IBM puts Power in new blade server

Daily Newsletters

Topics

NEWS

IBM unveiled a new blade server prototype on Tuesday that uses its Power processor, putting Big Blue a step ahead in the race to squeeze high-end chips into compact servers. Some of the world's largest server companies -- IBM, Sun Microsystems, Dell Computer and Hewlett-Packard -- have all dived into the market for blade servers, compact computer systems that are able to fit side-by-side into a larger chassis. Blade servers became popular as a method to stack a number of low-end servers into a small area to save office space. Now, that original concept has been expanded to higher-end servers with more complex processors. Low-end servers have typically used Intel Pentium chips. Now, more powerful blade servers incorporate Xeon processors. IBM is continuing this trend by using Power processors -- the 64-bit family of chips that drive its pSeries Unix server line -- for its blade servers. IBM on Wednesday unveiled a pair of dual-processor blades during a customer conference in Palm Springs, Florida, said Tim Dougherty, IBM's director of blade strategy. IBM's pSeries servers typically run Unix, but for its Power blades, the company expects the Linux operating system to be more popular, he said. IBM expects customers with technical computing needs, such as the formation of supercomputing clusters, will use its Power blade servers, Dougherty said. Linux, available for free and open to customisation, is more widely used among supercomputer customers. "I think people will predominantly be looking for the Power blade to be running Linux," he said. The servers will also run AIX, IBM's version of Unix, he added. Blade designs are likely to catch on because they emphasise better management features and share infrastructure, so fewer components, such as power supplies, are required, said Illuminata analyst David Freund. Ultimately, most servers with four or fewer processors will likely be blades. "For the four-way and down, they are a preferred form factor for rack-mounted servers going forward, regardless of processor," Freund said. Servers run round-the-clock computing tasks, managing email accounts or reconciling bank account transactions. Early blade servers managed low-end computing tasks, such as serving Web pages, but the higher-power models are geared for more complex tasks, such as running the interface for an online bank. Dougherty didn't disclose which member of IBM's Power processor family the blade servers would use, but acknowledged that it could use a repackaged version of the Power4 processor used in IBM's high-end Unix servers. In current products, the Power4 is packaged in groups of four into large, power-hungry "multichip modules" ill-suited for skinny blade servers. The company said that it plans to build servers that use the Power4 processor without the multichip module. One advantage of the Power4 over competing chips is that it actually has two processors on each slice of silicon, making it easier to build a dual-processor blade server. While IBM is ahead of competitors in the hardware designs of these blade servers, Hewlett-Packard has the lead in creating software to manage such systems, Freund said. Sun and HP also are working on blade servers with their own competing chips. Sun had expected that it would sell its first UltraSparc blades this year, but a representative said Wednesday that the product might ship "within the next two quarters". HP is selling increasingly powerful general-purpose blades, but doesn't plan to use its own PA-RISC chip for those products. Instead, it will use Intel's Itanium processor, a company representative said. IBM's blades incorporate an expansion card that connects each server to a high-speed communication network. Current blade products will use that facility to connect to special-purpose storage data networks that use the Fibre Channel standard. But the technology will also work for networks and switches similar to the Myricom network popular in supercomputing clusters. IBM will include not just the networking equipment for each server, but also the switch that joins the servers, Dougherty said. "We talk about having a cluster switch available in 2003... integrated into our chassis," he said. Dougherty declined to say when the Power blades would be available, but added that he didn't expect a release this year. The company will start with one- and two-processor blade servers, extending to four-processor blade servers at a later date.

See the Hardware News Section for the latest update on everything from MP3 players and PDAs to supercomputing. Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the ZDNet news forum. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

48 minutes ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

3 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

3 hours ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

4 hours ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

5 hours ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

6 hours ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

6 hours ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

6 hours ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material

For Gnome 2 die-hards, it is possible to add icons to the bottom panel (or top top panel, if you prefer) which provide the exact Gnome 2...

7 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Your comments would seem pretty naive and immature. Your 'solution' appears to be, "gee, let's all just give in to the hackers and give them...

7 hours ago by ramwellian on Cloud computing security: no more oxymoron?

"Interesting thought ... If you installed Win7 as a dual boot on a machine that previously only had Linux, and it wrecked your Linux installation,...

8 hours ago by BugStalker on Windows 7 Declares War on GRUB

This is an excellent summary of Ubuntu and Mint and the interface differences between them. Most such articles take a very partisan position for...

8 hours ago by whs001 on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

@ewallace. Not so clear. Anyone can obtain the text, for example from here http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2379. I support ACTA so long as it and...

8 hours ago by Moley on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions

I think WinRT is fantastic. I just wish it was an option for people that didn't want to go through Microsoft's App Store with its attendant...

11 hours ago by 45283 on Why Windows 8 needs architectural hygiene for WOA

Nine people? £30m? Who's back pocket is that lot going in? And IF they say it is for new buildings, what about all the ones the government has...

12 hours ago by Burn-IT on Police set to launch three £30m e-crime hubs

Just to be clear, nobody knows what is in the text of ACTA, here is a photograph of the text of ACTA http://twitpic.com/8h9iju as submitted to the...

12 hours ago by ewallace on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions

Unfortunately main issue is that ASUS is refusing to accept that they make some mistake on this version of asus Transformer prime. 1 - GPS sensor...

14 hours ago by fgvrg56 on Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime Wi-Fi & GPS problems?

@Marcus A fair question. Just talked with Archos which said it was working on an announcement for next week....

15 hours ago by Ben Woods on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule

Any update on this, considering the claimed "first week of February"?

16 hours ago by Marcus Karlsson via Facebook on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule

Bill Goodrich : Just as al_langevin pointed out, with Windows Server 2008 there is no Services for Macintosh anymore. It's gone, not available....

1 day ago by apexwm on Windows Server 2008 drops the ball for Mac compatibility

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

IBM puts Power in new blade server

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

IBM sharpens its blades

AMD looks to ARM itself for low-power tablets

Apple tops list of semiconductor buyers

Post your comment

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in Processors

AMD looks to ARM itself for low-power tablets

Apple tops list of semiconductor buyers

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Test Analyst - Business Intelligence /Data Warehousing

Test Analyst - Business Intelligence /Data Warehousing

Technical MI Manager - 50-60k - Leeds

Inside ZDNet UK

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Case study: How cloud enables growth

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault

News & Analysis

Reviews

Blogs

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features

ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Workspace IT / Processors

IBM puts Power in new blade server

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

Post your comment

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in Processors

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Inside ZDNet UK

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features