IBM Ships POWER8 Power System Servers to Provide Clients an Open Platform for Big Data

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Jun 10, 2014, 09:00 ET

ARMONK, N.Y., June 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today began shipping its next generation of Power Systems servers incorporating IBM's POWER8 processor which is available for license and open for development through the OpenPOWER Foundation.

POWER8 in the Data Center: IBM Power Engineers Andrew Geissler (left) and Adriana Zobylak (right) perform a quality check on a stack of new Power Systems servers, the first to incorporate IBM's POWER8 open processor technology. Available on Tuesday, June 10, the new servers are designed for large, scale-out computing environments. The new line-up features industry-leading server quality and utilization levels, redefining today’s data center economics by helping to reduce floor space, power and cooling costs. (PRNewsFoto/IBM)

The new POWER8-based Power Systems result from a $2.4 billion, three-plus year development effort and exploit the innovation of hundreds of IBM patents -- underscoring IBM's commitment to providing higher-value, open technologies to clients. IBM designed the new servers specifically for a new era of Big Data, allowing organizations to manage staggering data requirements. According to IBM test results, the IBM Power Systems running BLU Acceleration on Power are capable of analyzing data 82 times faster than a comparably configured x86-based system.¹

Designed for scale-out computing environments, three out of four of the new Power Systems servers shipping today can run various combinations of Linux, IBM AIX or IBM i operating systems. The fourth model, the Power S822L, runs Linux exclusively.

"Big Data workloads require systems that scale to manage massive amounts of data," said Doug Balog, General Manager, Power Systems, IBM. "Clients are choosing to run Linux on Power Systems because they are seeking a higher value, open server solution to help them better handle and leverage growing volumes of data."

Recognizing Linux as a driving force for innovation, IBM last year committed $1 billion (USD) in new Linux and other open source technologies for IBM's Power Systems servers. Major investments include new products, a growing network of five Power Systems Linux Centers around the world, and the Power Development Platform, a no-charge development cloud for developers to test and port x86-based applications to the Power platform.

At the same time the new Power Systems were introduced in April, IBM also revealed a new collaboration with Linux distributor Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu with more than 20 million users worldwide. With general availability today, IBM is offering the latest release of Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu OpenStack, and Canonical's Juju cloud orchestration tools on the new Power Systems servers. Ubuntu on Power Systems provides an easy migration path for existing Linux applications to Power for cloud deployments, delivering Big Data and mobile software applications and boosting the performance of existing applications across cloud platforms. The availability of Ubuntu on Power Systems complements the existing availability of Red Hat and SUSE Linux operating system distributions, already supported on the complete lineup of Power Systems.

Another Linux enhancement now available is PowerKVM, a Power Systems-compatible version of the popular Linux-based virtualization platform KVM, on all POWER8 systems that run Linux exclusively. PowerKVM complements the full open stack of software available to development, run and manage Linux on Power. Further, PowerVC, announced in October, 2013 based on OpenStack, now provides support for the new Power Systems including those running PowerKVM and Linux.

With industry-leading server quality and utilization levels, the new Power Systems line-up redefines today's data center economics – by helping to reduce floor space, power and cooling costs. IBM has designed these systems to operate at industry-leading levels of efficiency, guaranteeing the system will perform as warranted while at a sustained 65 percent utilization -- a rate higher than common x86 utilization levels.² With twice the data throughput compared to an x86-based server, the new Power Systems can help cut data center footprints in half.³

For more information about IBM Power Systems, go to www.ibm.com/power.

[1] Based on IBM internal tests as of April 17, 2014 comparing IBM DB2 with BLU Acceleration on Power with a comparably tuned competitor row store database server on x86 executing a materially identical 2.6TB BI workload in a controlled laboratory environment. Test measured 60 concurrent user report throughput executing identical Cognos report workloads. Competitor configuration: Ivy Bridge, 24 cores, 256GB RAM, Competitor row-store database, SuSE Linux 11SP3 (Database) and Ivy Bridge, 16 cores, 384GB RAM, Cognos 10.2.1.1, SuSE Linux 11SP3 (Cognos). IBM configuration: IBM S824, 24 cores, 256GB RAM, DB2 10.5, AIX 7.1 TL2 (Database) and IBM S822L, 16 of 20 cores activated, 384GB RAM, Cognos 10.2.1.1, SuSE Linux 11SP3 (Cognos). Results may not be typical and will vary based on actual workload, configuration, applications, queries and other variables in a production environment.

[2] Applies for 90 days following date of installation to POWER8 systems announced today that are purchased by December 31, 2014 and running specified workloads on PowerVM. Subject to all other terms and conditions of the guarantee, including a minimum purchase requirement.

[3] Source: Capacity based on IBM Sizing of typical system performance and 3rd party analysis of system utilization (Source - http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/software/virtualization/assets/platformmatters.html) . This is an IBM sizing designed to replicate a typical IBM customer workload used in the marketplace. The results are calculated and not an actual customer environment. IBM's internal workload studies are not benchmark applications and as such, customer applications, differences in the stack deployed, and other systems variations or conditions may produce different results and may vary based on actual configuration, applications, specific queries and other variables in a production environment. Power S822L - 34 servers (2S, 24 cores each), 816 total cores, POWER8, 3.0GHz, PowerVM. Commodity x86 servers - 100 servers (2S, 24 cores each), 2400 total cores, Ivy Bridge E5-2697 v2, 2.7GHz, VMware vSphere Ent. 100 x86 servers needed for ~ equal virtualized throughput of 34 Power S822L.

Contacts:

Kristin Bryson
IBM
914-766-4221
[email protected]

Sean Tetpon
IBM
678-630-6705
[email protected]

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SOURCE IBM