Are there any sucess virtualizing z/OS on x86_64? This mainframe is quite anemic even by modern desktop standarts.
In addition to Hercules, qemu supports s390x guests.
Buying an IBM Mainframe
71–80 of 111 posts
Re: Buying an IBM Mainframe
#72So... What exactly can you even do with these?
Re: Buying an IBM Mainframe
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very inefficient though. But solid!
Actually it's 100% efficient in terms of converting electricity into heat. Anything that consumes electricity is near 100% efficient at generating heat. If you tried really hard you could build a very efficient laser and send heat outside the room, so not 100% would end up in the room. Even then the majority of heat will be dissipated in the room.
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Re: Buying an IBM Mainframe
#74My interest in doing this (my wife would kill me anyway) kind of evaporated when in almost every paragraph he hit on licensing issues you might have. What a headache for someone who just wants to tinker on the hardware and maybe buy a few parts off ebay for the full experience. I have no doubt software updates, documentation, and everything is locked behind some portal that requires you to have a stupidly expensive support contract to access.
Re: Buying an IBM Mainframe
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hi kev! Thanks for your comments, you are 100% right. Yes, living in the states make this hobby waaay easier. The surplus auctions help as well, having various goverments with various languages going in Europe does not make it as easy :-). Was $3000 your outlay for the system + the DS6800? Or just the shipping? That is a great find in that case! I just want to correct a small thing: You need SEs (the frame mounted la…
> Yes, living in the states make this hobby waaay easier. It's unbelievable how thoroughly Europeans recycle their old computers. I can't find anything.
BTW, any other European retro-computing enthusiasts that see this, feel free to exchange your thoughts on how to find the machines that escaped the relentless push towards green tech.
Re: Buying an IBM Mainframe
#76Are there any sucess virtualizing z/OS on x86_64? This mainframe is quite anemic even by modern desktop standarts.
IBM makes it illegal for customers to build emulators for most mainframe products, to protect their business.
Re: Buying an IBM Mainframe
#77My current side project idea: build a modern programming language with a nice syntax that compiles (transpiles?) to mainframe COBOL, mostly to get mainframe programmers to stop writing code in SHOUTING ALL CAPS.
Re: Buying an IBM Mainframe
#78My interest in doing this (my wife would kill me anyway) kind of evaporated when in almost every paragraph he hit on licensing issues you might have. What a headache for someone who just wants to tinker on the hardware and maybe buy a few parts off ebay for the full experience. I have no doubt software updates, documentation, and everything is locked behind some portal that requires you to have a stupidly expensive s…
My second thought about this was "no wonder IBM is largely dead outside of stodgy corporate IT. Nobody can actually learn to use it without dropping $100,000+ on equipment."
Re: Buying an IBM Mainframe
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not even sure if there are still use cases where companies use main frames for newly developed systems. Even core banking systems can be build without using a main frame.
Do you have a source on that new banks do not use mainframes? I'd love to learn what new banks use to talk to older banks.
I can't verify 100%, but I think Orange Bank (subsidiary of the telco provider) is entirely built on the cloud. I believe they built all their systems ground-up 2 years ago, but I could be wrong. When they acquired Groupama Banque, I think they basically started over on the systems.
Re: Buying an IBM Mainframe
#80My interest in doing this (my wife would kill me anyway) kind of evaporated when in almost every paragraph he hit on licensing issues you might have. What a headache for someone who just wants to tinker on the hardware and maybe buy a few parts off ebay for the full experience. I have no doubt software updates, documentation, and everything is locked behind some portal that requires you to have a stupidly expensive s…
My second thought about this was "no wonder IBM is largely dead outside of stodgy corporate IT. Nobody can actually learn to use it without dropping $100,000+ on equipment."
https://www.ibm.com/it-infrastructure/z/education/master-the...
There's a contest open to students, but anyone can sign up to use these resources.