Last Tuesday, IBM put the world on notice that its 64-bit POWER servers will compete directly with systems running Intel's IA-64 chips. The notice came in the form of some attractively priced entry-level pSeries servers running IBM's fastest POWER processors.

The new servers are one-, two-, and four-way versions of the pSeries 630 that utilize IBM's 1.45 GHz POWER4+ processor. This is the same processor that IBM first shipped last December in the eight-way pSeries 650. IBM has already sold over 2,000 p650s and is reporting a healthy backlog of orders for the server. It intends to sell even more p630s in the months to come.

The new p630 models extend rather than replace the existing p630 lineup, which comes standard with POWER4 chips running at 1.0 GHz. IBM will continue to sell these models while offering the POWER4+ models to customers who need greater performance. According to Big Blue's internal benchmarks, greater performance is exactly what those customers will get. While the one-way p630 running at 1.0 GHz has an rPerf rating of 1.69, the 1.45 GHz version clocks in at 2.39 for a 41% performance increase. The two- and four-way models also offer a horsepower boost, with rPerf ratings that are 34% greater than their 1.0 GHz predecessors.

When it came to pricing the new models, IBM treated the n-way configurations differently than the uniprocessor version. For the two- and four-way models, IBM priced the Express Configurations--the preconfigured, discounted packages that most customers choose--so that they cost about 35% more than the same Express Configurations running at 1.0 GHz. Since these models offer 34% greater performance, their price/performance is roughly the same as the 1.0 GHz models. By contrast, the Express Configurations of the new one-way p630 cost only 16% to 18% more than their 1.0 GHz counterparts. This gives the new one-way model significantly better price/performance than its predecessor; at a list price of $19,025 for the Linux-only Express Configuration and $20,525 for the AIX version, it is particularly attractive.

Taking Aim at Itanium

These prices will help to keep the pSeries competitive with servers from Sun Microsystems, IBM's chief competitor in the Unix market. In its particular product category, the p630 compares well against Sun's four-way offering, the V480. For instance, while a four-way Express Configuration of the 1.45 GHz p630 costs $39,595, a comparably configured V480 carries a list price of $43,995.

At the same time, IBM is targeting the p630 at servers running on Intel's IA-64 "Itanium" processors. Among them, IBM rightfully considers Hewlett-Packard's four-way RX5760 to be the p630's primary competitor. While I cannot yet discuss some unpublished benchmarks that IBM has shown me, it appears that the 1.45 GHz p630 will match or exceed the performance of a comparably configured RX5760 running on Intel's 1.0 GHz "McKinley" processors. Moreover, it will do so at a significantly lower price. As I mentioned earlier, a four-way Express Configuration of the p630 costs $39,995; a comparably configured RX5760 costs around $64,400.

The fact that IBM is making these comparisons speaks volumes about its stance on Itanium. While IBM publicly touts its close relationship with Intel and enthusiastically supports its IA-32 standard, it is privately advising customers that IA-64 may never gain momentum in data centers. In line with its own advice, IBM has no plans to ship IA-64 processor blades in its Blade Center server. Instead, the computer giant intends to ship four-way Intel Xeon blades and (you guessed it) POWER blades during the second half of this year.

IBM has good reasons for dismissing IA-64 in favor of POWER for 64-bit computing. First and most obviously, IBM's POWER servers bring IBM more revenue and profit per box than its Intel-based xSeries. More importantly, however, IBM knows that if IA-64 fails to gain traction, it will limit the ability of HP and Dell--who depend on Intel for their processors--to compete with IBM in the 64-bit computing market. This would particularly hurt HP, which is migrating its Unix server customers from servers running on PA-RISC processors to IA-64 servers. If Intel fails to ramp up its IA-64 production volumes, HP's processor costs will rise, making both its 64-bit Windows and Unix servers more expensive.

IBM also knows that a sputtering IA-64 market would give its pSeries and iSeries servers a continued edge over Windows servers for the kinds of mission-critical applications that require 64-bit performance and capacity. As long as the IA-64 market remains limited, IBM will have the time it needs to establish its POWER servers as the preferred platforms for 64-bit applications running not only on AIX and OS/400, but also on Linux. Shutting Microsoft out of the high-end enterprise applications market would suit IBM just fine.

In short, IBM's p630 is one more brick in a wall that IBM is erecting to keep Sun and HP out of its pSeries accounts. However, IBM is also tossing that brick through the windows (and Windows, for that matter) of Intel, Microsoft, and Dell. It looks like the market for 64-bit enterprise servers is about to get very interesting.

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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..