Some of the other features detailed by IBM include:

" A state-of-the-art, tamper-resistant cryptographic co-processor called Crypto Express4S that provides privacy for transactions and sensitive data. Crypto Express4S includes new hardware and software developed with IBM Research to help meet the security requirements of different industries and geographies. For example, it can be configured to provide support for high quality digital signatures used with for Smart passports, national ID cards and online legal proceedings, replacing handwritten signatures as directed by the EU and the public sector, IBM stated.

" The zEC12 is the first IBM mainframe to include internal solid state technology called Flash Express, a new memory technology that can help improve the performance of data intensive applications. It's designed to provide improved availability during bursts of system activity experienced at transitional periods such as when financial markets open or holiday periods when online retail transactions are heavy, IBM said.

" zEC12 is the first general purpose IBM to incorporate transactional memory technology, first used to help make the IBM Blue Gene/Q-based "Sequoia" system at Lawrence Livermore National Lab the fastest supercomputer in the world, IBM said. In zEC12, IBM adapted this technology to enable software to better support concurrent operations that use a shared set of data such as financial institutions processing transactions against the same set of accounts.

" zEC12 advances performance for analytics, increasing performance of analytic workloads by 30% compared to its IBM predecessor, the z196. In addition, support for the IBM DB2 Analytics Accelerator that incorporates the Netezza data warehouse appliance into zEC12 enables clients to run complex business analytics and operational analytics on the same platform.