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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM Z

    Score9.4 out of 10
    N/AIBM Z is the company's mainframe enterprise server solution product line.N/A

    Amazon Redshift

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AAmazon Redshift is a hosted data warehouse solution, from Amazon Web Services.

    $0.24

    per GB per month

    Pricing
    IBM ZAmazon Redshift
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Redshift Managed Storage
    $0.24
    per GB per month
    Current Generation
    $0.25 - $13.04
    per hour
    Previous Generation
    $0.25 - $4.08
    per hour
    Redshift Spectrum
    $5.00
    per terabyte of data scanned
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM ZAmazon Redshift
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Best Alternatives
    IBM ZAmazon Redshift
    Small Businesses
    Dell PowerEdge
    Score7.6 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Dell PowerEdge
    Score7.6 out of 10
    Snowflake
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    IBM Power
    Score9 out of 10
    Snowflake
    Score8.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM ZAmazon Redshift
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.6
    (42 ratings)
    9.0
    (38 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    4.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (10 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.9
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (7 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Professional Services
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM ZAmazon Redshift
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    Most of the time, server utilization is reliable and stable during peak times. Truly amazing, this product offers a lot and gets it done in no time without any confusion.It is reliable, too accurate and the performance is top-notch. It seems to be competitive in all virtual energy systems and its connectivity is also good. It's available at a low cost, but it's enough to have as many low-cost, more efficient systems as possible. It's a minor thing, but very rarely, it can cause work interruptions while it can get stuck due to more frequent use such as restless work. These power servers are very efficient and really help when things go wrong. I am using this product to retrieve data much faster.
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    If the number of connections is expected to be low, but the amounts of data are large or projected to grow it is a good solutions especially if there is previous exposure to PostgreSQL. Speaking of Postgres, Redshift is based on several versions old releases of PostgreSQL so the developers would not be able to take advantage of some of the newer SQL language features. The queries need some fine-tuning still, indexing is not provided, but playing with sorting keys becomes necessary. Lastly, there is no notion of the Primary Key in Redshift so the business must be prepared to explain why duplication occurred (must be vigilant for)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    IBM
    • Virtualization for Scale-Out and Scale-Up in the same footprint
    • Security for different workloads: Large Confidential Computing and lightweight Secure Execution
    • Performance is a true game changer: extreme throughput powered by amazingly huge caches.
    • The one and only FIPS 140-2 Level 4 HSM on this planet
    • Quantum Safe Encryption NOW!
    • AI infusion to every transaction
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    • [Amazon] Redshift has Distribution Keys. If you correctly define them on your tables, it improves Query performance. For instance, we can define Mapping/Meta-data tables with Distribution-All Key, so that it gets replicated across all the nodes, for fast joins and fast query results.
    • [Amazon] Redshift has Sort Keys. If you correctly define them on your tables along with above Distribution Keys, it further improves your Query performance. It also has Composite Sort Keys and Interleaved Sort Keys, to support various use cases
    • [Amazon] Redshift is forked out of PostgreSQL DB, and then AWS added "MPP" (Massively Parallel Processing) and "Column Oriented" concepts to it, to make it a powerful data store.
    • [Amazon] Redshift has "Analyze" operation that could be performed on tables, which will update the stats of the table in leader node. This is sort of a ledger about which data is stored in which node and which partition with in a node. Up to date stats improves Query performance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    IBM
    • It would be good if IBM could demonstrate more use cases for Z to potential clients
    • A migration strategy from Open Systems to Z would be helpful
    • Any additional marketing to could explain the benefits of Z/Linux, especially now that RedHat is in the mix.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    • We've experienced some problems with hanging queries on Redshift Spectrum/external tables. We've had to roll back to and old version of Redshift while we wait for AWS to provide a patch.
    • Redshift's dialect is most similar to that of PostgreSQL 8. It lacks many modern features and data types.
    • Constraints are not enforced. We must rely on other means to verify the integrity of transformed tables.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    The IBM Z mainframe capabilities are unmatched for cloud readiness and optimization the learning capabilities are matched perfectly with Watson and the expandability of the cloud makes it a perfect choice.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    IBM
