ZRDP Service Description
Overview
The IBM Z Remote Development Program (ZRDP) provides Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) with remote access to a dedicated virtual guest system environments running generally available versions of z/OS, z/VM, and Linux on Z (RHEL, SLES, and Ubuntu) operating systems. The virtual guest system environments run in an IBM z/VM or KVM logical partition which provides a high level of system control and configuration independence within the environment.
The ZRDP offering is structured for the participant to be largely self-reliant with minimal assistance from IBM. Participants in the offering assume the role of system and security administrator for their virtual guest system environment and are expected to have the necessary system skills to operate in the environment.
Access
The virtual guest system environments are accessible via the Internet from anywhere in the world. Each virtual guest system is assigned an unique IP address. The IP address assigned can be either “public” (one reached directly from the internet) or “private” (reachable only by establishing a connection to our client VPN server). Developers who choose to have the system connected to the client VPN are provided with VPN sign-on IDs and instructions to download VPN client. The benefit of the VPN connection is that session traffic between the user and the VPN gateway is encrypted. For an additional one-time setup fee, a static site-to-site VPN can be configured.
Participants are provided with z/VM hypervisor user IDs to perform virtual guest system management activities such as IPL and shutdown.
In order to connect to and logon the z/VM system, a TN3270 emulator that supports TLS 1.2 encrypted sessions is required. The TN3270 emulator is not provided by IBM and must be obtained by the participant.
Software
See ZRDP software configurations for the default list of IBM software products provided with z/OS ZRDP systems. Participants may request additional IBM products that are not included in the default configurations. IBM will not install non-IBM and/or open-source software products are not provided on the remote access systems. However, participants may install third-party products themselves provided they are appropriately licensed.
Backups
IBM performs backups of the ZRDP virtual guest systems on a regular basis. The media used for the backups are stored on-site. The backups are performed externally from the virtual guest system environments. Included in these backups are the data disks which together comprise the guest system environments. The purpose of the backup is to provide a level of opportunity for the recovery of data in the event of a catastrophic disk failure. The backups may also be used to recover data for a guest system, though due to unforeseen circumstances, IBM makes no assurance that recovery of data for a guest system will be successful. IBM encourages all program participants to regularly save a copy of their data to a location of their choosing. The data stored on the ZRDP system should never be the only copy of the data. Note: Extended Address Volumes (EAV) are not included in the weekly backups due to the size of the volumes.
Limitations
Each guest systems is dedicated to the use of the participating partner but is configured to share the devices that comprise the IBM Z computing environment. Because the IBM Z system resources and devices are not dedicated to an individual guest system, the system can not be used for robust development workloads such as stress testing, performance testing, or benchmark testing.
As a development system environment, production-level service attributes such as Service-Level Agreements and off-site backups are not provided in the IBM Z Remote Development Program. Each participant is encouraged to backup their data.
Support
For questions concerning availability of specific products or resources not included in the default system configuration or other questions about the ZRDP offering, please open a case in IBM Support by selecting "Other contracted support services" in the Type of Support field, and "IBM Z and LinuxONE Partner Network" in the Service field.