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IBM System z 45th Anniversary Animation
45 Years ago a revolution began.
It wasn’t televised – it wasn’t front page news…but it fundamentally changed the way we live, work and interact.
45 years ago, the Mainframe was born.
Right from the start, the IBM System/360 had the power and reliability to change how businesses operated.
In 1964, Mainframes are connected by phone lines to create the airline industry’s first real time reservation system.
Decades before the internet and travel websites, the Mainframe allows airlines to easily keep track of their inventory and make air travel more convenient for everyone.
But this revolution didn’t just make businesses faster and more efficient – it completely changed the way we think about technology.
In 1972, IBM introduces virtualization on the Mainframe. Suddenly, server resources become flexible – dynamic – responsive to business needs.
It’s a technology breakthrough that is still critical today…the driving force behind server efficiency, cost reduction and lowering energy consumption.
And Mainframe innovations keep coming decade after decade – setting the bar for technology leadership.
The Mainframe delivers huge scalability with the flexibility to scale capacity up or down on demand to meet changing business needs.
It redefines high availability by focusing beyond hardware reliability, to help keep applications running 24/7.
And it continues to provide world class security. The Mainframe stands alone in conforming to some of the highest security criteria set by the industry.
It also led the way for the adoption of open standards. The Mainframe was the first IBM platform to introduce support for Linux – helping businesses simplify their infrastructure and lower IT costs.
In 2007, IBM began to transform its own IT infrastructure with Project Big Green – a plan to shrink 3,900 servers down to about 30 Mainframes running Linux. The goal - reduce energy consumption by 80% in just five years.
Today, IBM has further extended its leadership with the introduction of the most powerful Mainframe of all – the System z10.
Delivering unprecedented value and giving business across the globe the ability to reduce cost and energy consumption, the z10 sets the pace for server innovation into the future.
For 45 years, the Mainframe has revolutionized business to become one of the world’s most trusted servers.
And the revolution continues.