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I do not know if IBM will do this with the AI work. but in many other similar circumstances they give the option of buying Application Assist Processors. That

I do not know if IBM will do this with the AI work. but in many other similar circumstances they give the option of buying Application Assist Processors. That takes the work away from the main processor. It is possible that IBM will offer some custom zAAP optimized for running the AI workloads. IBM also open up running AI in their cloud.

skissane 5y ago
> but in many other similar circumstances they give the option of buying Application Assist Processors. That takes the work away from the main processor. zAAPs, zIIPs and IFLs are exactly the same hardware as main processors. The difference between them is purely at the licensing level. The firmware sets a flag saying "don't run classic z/OS workloads". z/OS sees that flag set and then will only schedule "new" workloads (such as Java and XML) to that processor. Actually there is an undocumented API you can use to schedule any (enclave SRB mode) workload to the zAAP – IBM keeps it under NDA, and ISVs have to agree to obey IBM's rules about what workloads are allowed to run as part of that NDA. (One ISV, Neon, started selling a tool to run an arbitrary workload on the zAAP, called zPrime, IBM immediately sued them, and Neon settled the lawsuit in 2011 and agreed to drop the tool). Other operating systems, such as z/Linux, ignore that flag completely and to them a zAAP is just the same as a normal main processor (CP). > It is possible that IBM will offer some custom zAAP optimized for running the AI workloads. Yes but that wouldn't be a zAAP. They do have hardware accelerators for various functions (crypto, compression, sorting) but those aren't zAAPs (or zIIPs or IFLs). Crypto acceleration is CPACF (extra CPU instructions on main CPUs) and Crypto Express (external accelerator card). Compression hardware acceleration is zEDC. Sorting hardware acceleration is the Integrated Accelerator for Z Sort.

skissane 5y ago

> but in many other similar circumstances they give the option of buying Application Assist Processors. That takes the work away from the main processor. zAAPs, zIIPs and IFLs are exactly the same hardware as main processors. The difference between them is purely at the licensing level. The firmware sets a flag saying "don't run classic z/OS workloads". z/OS sees that flag set and then will only schedule "new" workloads (such as Java and XML) to that processor. Actually there is an undocumented API you can use to schedule any (enclave SRB mode) workload to the zAAP – IBM keeps it under NDA, and ISVs have to agree to obey IBM's rules about what workloads are allowed to run as part of that NDA. (One ISV, Neon, started selling a tool to run an arbitrary workload on the zAAP, called zPrime, IBM immediately sued them, and Neon settled the lawsuit in 2011 and agreed to drop the tool). Other operating systems, such as z/Linux, ignore that flag completely and to them a zAAP is just the same as a normal main processor (CP). > It is possible that IBM will offer some custom zAAP optimized for running the AI workloads. Yes but that wouldn't be a zAAP. They do have hardware accelerators for various functions (crypto, compression, sorting) but those aren't zAAPs (or zIIPs or IFLs). Crypto acceleration is CPACF (extra CPU instructions on main CPUs) and Crypto Express (external accelerator card). Compression hardware acceleration is zEDC. Sorting hardware acceleration is the Integrated Accelerator for Z Sort.