Enabling AI use on the mainframe is part of the job of a new zOS component called AI Framework for IBM z/OS. “The AI Framework for IBM z/OS Configuration Workflow guides clients through the configuration of AI Framework for IBM z/OS, to make data collection more efficient and collaborative, improving the user experience. z/OS 3.2 has improved the core functionality by breaking down the initial data collection step and updated task and variable descriptions to be clearer, more consistent, and efficient,” IBM documentation states.
Another example of AI working on the mainframe is a new version of the AI-based Workload Manager (WLM). According to IBM, AI is used to watch workload patterns and predict workload spikes. It can proactively adjust the number of initiators, or components, that launch and manage batch jobs to meet the demand, IBM said.
“If you think about the huge volume of data running through these systems, and we know that clients are hungry for AI inferencing technology so they can interpret the data and deliver outcomes very quickly,” Ryan said. “We’re putting all the AI onto the system from a hardware, operating system and a stack perspective, but it’s fully engineered across there. And the key is it’s secure and protected.”
New security features include embedded support for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) quantum-safe algorithms, which will let customers protect transactions, data and identity management now and in the future, as well as resist potential quantum attacks that might occur in the years to come, added Kelly Pushong, director, IBM Z and LinuxONE product management.
Another security item is IBM Threat Detection for z/OS (TDz), which includes a new quarantine feature that lets customers more easily contain security threats using the Big Iron’s Resource Access Control Facility (RACF), which provides access control and security auditing functions. TDz brings AI-driven threat detection using behavior analytics, machine learning, and security data feeds to monitor z/OS environments for signs of insider threats, compromised credentials, unauthorized access attempts, and suspicious behaviors, according to IBM.
The new RACF feature provides a richer set of control capabilities, Pushong said. “For example, traditionally, when a user ID is revoked, any work in progress continued to function. So, with this new capability, any [suspicious] request on that user’s behalf is going to fail with a unique reason code, so they’ll be able to stop the work that’s already in progress, issue a System Management Facility event log to track the event, and all this feeds up into the zOS threat detection capability,” Pushong said. The goal is to better control access and limit the exposure and impact of suspicious activity, she said.