An existing IBM customer explains they cannot consider POWER8 because they have a small application that requires AIX 5.2. Which of the following capabilities will allow that application to run on a…

Question

Options

• ALittle Endian support will allow AIX 5.2 to run on any POWER8 server.
• BVersioned Workload Partitions (WPARs) for AIX 7.1 EE can allow workloads dependent on AIX
• CLogical Partitions (LPARs) enable different versions of AIX to run simultaneously on one
• DAIX binary compatibility allows applications created on earlier releases of AIX to run unchanged

• A
  86% (25)
• B
  3% (1)
• C
  7% (2)
• D
  3% (1)

Explanation

Support for little endian mode in the POWER8 processor enables a new generation of applications. While I plan to devote future blog entries to this topic, let me take a moment to address some basic facts about the technology. First, the traditional POWER operating systems (AIX, and IBM i) are big endian and will continue to run as such on POWER8 and future systems. Second, Linux operating systems over time will be migrating from being big endian to little endian in an organized way that by no means compromises the support cycles for their existing releases. Third, as little endian operating systems come to market, a new little endian application ecosystem will grow. Given that most applications today support one or more little endian operating systems (Windows or x86 Linux) and at least one big endian operating system (Linux on Power, AIX, or z/OS), this ecosystem should grow quickly. Finally, little endian mode on POWER8 is not a magic bullet: compiled x86 Linux applications will still require a recompile at a minimum because the x86 and Power instruction set architectures are still different. With this new support, Power will simplify on step in the porting process for new applications, but to develop the whole ecosystem will take time. 44a4f27eba32/entry/power8_propels_power_systems_into_the_future?lang=en

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