IBM System z10 EC Reference Manual

Also see for System z10 EC: Reference guide

Contents

38Parallel Sysplex clustering is designed to bring the powerof parallel processing to business-critical System z10 EC,System z9 and z990 applications. A Parallel Sysplex clus-ter consists of up to 32 z/OS images coupled to one ormore Coupling Facilities (CFs or ICFs) using high-speedspecialized links for communication. The Coupling Facili-ties, at the heart of the Parallel Sysplex cluster, enablehigh speed, read/ write data sharing and resource sharingamong all the z/OS images in a cluster. All images are alsoconnected to a Sysplex Timer® or by implementing theServer Time Protocol (STP), so that all events can be prop-erly sequenced in time.Parallel Sysplex Resource Sharing enables multiplesystem resources to be managed as a single logicalresource shared among all of the images. Some examplesof resource sharing include JES2 Checkpoint, GRS “star,”and Enhanced Catalog Sharing; all of which provide sim-plified systems management, increased performance and/or scalability.Although there is significant value in a single footprint andmulti-footprint environment with resource sharing, thosecustomers looking for high availability must move on toa database data sharing configuration. With the ParallelSysplex environment, combined with the Workload Man-ager and CICS TS, DB2 or IMS™, incoming work can bedynamically routed to the z/OS image most capable ofhandling the work. This dynamic workload balancing,along with the capability to have read/write access datafrom anywhere in the Parallel Sysplex cluster, providesscalability and availability. When configured properly, aParallel Sysplex cluster is designed with no single pointof failure and can provide customers with near continu-ous application availability over planned and unplannedoutages.Coupling Facility Control Code (CFCC) Level 15 is avail-able on System z10 EC, System z9 EC and z9 BC.With the introduction of the z10 EC, we have the conceptof n-2 on the hardware as well as the software. The z10 ECparticipates in a Sysplex with System z9, z990 and z890only and currently supports z/OS 1.7 and higher.For detailed information on IBM’s Parallel Sysplex technol-ogy, visit our Parallel Sysplex home page at http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/pso/.Coupling Facility Configuration AlternativesIBM offers multiple options for configuring a functioningCoupling Facility:• Standalone Coupling Facility: The standalone CFprovides the most “robust” CF capability, as the CPC iswholly dedicated to running the CFCC microcode — allof the processors, links and memory are for CF useonly. A natural benefit of this characteristic is that thestandalone CF is always failure-isolated from exploitingz/OS software and the server that z/OS is running on forenvironments without System-Managed CF StructureDuplexing. While there is no unique standalone cou-pling facility model offered with the z10 EC, customerscan achieve the same physically isolated environmentas on prior mainframe families by ordering a z10 EC,z9 EC, z9 BC, and z990 with PUs characterized asInternal Coupling Facilities (ICFs). There are no softwarecharges associated with such a configuration.CFParallel Sysplex Cluster Technology