Wolfgang Fischer

RAS strategy for IBM S/390 G5 and G6

The Reliability/Availability/Serviceability (RAS) strategy for S/390® G5 and G6 is to continue the S/390 objective of providing Continuous Reliable Operation (CRO). The RAS strategy is constructed with a set of building blocks which work closely together: error prevention, error detection, error recovery, problem determination, service structure, change management, and RAS measurement and analysis. The interdependency among the building blocks is such that removing or weakening any of them limits the ability of the design to achieve the overall CRO objective. Each building block must be fully implemented and must execute flawlessly within itself and together with the other blocks.

Reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) of the IBM eServer z990

The IBM eServerTM zSeries® Model z990 offers customers significant new opportunity for server growth while preserving and enhancing server availability. The z990 provides vertical growth capability by introducing the concurrent addition of processor/memory books and horizontal growth in channels by the use of extended virtualization technology. In order to continue to support the zSeries legacy for high availability and continuous reliable operation, the z990 delivers significant new features for reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS). This paper describes these new capabilities, in each case presenting the value of the feature, both in terms of enhancing the self-management capability of the server and its availability.

The z990 first error data capture concept

Superior availability is one of the outstanding features of modern zSeries® machines, among the most highly rated of any existing computer platforms in this reqard. Many features contribute to this characteristic, some in hardware, some in software. This paper describes the first error data capture (FEDC) concept in the zSeries 990. The concept is used for both zSeries integration efficiency and its ability to gain field data for problem determination in the user environment. FEDC is not a single function, but part of all internal software (firmware) in the z990. This paper explains the overall concept and implementation details of the various internal functional layers (subsystems).