IBM launches world's most powerful server

At half the price of the Sun Microsystems' Sun Fire 15K server, the IBM eServer p690 -- code-named "Regatta" -- fundamentally transforms the economics of UNIX servers.

The IBM eServer p690 is the most efficient UNIX server for consolidating smaller servers with diverse workloads, and for running large single-system applications like Business Intelligence. To solve the most complex problems, multiple servers can be linked together to create supercomputers powered by more than 1,000 processors. The new server is already on order for customers in the Middle East, who will be amongst the first customers to adopt this new technology worldwide.

"Five years ago, IBM made a bold commitment to build a new type of server that redefines the competitive landscape," said Michael Paier, System Sales Manager, IBM Middle East and Pakistan. "Today, as we introduce Regatta exactly on schedule, there is nothing in the marketplace or on the horizon that begins to match its performance and reliability or its flexibility to consolidate diverse workloads."

The Regatta program set out to fundamentally reinvent the UNIX server and has delivered groundbreaking technologies that have never before appeared in UNIX systems. These include IBM's 'Server on a Chip' technology, which uses IBM's POWER4 microprocessor to enable the server to conserve energy and dramatically outperform servers that have more than twice as many processors.

IBM's 'Ultra-Dense Building Blocks' technology also enables the IBM server to pack more computing power in less floor space and consume less power than competing systems, whereas 'Virtualization' allows the server to be operated as a single large server or divided into as many as 16 "virtual" servers, running any combination of operating systems.

IBM's concept of 'Self-Healing Architecture' is also a key feature of the p690. Built with technology from IBM's Project eLiza initiative, the IBM p690 is the only UNIX server that offers multiple players of self-healing technologies that help allow the server to continue operating -- even through major failures and system errors. Thousands of sensors can predict when a component is likely to fail, then automatically take the component off-line, while keeping the server running. System logic capabilities are designed to locate the root cause of problems before they are able to initiate chain reaction failures, preventing them from spreading to the entire system.

The IBM eServer p690 runs AIX 5L, the industry's fastest-growing UNIX operating system; and is ready for 64-bit Linux, the popular open source operating system.

The introduction of Regatta follows recent industry reports acknowledging IBM's leadership in the server market. IBM is the number one server vendor worldwide for the year 2000, outselling rival Sun Microsystems by a 32 percent margin, according to industry analysts IDC. IDC also reported that IBM gained four points of worldwide market share in the first quarter of 2001 and outsold rival Sun Microsystems by a 60 percent margin in the quarter.

The p690 is the latest introduction in IBM's pseries line of servers, which has a strong customer base in the region. The pSeries server line (with 'p' signifying performance) offers the speed and reliability to run customers' most important applications, including e-business, supply chain, Customer Relationship Management, Business intelligence, and Scientific and Technical Computing.

Low Cost of Operation
With fewer, yet more powerful processors than other enterprise servers, the eServer p690 blazes new trails in lowering cost of ownership. For example, many key software applications priced according to total number of processors are significantly less expensive to run on the IBM eServer p690. Fewer processors also translates into greater reliability; lower electricity, maintenance and operating costs; and fewer administrators needed to run the systems.

NEXT STEP: IBM to Reinvent Intel-Based High End Server
Building on the reinvention of the mainframe with the eServer z900, or "Freeway," last October, as well as today's announcement of Regatta, IBM plans to unveil its next technology play -- Enterprise X-Architecture, code-named "Summit" that dramatically increases the reliability, flexibility and power of industry standard servers based on upcoming Intel Xeon processors and next-generation Itanium processors.

When it's introduced in servers later this year, Enterprise X-Architecture will capitalize on IBM microprocessor technologies and mainframe-inspired capabilities that allow Intel processors to share resources including memory and input/output (I/O) to increase total system performance by up to twenty percent. Other key technologies will include partitioning for consolidating workloads, scalable 'pay as you grow' building blocks and high-speed remote I/O.

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