When most people think of legacy software, we think of software that is outdated and due for replacement.

Yet, an alternative definition of legacy, particularly when it comes to mainframe application, is, simply, software that works.

This is a definition that our partner, Syncsort, is proud of. The legacy DMX Sort product has been helping customers to reduce the cost of running their mainframe for decades.

This legacy – the understanding of how to optimally move vast amounts of data – is brought to Syncsort’s line of data integration tools – particularly for moving both logs and data from the IBM mainframe and the IBM i series to advanced analytics platforms like Hadoop and Splunk.

These data integration and change data capture solutions are complemented by the data quality stack, meaning that we don’t just move data efficiently, we ensure its quality as well.

Mainframe data is big data

Data on the mainframe is characterized by all three V’s of big data.

Volume: A typical mainframe will generate terabytes of log and application data daily
Velocity: A typical mainframe will process millions of transactions a day, with peak loads that may run into many thousands of records a second.
Variety: Mainframe data, and mainframe log file, are complex data. In many cases, records are self describing and may be of variable length and structure.

While the mainframe remains an excellent, low cost option for intensive processing, these complexities and mainframe pricing models make it a poor choice for advanced analytics.

Through our partnership with Syncsort we provide both the deep mainframe subject matter expertise and the technology to move both application and log data from the mainframe into advanced analytics platforms platforms such as Hadoop or Splunk.

Learn more with this new eBook – Bridging the gap between big iron and big data