The balanced design of the S/390 G5 server processor clusters contribute to much greater throughput with less variability for different workloads.

With the S/390 G5 servers, IBM has introduced two new coupling channels that provide greater Parallel Sysplex cluster efficiency and throughput: the Internal Coupling (IC) Channel and the Integrated Cluster Bus (ICB). S/390 G5 servers also feature Dynamic Internal Coupling Facility (ICF) Expansion, a significant new function that permits an ICF logical partition to scale as demand requires by growing into the available processor pool.

Fibre Channel Connectivity (FICON), an enhancement to IBM's world-class ESCON® architecture, delivers up to 100MB/second full-duplex throughput (available 1Q 1999), speeding the flow of information to and from storage devices for even greater performance.

IBM is committed to incorporating Gigabit Ethernet into S/390 G5 servers to provide the highest level of network performance. Gigabit Ethernet is ten times faster than today's Fast Ethernet standard and promises to meet the growing need for high-performance data movement. For example, with Gigabit Ethernet installed, S/390 will be able to provide the performance necessary to host Internet and e-business image and video databases.

Up to 24 gigabytes of memory can be allocated between real and expanded storage to handle growing databases and applications.

Gateway to e-business and your network

The Open System Adapter 2 (OSA-2), standard on S/390 G5 servers, is an integrated S/390 hardware feature that delivers connectivity to ATM, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Token-Ring and Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) and Local Area Networks (LANs). OSA-2 provides this full-duplex LAN connectivity to System Network Architecture/Advanced Peer-to-Peer Networking (SNA/APPN®), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and IPX clients from S/390 Server resources. SNA/APPN and TCP/IP traffic over ATM links is supported in ATM-native mode. Support also is provided for disk and print serving and data distribution using LANRES. Network file serving is provided using LAN Server (available on OS/390, MVS/ESA™, VM/ESA® and VSE/ESA™). Automated file backup and restore for client data on workstations can be achieved with products such as ADSM.

Connection to the Internet/intranet is now much easier and more secure with Domino Go Webserver™ for OS/390 (formerly IBM Internet Connection Secure Server), and with gateways from CICS, DB2, IMS and MQSeries products.

IBM is a leader in the industry with its high-availability cryptographic coprocessor that brings greater security to e-business. Because of its design, hardware cryptography can make network transactions more secure and faster than some software implementations. The cryptographic coprocessor feature enables applications to invoke industry-standard cryptographic services -- such as CDMF, DES and Triple DES or RSA -- to help protect personal identification numbers, message authentication codes, data, passwords, digital signatures and applications requiring public key technology. Significant new functions in S/390 G5 servers include support for Secure Electronic Transaction™ (SET™) capability, Visa/MasterCard Credit Card Verification, Public Key Data Set (PKDS) for secure key entry and Double-Key MAC Support for authentication.

Increased productivity and availability

Application availability is probably the most critical element of any processing platform for enterprise computing. The new S/390 G5 enterprise server processors deliver extremely high availability in a single footprint. Responsiveness to users is increased with S/390 G5 server family's balanced design, faster channels and processors. With less downtime and less waiting, your productivity and profitability can be enhanced.

High availability is realized through very high component reliability and design features that help provide fault avoidance and tolerance as well as permitting concurrent maintenance and repair. CP/SAP sparing, the internal battery feature, CP/SAP recovery, enhanced LPAR dynamic storage reconfiguration, partial memory restart and dynamic memory sparing are examples of the built-in functions that help to reduce planned and unplanned outages. S/390 G5 enterprise servers are a superior choice for providing 99.999 percent availability with Parallel Sysplex clustering technology. Parallel Sysplex clustering offers many benefits in the processing environment, including the ability to configure at a reasonable cost while enhancing the flexibility of the information technology organization to respond to changing business requirements. The S/390 G5 servers add a number of enhancements, including Internal Coupling (IC) Channels and an Integrated Cluster Bus (ICB) that further enhance the efficiency of a Parallel Sysplex cluster.

S/390 G5 enterprise servers are supported by many different operating systems, including OS/390, VM, VSE and TPF. Using VM, you can now serve data to customers via Internet protocols to create enhanced support for client/server systems. Using VSE, you can help protect your investment in people and skills and allow for the future growth of your business through easy migration within the S/390 family.