From the mainframe to the edge: Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z16 – the next generation of IBM zSystems

As we’ve said before, every IT organization is different - from the underlying architecture and public cloud usage to edge strategies and the applications actually running in production. There is, however, one constant that supersedes these differences for CIOs - the need for commonality across all of these heterogeneous workloads, environments and applications. In many organizations, this common platform stretching across the hybrid cloud, from the datacenter to the edge, is Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

We’re pleased to continue our commitment to customer choice across nearly every conceivable datacenter architecture, cloud environment and edge deployment with support for IBM z16 -  the next generation of IBM zSystems - in Red Hat’s portfolio of hybrid cloud technologies. With RHEL as its foundation, this portfolio extends a host of capabilities to enterprises seeking to pair the best hardware and software to meet their unique needs, from artificial intelligence and machine-learning (AI/ML) to the next-generation of developer concepts.

IBM z16 includes the industry’s first integrated on-chip AI accelerator, and this is planned to be supported in RHEL 9. This will enable Red Hat Linux applications to include real-time AI inferencing as part of every transaction, minimizing latency in accessing AI/ML capabilities and incorporating fraud prevention features.

Bring AI/ML to the forefront of the hybrid cloud

IBM z16 is optimized to infuse AI/ML into enterprise workflows in order to accelerate optimal business decisions. Red Hat technologies running on IBM z16 further extend the capabilities of the intelligent enterprise, from maintaining a more efficient and flexible computing environment to pushing the speed of cloud-native intelligent applications even further. These technologies include:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the industry’s leading enterprise Linux distribution, provides a platform for AI/ML open-source software such as SnapML and TensorFlow.

• Red Hat Insights, a managed analysis service built on Red Hat’s decades of open source expertise. In z16 environments, Insights helps IT teams more readily detect, analyze and remediate potential issues before they impact operations, from misconfigured systems to vulnerable code.

• Red Hat OpenShift, the industry’s leading enterprise Kubernetes platform, brings the scale, flexibility and innovation of Kubernetes and Linux containers to IBM z16. This enables organizations to build AI/ML services at cloud-scale, using the latest developer technologies and tools to build, deploy and maintain complex modern applications.

• Red Hat OpenShift Data Science distills the power and flexibility of OpenShift into a managed service tailored to data scientists. It provides a fully-supported sandbox on IBM z16 and public cloud environments to more rapidly develop, train and test ML models before production deployment.

A developer experience that spans architectures and clouds

Every enterprise, regardless of industry, is now a software company - this means arming developers with the tools and technologies to produce better applications faster. IBM z16 helps developers modernize existing production applications more quickly while giving them the agility to integrate zSystems-based workloads across the hybrid cloud. Red Hat’s hybrid cloud technologies further extend these developer capabilities, with Red Hat OpenShift helping bring new innovation more quickly to end users. Red Hat Developer programs, including Red Hat Developer for Teams, help IT organizations create scalable, curated and more secure developer environments that mirror production platforms, reducing the uncertainty of taking new code from testbed to “real-life” anywhere across the hybrid cloud.

Pairing open innovation with production security capabilities

Continually improving the security of IT environments is paramount for nearly every organization, especially in a dynamically changing world of threat actors and regulations. IBM z16 provides a host of hardware-level features to help address modern IT security challenges, while Red Hat’s technologies add an additional layer of security capabilities to the software infrastructure layer. This includes dozens of industry certifications, including Common Criteria, for many of the most sensitive computing workloads, Red Hat solutions running on IBM z16 provide a powerful counterpoint to evolving IT security needs.

We’re pleased to further enable customer choice across the hybrid cloud with additional support for IBM z16 across Red Hat’s technology portfolio, starting with RHEL. For more information about RHEL for IBM zSystems and LinuxONE or to test these deployment options for yourself, please visit the Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM Z and LinuxONE page.