IBM z13 Technology and Design

Special Issue of the IBM Journal of Research and Development

This special issue of the IBM Journal of Research and Development describes the innovations and technology in the IBM z13, the latest mainframe with significant new capabilities, along with enhanced capacity, security, data serving, virtualization, reliability, and robustness. This new system is specifically designed for big data, analytics, mobile transactions, and cloud computing.

As IBM Guest Editor and Chief Engineer of z System Hardware William Kostenko notes, "relative to prior generations of mainframes, significant new designs deliver much larger memory and caches, more processor cores, SMT (simultaneous multithreading), SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) computing, expanded encryption capability, a new Sysplex attachment, and a higher bandwidth I/O subsystem."

The topics covered in this issue include the design of the microprocessor, caches, SMP (symmetrical multi-processing) fabric, memory, I/O subsystem, cryptography, packaging technologies, system design, firmware design, verification, advances in high-availability computing, resource management, and related advanced design methodologies that have made these new technologies possible. The IBM z13 is a trusted enterprise platform for integrating data, transactions, and insights. IBM z Systems provide the computing infrastructure for the new app economy, enabling high-speed mobile transactions, analytics, and security through the leading-edge designs described in this issue. 

Clifford A. Pickover

Editor-in-Chief

IBM Journal of Research and Development