Matt Hogstrom wrote: >Think of ZCX as a means of hosting Linux based software >inside of a z/OS system much like one would run VirtualBox >or VMware on a system to host another OS.
I don't think that's a great analogy. VirtualBox and VMware are quite large and complex hypervisors, with some fairly significant overhead, that can host entire, arbitrary operating systems. Docker isn't that -- very deliberately not that. It is virtualization, but it's not a virtual machine (VM) technology. Here's another analogy that might work for some. Docker containers are like standardized shipping containers. Ships, boats, trains, trucks, and loading cranes can all transport shipping containers because they all have the standard interfaces to handle them. z/OS Container Extensions (zCX) equips z/OS with the ability to transport (run) all Docker containers that can run on Linux on Z or on LinuxONE. But Docker containers don't have their own wheels, motors, propellers, etc. -- they're lighter weight than that. And you don't have to virtualize the road, water, rails, etc. Docker is somewhat analogous to AIX's WPAR, if that helps. Although it's not a requirement, anybody can (and many people do) create multi-architecture Docker images. So the same, fully elaborated/manifest-ed, multi-arch image can run on a suitably configured machine with z/OS 2.4, Linux on Z, LinuxONE, Linux on Power, Linux on X86, Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux on ARM (e.g. Raspberry Pis), etc. A VirtualBox or VMware analogy would ordinarily include something like "Step 2: Install and configure an operating system (Linux)" as part of the formula. No, you won't need to do that with zCX. Please embrace zCX as expeditiously as possible. It should be easy to embrace since (I expect) it'll feel very comfortable in z/OS. It's a huge $@#$ing deal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy Sipples IT Architect Executive, Industry Solutions, IBM Z & LinuxONE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: [email protected] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
