After a long waiting time IBM released the latest version of z/VM. Now there is way more information available than just the little bit I described in my preview.
- z/VM 6.3 general information (including all new features)
- announcement
- data sheet
- statement of direction
- special z/VM 6.3 resources page
- “z/VM Version 6 Release 3: Making Room For Your Growing Business” in Enterprise System Journal
- Updated z/VM performance report
- z/VM platform update Live Virtual Class and charts
The major items haven’t changed from the preview – it’s CPU scalability using Hiperdispatch and support for 1 TB per z/VM instance.
The announcement also has a statement of direction for z/VM 5.4. Basically it says that the current System z generation (EC12 /BC12) will be the last one that’s supported with z/VM 5.4. And support for z/VM 5.4 will end whenever the z9 hardware support ends. So it’s time to plan for the upgrade to z/VM 6.3.
(updated 9/21/2013)