IBM has updated its LinuxONE mainframes, using the same hardware as its new z17 mainframe platform but designed only to run Linux operating systems, with the focus on artificial intelligence.
The LinuxONE Emperor 5 is the fifth generation of IBM LinuxONE iron and comes three years after the release of the last generation. The new Emperor has been updated for improved security, cost-efficiency, and AI acceleration of mission-critical enterprise workloads.
Another focus of Emperor 5 is on operational efficiency and consolidation. By moving cloud-native, containerized workloads to LinuxONE, IBM estimates organizations can save up to 44% on TCO over five years, and up to $10.6 million in TCO savings over the same period.
Emperor 5 is powered by the new IBM Telum II processor, featuring eight high-performance cores running at 5.5GHz, with a 40% increase in on-chip cache capacity (the L4 cache is an incredible 2.88GB). Its on-chip accelerator for inferencing supports a wider set of AI models than the prior generation of the processor. The result is Emperor 5 is designed to process up to five million inference operations per second each with a response time of less than one millisecond.
The new Emperor also supports the IBM Spyre Accelerator for AI users who want the most processing they can get. Spyre is a 32-core specialized accelerator that can pack up to 8 cards for 256 acceleration cores in a single server.
The chip has been designed to send data directly from one compute engine to the next rather than going through memory and networking equipment, leading to energy savings and performance improvements over standard CPUs. IBM Spyre Accelerator is due for release in 4Q 2025.
In addition to generative AI applications, new multiple model AI approaches are engineered to enhance prediction and accuracy in many industry use cases like advanced fraud detection, image processing and retail automation, according to IBM.
LinuxONE Emperor 5 also comes with advanced security features specifically designed for the AI threat landscape. The platform extends IBM’s end-to-end cybersecurity approach through confidential computing, a technique where data is encrypted even when in memory. The platform also comes with NIST-standardized post-quantum cryptographic algorithms.
The mainframe also comes with a hardware security module and support for confidential containers, and integrated with Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform to ensure sensitive AI models and data remain protected.
With IBM Secure Execution, LinuxONE Emperor 5 utilizes security features rooted in hardware to isolate workloads, providing protection against insider threats and unauthorized access from within the workload provisioning infrastructure.
On the software side, the AI Toolkit for IBM LinuxONE has been updated and optimized for Telum II, developer productivity and AI deployment. AI Toolkit for LinuxONE includes the latest version of the IBM Z Deep Learning Compiler, which allows the use of the on-chip AI Accelerator on Telum II processor.
The toolkit has enhancements and optimizations for popular open-source frameworks, including PyTorch, TensorFlow, TensorFlow Serving, NVIDIA Triton Inference Server, and SnapML. It also supports a variety of databases, including IBM Db2, MongoDB, EDB, and Oracle.
IBM LinuxONE Emperor 5 will ship in June.
Source:: Network World