Technical Overview

IBM z14 provides the cornerstone for the trust economy

The world is in the midst of a transformation. It’s having a profound effect on us as individuals, in business, and in society at large. As businesses adapt to capitalize on digital, trust will be the currency that drives this new economy.

Trust is the foundation of digital relationships. Consumer, client, and partner expectations have grown. They demand security, transparency, and greater value in every interaction and transaction as this new currency is exchanged.

Data is the new source of business value and differentiation. The ability to rapidly derive actionable insights will enable progressively smarter business decisions and improve customer experiences, leading to new revenue streams. Data protection is paramount for trust across the ecosystem.

Digital experiences are delivered through the cloud. Businesses must be open and connected in order to drive innovation at speed. They must accelerate development and delivery of secure, scalable services with new economic models.

The IBM z14, designed for trusted digital experiences

IBM z14 (z14), machine type 3906, provides a scalable, highly available platform that delivers differentiated value to enable business growth, reduce cost, and protect existing investments. The IBM z14 platform provides the hardware infrastructure, in a balanced system design, with the encryption capabilities that now make it possible to create a fortified perimeter around critical business data. z14 provides the infrastructure to meet the demands of a digital business. z14 continues in the same footprint as its predecessor z13, 42u in height with a 38u height reduction. It runs at 5.2GHz processor frequency, offers 8 TB memory/drawer for up to 32 TB per machine, 85 partitions, and up to 170 cores to configure (versus 141 on z13). z14 also offers IBM Virtual Flash Memory (VFM), Dynamic Partition Manager (DPM), zHyperLink Express, enhanced computing for TKE and HMC, Coupling Express LR for long range coupling connectivity, and a design for pervasive encryption allowing you to encrypt many new data sets transparently.

The newest member of the IBM Z family, the IBM z14 (z14), (TM), is designed to be the cornerstone for a trust economy. IBM z14 provides a scalable, highly available platform that delivers differentiated value to enable business growth, reduce cost, and protect existing investments.

• More total system capacity as compared to the z13 for exceptional scale in a single footprint.
• Faster uniprocessor performance as compared to z13.
• 170 cores to configure (versus 141 on z13).
• Up to 32 terabytes (TB) of available Redundant Array of Independent Memory (RAIM) real memory per server to help improve transaction response times, lower CPU costs, simplify capacity planning, enlarge in-memory buffer pools, and ease deploying memory-intensive workloads.
• 2x more on-chip cache per core, compared to z13, to minimize memory waits while maximizing the throughput of concurrent workloads — perfectly optimized for data serving.
• A design for pervasive encryption allowing you to encrypt many new data sets transparently, which can help you to provide an envelope of protection around data placed on IBM Z. This includes cryptographic performance improvements with the Crypto Express6S (#0893) and the IBM Z processor based cryptography with the CP Assist for Cryptographic Functions that helps enable the protection of data in flight or at rest.
• Hardware accelerated encryption on every core with the Central Processor Assist for Cryptographic Function (CPACF) feature which is designed to provide faster encryption and decryption than previous servers.
• Economies of scale with next-generation multithreading (SMT) for Linux and zIIP eligible workloads, new support for the I/O System Assist Processor (SAP), 2x AES performance over z13, a True Random Number Generator, SHA3 support, and RSA/ECC acceleration.
• New instructions in Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) which are designed to give a performance boost for traditional workloads using COBOL and new applications like analytics.
• FICON Express16S+ (#0427, 0428) which is designed with a boost in I/O rates and a reduction in single stream latency to help absorb large application and transaction spikes driven by large unpredictable analytic and mobile workloads.
• Improved compression ratio (using Huffman coding) and order-preserving compression for the on-chip compression coprocessor which results in fewer CPU cycles to enable further compression of data, improving memory, transfer, and disk efficiency.
• 10 GbE RoCE Express2 with 4x more virtual functions per adapter and a performance improvement.
• Coupling Express LR (#0433), for long range coupling connectivity. It is a replacement for the existing InfiniBand 1x HCA3-O LR coupling links.
• IBM Hardware Management Console (HMC) 2.14 with simplification updates to improve workspace and manage system time. New security features include Multifactor Authentication and a new HMC Mobile application for monitor and recover action controls.
• IBM Secure Service Container (formerly called z Appliance Container Infrastructure — zACI) which can be used to create isolated partitions for protecting data and applications automatically –helping to keep them safe from insider threats as well as external cybercriminals.
• IBM Dynamic Partition Manager enhancements which provide a simplified, consumable, enhanced IBM Z experience, reducing the barriers of adoption for new and existing Linux on z Systems, KVM, and z/VM clients.
• Trusted Key Entry (TKE) 9.0 License Internal Code (LIC).
• Optimized z/OS Platform for Apache Spark.
• Java performance: support for reducing program pauses during Java Garbage Collection.
• IBM Virtual Flash Memory (#0604), the replacement for the Flash Express features (#0402, #0403), offering up to 6.0 TB of virtual flash memory in 1.5 TB increments for improved application availability and to handle paging workload spikes.
• IBM zHyperLink Express (#0431), which uses a direct connect short distance link (zHyperLink) to deliver low latency connectivity between z14 and FICON storage systems. Working in conjunction with your existing FICON SAN infrastructure, zHyperLink Express delivers the next generation of I/O for IBM Z storage.
• Nonraised floor option, offering flexible possibilities for the data center.
• Optional water cooling, providing the ability to cool systems with user-chilled water.
• Optional high-voltage dc power, which can help IBM Z clients save on their power bills.
• Optional top exit power and I/O cabling designed to provide increased flexibility.
• New ASHRAE class A3 for robustness, data center flexibility, and energy savings.
• The inclusion of IBM zAware function for cutting-edge pattern recognition analytics for fast insight into system health as part of the IBM software product IBM Operations Analytics for z Systems(tm)V3.1
• Upgradability to IBM z14 from IBM z13 and IBM zEnterprise EC12 and upgradability within the IBM z14 family.

z14 10-Core Chip Details

The z14 PU chip (installed as a PU SCM) is an evolution of the z13 core design. It includes the following features:

• CMOS 14nm SOI technology
• Out-of-order instruction processing
• Pipeline enhancements, dynamic improved simultaneous multithreading (SMT), enhanced single-instruction multiple-data (SIMD), and redesigned, larger on-chip caches

Each PU chip includes up to 10 active cores that run at 5.2 GHz, which means that the cycle time is 0.192 ns. The PU chips come in four versions: 7, 8, 9, or 10 active cores. For models M01, M02, M03, and M04, the processor units in each drawer are implemented with 41 active cores per drawer. This configuration means that model M01 has 41, model M02 has 82, mode, M03 has 123, and model M04 has 164 active cores.

Cache Improvements

– New power efficient logical directory design
– 33% larger L1 I$ (128 KB), private
– 2x larger L2 D$ (4 MB), private
– 2x larger L3 cache with symbol ECC, shared

Pipeline Optimizations

– Improved instruction delivery
– Faster branch wake-up
– Reduced execution latency
– Improved OSC avoidance
– Optimized second-generation SMT2

Inside the IBM Z14 3906