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> May 2003 Update (this
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Four areas are covered in this update:
- New z990 servers and WLC (links to May
13 WLC related announcements)
- Single Version Charging was clarified with
a recent announcement
- OS/390 and Full Capacity WLC
- In LCS there is now a concept of Expendable
MSUs based on your WLM Goals and Importance settings. While
you are analyzing and tuning Defined Capacity settings LCS is
the only tool that helps you understand the impact on your workload
as well as the impact on your budget!
The previous Update included questions
I'm often asked about WLC.
On Tuesday 13May2003 IBM announced a new server, the z990. I'll
leave the marketing to IBM but key features available June 16th
include:
- Uniprocessor about 450 MIPS, 77 MSUs
- z990-A08, 8 CPs about 2990 MIPS, 503 MSUs
- z990-B16, 16 CPs about 5060 MIPS, 814 MSUs
Capabilities available October 31st include:
- C24 and D32 Models, about 9060 MIPS, 1512 MSUs (slightly smaller
than three z900-216s)
- z/OS Support 2 Channel Subsystems and 512 Channels on a z990.
Still 256 channels in a single LPAR
- up to 30 LPARs
- z/OS should support more than 16 engines in an LPAR (but not all 32)
- On/Off Capacity Upgrade on Demand
The machine provides
a new opportunity for LPAR consolidation due to it's size and improved
I/O capabilities. Recall how the basis for Variable WLC charges
changed in April 2002 to the maximum simultaneous four-hour rolling
average (4HRA). I've said that there are few rules of thumb for
WLC, but LPAR consolidation appears to always reduce costs for IBM
software with WLC. The effect of the simultaneous 4HRA is to further
smooth out the peaks in your LPAR's workloads.
Consider this scenario: -
z900#1234 has 3 LPARs that last month peaked at 300 MSUs on April 15 at 1:00 pm.
- z900#5678 has 4 LPARs that peaked at 412 MSUs on April 18 at 3:00pm.
- The total aggregate charge for z/OS for April would be based on 712 MSUs.
- On a single z990 the simultaneous peak would not be 712 MSUs!
It would be a new "peak" determined by the maximum simultaneous
4HRA across all 7 LPARs. Since the peaks on the separate z900s were not at the same time, the new z990 simultaneous 4HRA peak will be at a different time.
Hence the effect of consolidating LPARs lowers the
maximum simultaneous 4 hour rolling average. Additionally
the Flat WLC products that may have been charged
once for each z900 are now charged once for the
single z990. Certainly there are other issues besides
the software costs that must be considered, but
leveraging WLC is an important component in the
analysis. LCS, our
product to assist you with WLC has a documented
procedure to perform "what-if" analysis and to demonstrate
the savings by this type of consolidation. (The
same is true for consolidating two or more z900s
onto a larger z900).
May 13, 2003 WLC Related Announcements: z990
Servers, WLC
Changes, and z/OS
Support for z990s
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As Originally Announced for WLC
New versions of products were treated as separate versions until
they used more MSUs than the older version. Once the new version
used more MSUs than the older version the new version would be
SVC, and the charges for the older version would stop.
Example: Consider Upgrading DB2 UDB Version 6 to DB2
UDB Version 7
While DB2 UDB V7 is being evaluated and using less MSUs than DB2
UDB V6, both versions were to be billed as if they were separate
products.
Clarification from March 2003
Combine MSUs, Not More than z/OS
IBM Announcement 203-082
changed SVC when used with WLC. Now you first
combine the "Tool MSUs" from the SCRT of DB2 UDB
V7 and DB2 UDB V6. Next compare that sum of the
product MSUs with the "Tool MSUs" for
z/OS. The z/OS MSUs are an upper bound on the
sum of the product MSUs. The charges will be based
on the lower of these two numbers, and the prices
of the newer product. If multiple versions of
z/OS (looking ahead to z/OS Version 2) are being
used then the MSUs of the full capacity of the
zSeries machine are charged the "prices"
of the newer version of z/OS.
Example: Upgrading DB2 Version 6 to DB2 Version 7
The following table matches the example above.
The sum of DB2 MSUs are 476, more than the z/OS
MSUs, so the z/OS "Tool" MSUs will be
used. DB2 is charged for 428 MSUs at the DB2 V7
prices. This report is extracted from LCSSCRT1F.
(LCS handles Single
Version Charges correctly.)
Product Name |
Product ID |
SCRT Tool MSUs |
LCS MSUs Honoring
SVC |
LCS VWLC Price Estimate |
| z/OS V1 |
5694-A01 |
428 |
428 |
$98,315 |
| DB2 V7 |
5675-DB2 |
201 |
428 |
$41,741 |
| DB2 V6 |
5645-DB2 |
275 |
0 |
$0 |
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A zSeries machine running OS/390 is not eligible for WLC Sub-Capacity
Pricing because of the OS/390. However, if z/OS is licensed to
the machine it is eligible for Full-Capacity WLC. This was discussed
in our previous update, but there
continue to be questions. The key to the savings is that OS/390
does not have a "price" in Full-Capacity WLC so it is
not charged and you pay the full capacity price for z/OS. You
are still paying for an "operating system", but you
are able to use both.
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LPAR Capacity and Software Usage Analysis (LCS) Software
is available. LCS was developed to assist installations
in planning for and implementing IBM’s Workload License
Charges (WLC). Read the PDF brochure
for a description of all the LCS capabilities.NEW! LCS
Version 01.05 now includes the concept of Expendable MSUs. When
setting defined capacity there are two key decision points:
- what is the expected cost savings, if any?
- what is the expected workload impact?
The LCS reports and planning spreadsheets provide
both the financial and workload information necessary
for decision making. Read more on LCS
and Expendable MSUs.
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More Questions? Please send an Email
Last Updated:
Thursday, 31 July, 2003
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