Posted on 08/18/2008 11:43:49 PM PDT by nickcarraway
IBM Power 7 to be Opteron socket compatible
By INQUIRER staff: Sunday, 25 March 2007, 4:20 AM
More Power7 Details Emerge, Thanks to Blue Waters Super
Published: July 21, 2008
I have heard that but only online like you did. All I know is the performance is supposed to be fantastic. There should be lots of new info coming out pretty soon.
Published: July 21, 2008
Different class yes, but I can't tell you how many times I had to take half a Sunday just to go in to the office to do a scheduled reboot (IPL we called it) of the machine to apply a patch or even to adjust for Daylight Savings Time!
I don't miss that, and I don't miss the 1000's of fixes (APAR's they called them) that got issued every month!
Last time I check, IBM's architecture did not provide hardware support for a stack. Has that changed?
Last time I check, IBM's architecture did not provide hardware support for a stack. Has that changed?
Not as far as I know, but the rest of the world has. Few processor architectures provide hardware support for a stack these days. It was one of the first things to go in the RISC revolution.
I can’t speak to the rest of the RISC architectures, but the PowerPC does have a stack pointer in hardware.
The stack is a good thing. It lowers the cost of development and operation. IBM deliberately excluded a stack in their S/360 to increase their profit margins.
What about 64-bit support? Doesn't that obsolete expanded storage?
No. The need for a hierarchy still exists even with z/VM.
The other consideration is that with z/VM 5.1.0 and earlier, all CP code, all CP control blocks, and most guest pages being referenced for CP processing (I/O, IUCV, etc.) need to be below 2GB. This can create contention for storage below 2GB. Such contention is often indicated by significant paging to DASD and a large number of pages available above 2GB (as seen by QUERY FRAMES command or your favorite performance tool). Systems with a 2GB constraint may benefit from having more of their storage configured as expanded storage. See Pre-z/VM 5.2.0 64-bit Considerations for more information. z/VM 5.2.0 has removed most of these restrictions and therefore contention for storage below 2GB is much less likely (see z/VM 5.2.0 64-bit Considerations).
Instructions for downloading the new release still is full of things like:
Run the file through this pipeline:
PIPE < VMARC MODULE A | deblock cms | > VMARC MODULE A We also have a help file for VMARC. Upload and reblock it to use it, just like you would for the module. Note: if you are running VM/ESA 2.2.0 you will need to apply APAR VM61031 in order for VMARC MODULE to work correctly on your system.
UGH!
I can’t speak to the rest of the RISC architectures, but the PowerPC does have a stack pointer in hardware.
Excuse me? I must have missed it. Care to be more specific?
AFAIK, subroutine calls on PowerPC are made using a link register like most RISC architectures these days.
Also AFAIK, the PowerPC doesn't even provide addressing modes that update the base register used for an index calculation (unlike, say, ARM, which can do such an update; although ARM doesn't provide hardware stack support, the update features make it easy to support a stack growing in either direction).
I'm just finishing up a big PowerPC project and preparing to start an ARM one...
The stack is a good thing.
I hear ya, although my tastes tend more toward architectures that include things like interlocked doubly-linked lists. I miss my VAXen.
Okay, by using the GPRs, it’s more of a convention than a hardware feature.
What’s a SOC4?
But it didn't take me long to give thanks to this mainframe! I have never had a system that was so FULL. As a data hound, I discovered I could access huge mountains of years worth of data. And it could be sliced any which way I wanted. No endless wait for report development. No need to rely on some "in the can" reporting that is incomplete. And thank goodness, no more data killing crystal reports nonsense.
Program check - addressing exception.
No, to keep your foot warm.
RPG is your friend
yes RPG rocks and has been paying the bills since 1988!
In the Early 70’s, PL1 was supposed to replace COBOL....and in the 90’s, Cobol replaced PL1.
Why is COBOL still around, along with the Mainframes ?
Cobol is “Reasonable” code.
Its not a Syntax nighmare of (-+%<</>> and you can take a COBOL program that was written 10 Years ago, read it, change it, and make it better.
A Microsoft C++ guy once told me, he could write a Program that no one could figure out......he’s shampooing carpets now.....I’m still writing code that people can Read.
A Russian Programmer once told me, the Russians programmers made their code cryptic and complex, so that the Russian Bureaucrats would not be able to fire them.
India, with its HUGE influx of Programmers taking American jobs because India Universities still teach Mainframe TEchnology, as their Universities are behind the Times with old books and Technology, that was never out of style.
You can learn to program and write Software, maybe, its a talent that some do not have the profile to absorb....You can build a Mcdonalds hamburger, get the wrong number of Pickels, too many Onions, and slightly overcook the meat, and a hungry person will Eat it....A computer Program that is 99% correct, is a piece of crap that won’t run, or a runaway Program that won’t stop.
Logical thinking is key, along with the ability to handle complexity, which is why I do NOT know any Liberal Programmers that are worth their money, or their weight in hollerith field cards.
Maintaining a program that is 10 years old is a Skill. Writing a NEW program from a blank sheet of paper, is quite another skill set. Making it readable in a reasonable language Technical Environment, makes it long lived Software.
Web Servers capture and send data....Mainframes PROCESS data...400,000,000 Record Master data files surrounded by ancillary Data Bases is a heavy load.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.