Last Monday, IBM added another member to its eServer OpenPower family of servers that significantly reduces the entry cost for 64-bit Linux systems. At a starting price of $3,499, the new eServer OpenPower 710 is a worthy competitor to Linux servers running on processors from Intel and AMD. That price should also catch the attention of IBM's customers who own other POWER servers, including the iSeries and pSeries.
The OpenPower 710 is a rack-mounted server that packs one or two POWER5 processors running at 1.65 GHz and up to 32 GB of memory into a 2U (3.5 inches) space. This makes it similar in processing power and memory capacity to its cousins, the eServer i5 Model 520 and eServer p5 Model 520. Compared to these servers, however, the OpenPower 710 takes up half of the rack space. To achieve the space savings, it offers only four disk bays and three PCI-X adapter slots, half the number of the Model 520s. Customers who need the I/O expandability of the Model 520s can get it from the OpenPower 720, a one- to four-way server in a 4U package.
Like its bigger brother, the OpenPower 710 runs only Linux, but how the two servers run them is what sets them apart. When IBM shipped the Advanced OpenPower Virtualization feature late last year, the OpenPower family gained most of the micropartitioning and dynamic logical partitioning (LPAR) capabilities of the iSeries and pSeries. These capabilities are supported to different degrees by the two Linux distributions that customers can order with an OpenPower system. Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 supports up to 10 LPARs per processor and dynamic resizing of LPARs without a system reboot. Red Hat's Enterprise Linux AS Version 3, Update 4 offers the same number of partitions but does not support dynamic LPARs. Both Linux distributions support virtual LANs and virtual I/O serving across LPARs.
Regardless of the distribution that it runs, the OpenPower 710 will be a solid competitor to servers that run Linux on other processors. When compared to two-way servers that run Intel's Itanium or AMD's Opteron chips, the OpenPower 710 offers more memory capacity than its competitors do. It also offers more reliability features, such as redundant power supplies and cooling fans. In many cases, the server's I/O expansion capabilities are also greater. Early benchmarks indicate that the new model's commercial performance will meet or exceed that of its two-way competitors. Other benchmarks indicate that it will consistently outperform those servers on technical and scientific workloads. While its price puts it in the same cost range as the competitors, its sophisticated LPAR capabilities will allow it to manage more workloads at higher utilization rates than its Intel and AMD rivals.
Though the OpenPower 710 has many advantages over its competitors, it does not offer one thing that they do: support for Microsoft's Windows Server. This gives the competitors an advantage in the sheer number and variety of applications that they support. To address this issue, IBM is working to recruit more ISVs and bring more applications to POWER Linux servers. For instance, the company has announced that SAP now supports its enterprise applications on OpenPower servers. In addition, Oracle is porting its database to OpenPower in the near future. IBM has also created a bundle of Web and network infrastructure applications that OpenPower customers can download for free. The applications are part of OpenPower Consolidation Express, an offering that helps OpenPower users install and configure complete stacks of infrastructure applications on their systems.
Put simply, IBM wants to make OpenPower a contender not only for running commercial and technical applications, but also for workloads that companies have maintained for years on 32-bit Intel servers running Windows. While OpenPower will attract some companies that want to consolidate their infrastructure workloads on Linux, it could also appeal to iSeries and pSeries customers who are looking for an inexpensive enterprise application platform. For instance, customers who run SAP may want to run their application servers on an OpenPower 710 or 720 while maintaining their databases on the iSeries or pSeries.
With its versatility and price/performance, the OpenPower 710 and its larger four-way sibling have some advantages over their competitors. However, what will really matter is whether IBM can translate those advantages into sales through effective marketing and channel strategies. These are areas where IBM is only beginning to get OpenPower off the ground. It will be interesting to see how far the new server family can fly.
Lee Kroon is a Senior Industry Analyst for Andrews Consulting Group, a firm that helps mid-sized companies manage business transformation through technology. You can reach him at
More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.
TRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now! Request Now.
Forms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.
Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:
Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.
IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn:
LATEST COMMENTS
MC Press Online