Parallel Sysplex Clustering.

1. Overview
Introduced in 1994, S/390 Parallel Sysplex clustering technology is not a single product but a
combination of hardware, software and services.

Massively Parallel Processing (MPP) systems, which link dozens or even hundreds of processors,
provide exceptional power for handling problems that can be broken into many small components,
such as scientific problems. Few business processes fit that description.

Most of the powerful commercial systems in use today are based on the symmetric multiprocessor
(SMP) model of parallel processing. SMPs are subject to the "law of diminishing returns": beyond a
certain point, adding capacity to an SMP actually degrades performance. MPPs and SMPs are single
physical systems that can be disabled by failure of a subsystem and availability must be interrupted for
maintenance and upgrades.

Clusters are another approach to commercial parallelism. Clusters link individual systems to create a
single computing resource. If any system in a cluster fails, the others continue to run. Theoretically,
capacity can be added to a cluster simply by adding more systems. The challenge in designing
clusters is presenting a single system image -- making multiple computers work together as one.

Parallel Sysplex meets this challenge through its unique datasharing architecture and workload
management, which permit dynamic workload balancing. This approach permits multiple copies of the
operating system and individual applications to run at the same time, each having access to all the
resources with the Parallel Sysplex system -- as a result, should any hardware or software component
fail, application availability continues. In addition to nearly continuous computing, the ability to
dynamically adjust workloads permits the system to provide a consistent, stable environment.

Up to 32 S/390 servers can be added to a Parallel Sysplex system with near linear scalability for
capacity far exceeding any single commercial workload. Single System Image -- For the purposes of
scheduling work and systems management, all the servers in a Parallel Sysplex system can be treated
as a single system.

2. Sysplex Technology
Large system configurations have evolved from a single system uniprocessor through tightly coupled
multiprocessors, to a loosely coupled configuration, to the sysplex.

2.1 Single System Uniprocessor

A system is made up of hardware products including a CPU – a central processor (CP) in IBM
terminology - , and software products, with the primary one being an operating system such as
OS/390. Other types of software--system application programs, end-user application programs, tools--
run on the system. The CPU is the functional hardware unit that interprets and processes program
instructions. The CPU and other system hardware, such as channels and storage, make up a central
processor complex (CPC).

The System/390 architecture defines that a single CPU process one and only one instruction from a
program at a time. The OS/390 operating system manages the instructions to be processed and the
resources required to process them. When a single copy of the OS/390 operating system (OS/390
image) manages the processing of a CPC that has a single CPU, the system configuration is called a
uniprocessor.
Figure 1. A Uniprocessor with One OS/390 Image

2.2 Tightly Coupled Multiprocessors

When you add more CPUs to the central processor complex (CPC), you add the capability of
processing program instructions simultaneously. When all the CPs share central storage and a single
OS/390 image manages the processing, work is assigned to a CPU that is available to do the work. If
a CPU fails, work can be routed to another CP. This hardware and software organization is called a
tightly coupled multiprocessor.

A tightly coupled multiprocessor has more than one CPU and a single OS/390 image sharing central
storage. The CPs are managed by the single OS/390 image, which assigns work to them.
Figure 2. A Tightly Coupled Multiprocessor

2.3 Loosely Coupled Configuration

A tightly coupled multiprocessor provides CPU backup in case of failure. But what about software
backup? Can you have more than one OS/390 image in a configuration?

Systems outside a sysplex can coordinate more than one OS/390 image with the OS/390 job entry
subsystem components (JES2 and JES3) and global resource serialization. These components
establish a means of sharing a work input queue across a number of systems to allow shared data
sets, printers, and consoles. This type of system configuration is called loosely coupled.

A loosely coupled configuration has more than one CPC (the CPCs will be possibly tightly coupled
multiprocessors), sharing DASD but not central storage. The CPCs can connect by channel-to-
channel communications and are managed by more than one OS/390 image. Work is distributed from
a shared job queue to each OS/390.

Although a loosely coupled configuration increases system capacity, it is not as easy to manage as
either a uniprocessor or a tightly coupled multiprocessor. Each system must be managed separately,
often by a human operator, who monitors product-specific messages on a set of consoles for each
system.

Products and applications that need to communicate and are running on separate systems have to
create their own communication mechanism. These varied communication mechanisms add to the
difficulty of managing a loosely coupled configuration.
Figure 3. A Loosely Coupled Configuration

2.4 Base Sysplex

To help solve the difficulties of managing many OS/390 systems, IBM introduced the MVS systems
complex or sysplex in September of 1990. The base sysplex lays the groundwork for simplified
multisystem management through the cross-system coupling facility (XCF) component of MVS/ESA.
XCF services allow authorized applications on one system to communicate with on other systems (or
on the same system). In a base sysplex, CPCs connect by channel-to-channel communications and a
shared dataset to support the communication. When more than one CPC is involved, a Sysplex Timer
synchronizes the time on all systems.

The base sysplex is similar to a loosely coupled configuration in that more than one CPC (possibly a
tightly coupled multiprocessor) shares DASD and is managed by more than one OS/390 image. A
sysplex is different from a loosely coupled configuration because through XCF, there is a standard
communication mechanism for OS/390 system applications.

Figure 4. A Base Sysplex

2.5 Parallel Sysplex

Since the introduction of the sysplex, IBM has developed technologies that enhance sysplex
capabilities. The Parallel Sysplex supports a greater number of systems and significantly improves
communication and data sharing among those systems.

High performance communication and data sharing among a large number of OS/390 systems could
be technically difficult. But with the Parallel Sysplex, high performance data sharing through a new
coupling technology (coupling facility) gives high performance multisystem data sharing capability to
authorized applications, such as OS/390 subsystems. Use of the coupling facility by subsystems, such
as Information Management System (IMS), ensures the integrity and consistency of data throughout
the entire sysplex.

The capability of linking together many systems and providing multisystem data sharing makes the
sysplex platform ideal for parallel processing, particularly for online transaction processing (OLTP) and
decision support.

In short, a Parallel Sysplex builds on the base sysplex capability, and allows you to increase the
number of CPCs and OS/390 images that can directly share work. The coupling facility enables high
performance, multisystem data sharing across all the systems. In addition, workloads can be
dynamically balanced across systems with the help of new workload management functions.

Figure 5. A Parallel Sysplex