IBM Corp. is looking to make mainframes a better fit for the modern data center — literally.

The company late Monday unveiled two miniaturized mainframe models it said are easier to deploy in a public or private cloud facility than their more traditional, much bulkier predecessors.

The first new system is set to hit the market under the name z14 Model ZR1 (pictured). It’s based on a single-frame design that IBM said can fit in a standard 19-inch data center rack of the same kind used to house regular servers.

Under the hood, the ZR1 offers several major improvements over the company’s earlier Z13 mainframe. The system provides 10 percent more throughput and a hefty 8 terabytes of memory, double that of its predecessor. Calculations are carried out by three 10-core processors that The Register reported can reach a clock speed of 5.2 gigahertz.

The chips provide enough computational power to run as many as 330,000 containers, according to IBM. The large enterprises that rely on mainframes are increasingly making use of software containers, which let developers bundle application components into a lightweight package portable across different types of infrastructure.

Alternatively, a company can use the ZR1 to process up to 850 million encrypted transactions per day. Mainframes enjoy particularly strong adoption in the financial sector, where IBM said 44 of the top 50 banks rely on its Z-series systems.

The company told Network World that the ZR1’s capabilities are supported by standard cooling and power equipment. This is another feature meant to make the system easier to deploy than its larger version, the z14, which requires a complex three-phase power supply. Plus, the ZR1 chassis has 16 rack units‘ worth of free space that can store networking equipment and complementary gear, freeing up data center floor space. 

The other new mainframe that IBM has unveiled is the Linux-based Rockhopper II. Specifically designed to run the open-source operating system, it can fit in a 19-inch rack just like the ZR1 and offers similar specifications. The model is an updated iteration of a mainframe that IBM introduced in 2015 through a partnership with Ubuntu Ltd.

Image: IBM