Filipe Miranda <fmiranda@redhat.com> Global Lead for Red Hat Products on IBM z Systems and Power Systems Red Hat Inc. IBM Linux on Power Cambridge, MA Red Hat on Power Systems 9.0
Topics for this session Red Hat in a nutshell Overview of the collaboration between Red Hat and IBM Understanding the Endianess Linux on IBM Power Systems - Advantages of Running Linux on Power Systems - Advantages of Little Endian RHEV for Power - Welcome to the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization - Advantages of RHEV for Power - Red Hat strategy for Power Systems
Red Hat in a Nutshell 8 * Red Hat Client Data, 2014
Red Hat and IBM Power Systems Red Hat Enterprise Linux optimized to Power Systems JBoss EAP adding Value to your solution Take advantage of the IBM JDK on Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM Power Systems (I) (I) https://access.redhat.com/site/articles/111663 z Systems
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.1 "Customers who are using the IBM Power Systems platform as part of their datacenter infrastructure, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.1 now includes support for POWER8 on IBM Power Systems (based on little endian)." https://www.redhat.com/en/about/press-releases/red-hat-continues-platform-innovation-general-availability-first-minor-release-red-hat-enterprise-linux-7
Understanding Endianess 9.0
Endianess What is endian and endianness? The terms endian and endianness refer to the convention used to interpret the data when are stored in computer memory. In computing, memory commonly stores binary data by organizing it into 8-bit units called bytes. When reading or writing data, into memory, consisting of multiple bits, the order of the bytes stored in memory determines the interpretation of the data.
Endianess Each byte of data in memory has its own address. Big-endian systems store the most significant byte in the smallest address and the least significant byte is stored in the largest address Little-endian systems, in contrast, store the least significant byte in the smallest address.
Endianess Both forms of endianness are in widespread use in computing and networking. As examples, the Intel x86 processor represents a common little-endian architecture, IBM z Systems and IBM Power Systems all big-endian; starting with IBM POWER8, IBM Power Systems now offers a hybrid architecture, both little-endian and big-endian. Why is the endianness important? Endianness is important as a low-level attribute of a particular data format. Failure to account for varying endianness across architectures when writing software code for mixed platforms and when exchanging certain types of data might lead to failures and data corruption.
Linux on Power Systems 9.0
Linux on Power Systems Most applications from x86 will work on Red Hat Enterprise Linux LE, and require a simple recompile. Red Hat has made it easier for customers to have choice and flexibility, however simply migrating Linux applications from an x86 machine to a IBM Power Systems server doesn't guarantee it will work. Here are several architecture-specific differences you should consider before porting your x86 Linux applications to Power-based platforms: Endianness or byte ordering Data type length in 32- and 64-bit environments Data alignment differences in the architectures
Linux on Power Systems Why Run Linux on IBM Power Platform? Raw performance: You may be running a large Linux server farm but not getting satisfactory performance. You may need massive horsepower, and your application might not work well with a clustering of PCs. Virtualization robustness You may want the maximum flexibility you can have to share unused resources, allocate and logically partition your servers. Leveraging existing resources: You may already have a large staff of Linux support personnel. You've fallen in love with the Power Systems platform for all of the reasons mentioned so far and don't want to invest the money in retraining your staff on UNIX. Datacenter consolidation: Sometimes, it seems every large company over the past several years has performed a server consolidation of some kind. Etc
Linux on Power Systems The bottom line is, by combining the flexibility and cost savings of Linux with the scalability and robustness of the POWER platform, customers across all industries can integrate their environments using Linux on POWER to reduce costs and consolidate workloads.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, Little Endian Why run Linux Little endian on Power Systems? Running little endian mode: Accelerates business application innovation by eliminating a significant and outdated barrier to application portability. Leverages the significant existing ecosystem of Linux applications previously developed and restricted to x86 architectures. Enables simple data migration Simplifies data sharing (interoperability) with Linux on x86 Improves I/O options with modern I/O adapters and devices, e.g. GPUs Linux Little Endian for Power Systems increases business choice, flexibility and access to open standard solutions. It eases application migration from one platform to the other to take advantage of innovation anywhere, and any time.
Virtualization Strategy 9.0
Virtualization Strategy IBM PowerVM
KVM Virtualization Strategy Target Linux-only servers Mid-range
Virtualization Strategy RHEV for Power
RHEV Manager
RHEV for Power What are the advantages of RHEV for Power? Coexist with RHEV environments for x86: Simply add Power Systems with Linux guests to the current x86 environment and take advantage of a single graphical console to manage both distributed systems and Power Systems. Open Source Technology: Using RHEV for Power will allow customers to benefit from the KVM virtualization technology without having to learn another hypervisor (IBM PowerVM) when managing Linux guests. Readily available staff with KVM knowledge versus PowerVM By using RHEV for Power, or simply RHEV - you can integrate your environment with other products from Red Hat, such as Cloudforms, to manage Linux cloud environments.
Filipe Miranda <fmiranda@redhat.com> Global Lead for Red Hat Products on IBM z Systems and Power Systems Red Hat Inc. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/endianness http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com/aix/trends/linux/linux-on-power/?page=1 http://www.zdnet.com/article/red-hat-joins-the-ibm-power8-party/ http://openpowerfoundation.org/introducing-the-little-endian-openpowersoftware-development-environment-and-its-application-programming-interfaces/ http://ptakassociates.blogspot.com/2014/12/red-hats-release-of-linux-71-little.html