Starting with z/OS® V1R6 on z890 and z990 servers, you can run Java™ applications on a new type of processor called the IBM® System z® Application Assist Processor (zAAP). You may see this processor also be referred to as IFA (Integrated Facility for Applications) in information related to zAAPs. zAAPs operate asynchronously with the general purpose processors to execute Java programming under control of the IBM Java Virtual Machine (JVM). This helps reduce the demands and capacity requirements on general purpose processors which may then be available for reallocation to other System z workloads. The IBM JVM processing cycles can be executed on the configured zAAPs. zAAPs allow you to integrate and run e-business Java workloads on the same server as your database, helping to simplify and reduce the infrastructure required for web applications.
Benefits of having zAAPs: When running standard CPs on a server, there are a wide variety of speeds or MSU ratings available. The zAAPs, however, are always run at full speed. If you have a workload that is heavy in Java execution, you could run that workload on lower speed standard CPs, along with zAAPs, which would provide significant capacity at a lower cost.
There are no anticipated modifications to Java applications required to use zAAPs.