General recommendations and considerations for a z196 or z114 server

As you plan your migration to a zEnterprise server, consider the following:
  1. Relatively few migration actions are new when coming from a z10™ EC or a z10 BC server. Migration to a zEnterprise® server has, as its base, a migration to the z10 EC or z10 BC servers. This means that if you are migrating to a zEnterprise server from a z10 EC or z10 BC server, and have performed the migration actions associated with the z10 EC or z10 BC, you have fewer migration actions than if you were migrating from a server prior to the z10 EC or z10 BC and have not yet performed the migration actions associated with these servers. It is important to note that you can migrate directly to a zEnterprise server without installing the intermediate servers, but you still need to ensure that any migration considerations are satisfied for the servers that you "skipped.".
  2. Support is delivered by service (and FMID web deliverables for ICSF). The delta (from a z10 EC or z10 BC) support for a zEnterprise server, excluding cryptographic support, is delivered by service (PTFs) on older releases. The cryptographic support for the zEnterprise server continues to be FMIDs, many of which are still available in web deliverables. Different ICSF web deliverables, providing different levels of support, are available for different releases of z/OS. (See "Decide on the steps you will take for your migration to a zEnterprise server" in Actions you can take before you order a z196 and z114 server for further information.)
  3. Larger coupling facility structure sizes might be necessary. When you change coupling facility control code (CFCC) levels, your coupling facility structure sizes might change. zEnterprise servers initially ship with CFCC level 17. If, as part of your migration to a zEnterprise server, you change CFCC levels (either by placing a coupling facility on the zEnterprise server or by moving the coupling facility to a z10 EC or z10 BC at a later CFCC level), you might have larger structure sizes than you did previously. If your CFCC levels are identical, structure sizes are not expected to change when you migrate from a previous server to a newer generation server.
  4. Use the same software level throughout a sysplex. Having members of a sysplex at the same software level (other than during brief migration periods) is good software management policy.
  5. Migrate hardware and software at different times. To minimize the amount of change (and therefore risk) that you experience at one time, do not migrate your software release level at the same time that you migrate your hardware.
  6. Update SCRT to latest version. If you use SCRT, make sure it is at the latest level. This is a requirement for vWLC, as well as when you upgrade servers. The latest level of SCRT can be downloaded from the SCRT web site at http://www.ibm.com/eserver/zseries/swprice/scrt/.
Parent topic: Migrate to an IBM zEnterprise z196 or z114 server