Fujitsu: New BS2000 servers combine the mainframe with Intel Xeon CPUs

The Japanese IT group Fujitsu is now bringing two new mainframes for its BS2000 operating system and the system software in version SE V6.5 onto the European market. The two new server models SE730 and SE330 and their system software have recently been released, and the first customer deliveries were already scheduled for August.

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Operate mainframes with BS2000 or virtualization

The two representatives of the new mainfame generation of the SE series are further developments of the SE710 and SE310 models launched in October 2019. The new top model SE730 comes with a server unit (SU) in IBM’s S/390 technology, the smaller model SE330 with an x86 SU – both under BS2000, but also with the option for virtualization. Both boxes have a corresponding management unit (MU), which also serves as a central execution unit for additive software, application units (AU) for Windows or Linux operating systems (native/hypervisor) and x86 applications, a net unit (NU) for networking as well as a peripheral unit for the high-performance and secure integration of storage systems.

The SE730 model holds one or two system boards, each with eight BS2000 CPUs, two I/O processors, 64 or 128 GB of main memory and supports up to 256 application units. The new entry-level model SE330 has a system board with four Xeon 6328H processors from Intel and can support up to 16 BS2000 processors.

The monoprocessor performance of the SE330 model is rated at 300 RPF (Relative Performance Factor), the maximum performance at around 2,500 RPF. For comparison: the SE730 performance ranges from 360 to 6,000. The C40-F model from the late 1980s, with its RPF value of 1, forms the basis for this type of performance measurement. This corresponds to the MIPS value of 1.2 in the IBM world.

Application units enable x86 software

One of the most important functions of the SE infrastructure is virtualization – not just for BS2000, but through the use of Application Units (AU) for x86 applications under Linux or Windows, virtualized with VMware ESXi. Fujitsu has also significantly improved the Net Unit, which, based on Cisco switches, enables a redundant connection of the SE units to each other and to the company network. For example, physically separate data and administration networks, 10 Gbit/s data connections (internal to the SE and to the company network) and tagged VLANs for logically separate networks can be implemented. The Cisco Nexus 93180YC-FX and 9348GC-FXP switches are currently supported as part of the SE infrastructure, both with the NX-OS operating system.

These latest announcements follow the decision in February 2022 to end sales of global server mainframes in 2030 – and their support in 2035. The BS2000 mainframe operating system acquired from Siemens is not directly affected by this decision. It will continue to be developed as long as there is a need on the market – and according to the company’s own assessment, this will extend “well beyond 2030”.

(jvo)

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