IBM, Sun Microsystems and Sine Nomine Associates have announced the availability of operating system prototype code based on OpenSolaris Operating System, running on an IBM System z mainframe, to the global OpenSolaris community. The prototype was completed by SNA with equipment and financial assistance provided by IBM and technical assistance provided by Sun.

In November of 2007, IBM, Sun and SNA demonstrated the early stages of the OpenSolaris-based prototype running on an IBM mainframe, illustrating the OpenSolaris operating system and the IBM mainframe's proven ability to virtualize the data center.

"IBM's System z mainframe continues to evolve, enhancing our client's IT scalability and flexibility while seeking to help the 'greening' of their data centers. The mainframe is an iconic technology platform with a decades-long history of virtualization, enabling it to evolve rapidly to support diverse software offerings," said Bernard Meyerson, IBM Fellow and Chief Technologist, IBM Systems and Technology Group.

The prototype OpenSolaris operating system runs as a guest on the mainframe's z/VM and allows many virtual images to run simultaneously. IBM has augmented z/VM functionality to enable OpenSolaris on System z. Now that the code is available, the open source community has the opportunity to participate in the project and help extend the port.