PKWARE accelerates software development with IBM System z9

For the last twenty years, PKWARE®, Inc. has been developing software technology behind the industry standard cross-platform data compression utilities PKZIP® and SecureZIP®. Founded in 1986, PKWARE develops and tests its compression/encryption/digital signing software at its headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. PKWARE has created software products that run on machines ranging from individual PCs, to servers for small and medium businesses, to mainframes used in large enterprises around the world.

The ability to develop software for multiple platforms and work environments contributes greatly to the success of PKWARE. Development environments at PKWARE include IBM System i™, IBM System p™, IBM System x™, and IBM System z™. As Joe Sturonas, Chief Technology Officer at PKWARE, says, “There’s very little we don’t run on. As an ISV, it’s very important for us to work in the same environments as our customers.”

A new System z9 solution
Because PKWARE’s largest customers run their most critical systems and data on IBM System z, it is an important part of their IT infrastructure. “Our customers have invested a lot in System z,” Sturonas explains, “so it is important to show them our commitment to the platform.”

PKWARE recently demonstrated that commitment by deploying an IBM System z9 Business Class (z9 BC) 4-way server, connected via fibre channel to an IBM System Storage DS6800 disk storage system that provides 4.5 TB of storage. The new solution replaced the company’s previous IBM eServer™ zSeries® 800 server and IBM TotalStorage® Enterprise Storage Server® F20.

PKWARE leveraged its relationship with IBM Premier Business Partner Sirius Computer Solutions to help design, configure and install the solution. The relationship allowed PKWARE’s IT technicians to maintain their focus on product development. Early in the process, PKWARE representatives attended a Sirius-hosted IBM Executive Briefing session held at IBM’s System z facility in New York. This event gave Sturonas and his team an opportunity to meet directly with members of the System z team and learn more about the platform’s features and options.

Once the project was underway, Sirius’ role in the solution implementation included configuring I/O definitions and migrating PKWARE’s data to the DS6800. To minimize disruption of the development schedule, the team got both systems running side-by-side before cutting over to the new system. “We rolled the z9 in, we rolled the z800 out, and we were up and running. We never skipped a beat,” says Sturonas.

Leveraging hardware cryptographic capabilities
One of the key features of the System z9 BC server—and one of the main selling points for Sturonas—is the built-in Central Processor Assist for Cryptographic Function (CPACF). CPACF provides a wide range of encryption capabilities, including Data Encryption Standard (DES), Triple DES and 128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption.

“We wanted very much to take advantage of the hardware cryptography options of the z9,” explains Sturonas. “It’s not something we had on the z800.” This feature not only increases encryption throughput, but also provides an encryption counterpoint for testing the decryption features of PKWARE’s software. “There is also a sense of security for our customers by being able to do cryptography in hardware,” adds Sturonas. “And there are performance advantages as well.”

Enabling a multi-OS environment
In addition to new hardware cryptography capabilities, the System z9 server gives PKWARE new flexibility in terms of configuring logical partitions (LPARs). Whereas the z800 enabled only four LPARs, the z9 server enables 16. This configuration allows PKWARE to run a wide variety of operating systems, including multiple versions of Linux® and older versions of IBM z/OS® running in an IBM z/VM® environment. They can now complete all development, testing, and QA for these operating systems on a single machine.

As Sturonas points out, “Our customers are all running different versions of z/OS. We have to be able to test on those multiple versions and to reproduce specific conditions. The LPARs allow us to do that.”

In addition, PKWARE is running data compilers, database systems, and several IBM subsystems such as IBM WebSphere® and IBM DB2® on the System z9 partitions.

Supporting extensive QA cycles
PKWARE’s rigorous QA testing processes confirmed the company’s need to upgrade to the System z9 server. These processes require the transfer and processing of large amounts of data, across all of the platforms the software supports.

“The type of testing we do involves a tremendous amount of data,” explains Sturonas. “We’ve got thousands of different types of data sets that we are testing—compressing, encrypting, decrypting and extracting in multiple runs that try to exercise all the functionality of the software. And these are very large files—greater than 4 GB. When we’re in a QA cycle, our machines are extremely busy 24/7.”

Sturonas says the new IBM solution has dramatically reduced QA cycle times. “We had one job in particular that was running over 12 hours,” he reports. “Now it’s running in about four.”

Increasing storage capacity—and enabling a faster connection
Sturonas attributes these performance improvements to both the hardware and the fibre channel connection (FICON®) to the DS6800, a connection that is substantially faster than the Enterprise Systems Connection (ESCON®) they used in their previous implementation. “The FICON has dramatically improved our I/O throughput,” he says. “Being able to use a faster channel is a huge benefit in reducing the time it takes to get our work done, including our product build process.”

The DS6800 has increased PKWARE’s data storage capacity from 1.1 to 4.5 TB while reducing the storage footprint. This expanded storage capacity enables them to store multiple versions of source code for each of the various operating systems as well as test scripts, data and archives. Sturonas says the DS6800 helps facilitate the testing process. “We have to test different types of data sets of all different sizes, and the DS6800 allows us to do that without having to move things around. The data is always available when we need it.”

Committed to System z
No longer limited by throughput, partitions, storage, or connectivity, PKWARE is well positioned for continued success on the IBM z9 platform. “Our productivity has gone up tremendously,” says Sturonas. “We’re very committed to System z.”

For more information
Contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner. Visit us at: ibm.com/systems/z

For more information about PKWARE, visit: www.pkware.com

For more information about Sirius Computer Solutions, visit: www.siriuscom.com