillgroup.com/pdfs/hhg_dev_ops.pdf.
Examples of Private Cloud Implementations on Linux on System z
IBM itself provides an inspiring example of the dev/test private cloud solution deployed on Linux on System z. The company
increased system administration efficiency 16-fold and accelerated the deployment of development and testing environments by 89
percent with the implementation of dev/test private cloud using the IBM Workload Deployer appliance. IBM can now quickly
create and manage development and test environments for the entire organization in the private cloud.
The IBM team has set a goal to increase adoption of dev/test private cloud and scale to 50 percent of the testing infrastructure over
a four-year period. Before the new solution, a single IBM system administrator could adequately manage 1,000 cores of bare metal.
Using the IBM Workload Deployer appliance, a system administrator can now easily manage 16,000 cores.
This implementation increased hardware use, decreased system administration costs, enabled rapid access to complete testing
topologies and reduced support and license costs for dev/test WAS environments (see Figure 4).
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7. Finally, Citigroup provides yet another example of private cloud implementation on Linux on System z. The company has built a
private cloud based on the IBM Workload Deployer software architecture, enabling self-service requests and automated
provisioning and internal chargeback capabilities. It also simultaneously boosted utilization rates and improved operational
efficiencies. Citigroup slashed server provisioning times from 45 days to less than 20 minutes, speeding development cycles and
allowing the company to put new features and enhancements in the hands of customers more rapidly. For more information, visit
http://www-304.ibm.com/easyaccess/fileserve?contentid=223920.
Getting Started
If you need help getting started with private cloud implementation using Linux on System z, IBM can assist. Learn more at
www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/rep_ca/9/897/ENUS612-029/ENUS612-029.PDF.
Conclusion
Creating private cloud to host dev/test environments can save your company money and increase efficiency. Start small, but think
big; create a cloud strategy and roadmap that involves getting leadership buy in, building business cases and presenting them in
stages within your organization, standardizing procedures and using a fit-for-purpose approach to select pilot applications.
http://enterprisesystemsmedia.com/article/print/build-your-private-cloud-...
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