    Once you learn how, it easy. It's different than most other systems
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    Just very happy with the product, it fits our needs perfectly. Amazon pioneered the cloud and we have had a positive experience using RedShift. Really cool to be able to see your data housed and to be able to query and perform administrative tasks with ease.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    IBM
    The Z in IBM Z is for zero down time. If you configure your system according to IBM's best practices, you can achieve zero downtime
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    IBM
    Performance is a major part when you configure your system. IBM has many tools to study your system and suggest the appropriate configuration. With the right contract, you can add processing power dynamically and remove it when no longer needed
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    IBM
    Support is usually superb, only occasionally dropping to very good. We participate in some of the CD (Continuous Delivery) aspects of z/OS, IMS, MQ, and DB2.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    The support was great and helped us in a timely fashion. We did use a lot of online forums as well, but the official documentation was an ongoing one, and it did take more time for us to look through it. We would have probably chosen a competitor product had it not been for the great support
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    IBM
    Over my 33 years on this platform, I attended many in person courses, conferences, and other training opportunities.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    IBM
    There are many online courses from both IBM and other vendors. Most are great. All of the documentation is available online.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    I do not personally have any key insights regarding implementation of IBM Z Enterprise Servers as that is what our mainframe architects do.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    IBM Z is the best storage solution as it provides the best in class data protection with the cryptographic hardware keys, no loss in data while migration, and a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for develops to understand and has less of a learning curve. This makes it well above the competition.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    Than Vertica: Redshift is cheaper and AWS integrated (which was a plus because the whole company was on AWS).
    Than BigQuery: Redshift has a standard SQL interface, though recently I heard good things about BigQuery and would try it out again.
    Than Hive: Hive is great if you are in the PB+ range, but latencies tend to be much slower than Redshift and it is not suited for ad-hoc applications.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Amazon AWS
    Redshift is relatively cheaper tool but since the pricing is dynamic, there is always a risk of exceeding the cost. Since most of our team is using it as self serve and there is no continuous tracking by a dedicated team, it really needs time & effort on analyst's side to know how much it is going to cost.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    IBM
    If you need more processing power, just add more CPU's or memory. The largest system can have close to 200 CPU's and 40 TB of memory. If that is not enough, you can add more physical computers, and connect them using a sysplex
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • With IBM Z we really feel a different positive impact on our company. A trustworthy and the most powerful place we have ever.
    • A unique computing platform that helps a lot for the progress of our company.
    • It keeps our data save, encrypted.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    • Our company is moving to the AWS infrastructure, and in this context moving the warehouse environments to Redshift sounds logical regardless of the cost.
    • Development organizations have to operate in the Dev/Ops mode where they build and support their apps at the same time.
    • Hard to estimate the overall ROI of moving to Redshift from my position. However, running Redshift seems to be inexpensive compared to all the licensing and hardware costs we had on our RDBMS platform before Redshift.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    IBM Z Screenshots

    Screenshot of IBM z17™ single-frame 

This configuration is optimized for enhanced modularity and is available in a traditional factory-frame setup. It provides advanced capabilities and is ideal for environments requiring a robust and scalable solution within an industry-standard footprint.  

IBM z17™ single-frame 

This configuration is optimized for enhanced modularity and is available in a traditional factory-frame setup. It provides advanced capabilities and is ideal for environments requiring a robust and scalable solution within an industry-standard footprint.Screenshot of IBM z17™ multi-frame 

This configuration is designed for general-purpose use, offering a balance of performance, scalability and security suitable for a wide range of applications.Screenshot of IBM z17™ rack mount 

This rack-mounted configuration allows for installation in existing data center rack infrastructures, providing flexibility and integration with current systems. It combines IBM Z's strengths with the convenience of modern rack-mounted hardware.