IBM Launches Self Management Features in New eServer Systems

📅 June 26, 2001 - IBM unveiled two new eServer systems today that offer small and medium size businesses access to mainframe and self-healing technologies at entry-level prices. The new IBM eServer xSeries 232 and 342 include management features that support IBM's Project eLiza initiative, a multi-billion dollar program aimed at creating a world of self-managing servers requiring little or no human interaction.

Both systems feature up to two Intel Tualatin Pentium III processors at 1.13 GHz and will support a wide range of applications running on either Windows or Linux.
Small and medium size businesses now have access to self-healing and self-protecting management tools such as Software Rejuvenation and Light Path Diagnostics that help predict, identify and repair problems before performance is ever affected. IBM Software Rejuvenation, a component of IBM Director, identifies and predicts pending software problems due to "aging", a major issue related to Intel-based servers. During the aging process, small programming errors may accumulate and absorb ever-increasing amounts of a computer's resources, eventually leading to server downtime. Software Rejuvenation enables a system to automatically schedule a time to reset its software rather than allow the software to continue aging and potentially crash the server.
IBM's Light Path Diagnostics leads IT personnel quickly to trouble spots so they may be accessed and viewed without removing the system cover. This not only speeds problem diagnosis, but also protects other system components from being compromised by any individual failures. Paths of lights leading to serviceable components help minimize downtime by allowing quick visual diagnosis of system problems.
"As the complexities of running an e-business infrastructure intensify, businesses of all sizes need access to the benefits of self management technologies," said Greg Burke, Director, IBM Project eLiza. "With these new systems, IBM is giving customers the power to manage their business effectively and at a reasonable cost."
Powered by Intel's new Tualatin Pentium III-S processors with 512K Cache and a speed of 1.13GHz, the eServer x232 is a powerful low-cost system that can be easily deployed in minutes. As a general-purpose two-way server, the x232 is able to perform a wide variety of business applications, including financial, file-and-print serving, e-mail, messaging and Internet access. Supporting up to nine hot-swap hard disk drives, five PCI adapters and ten overall media bays, it can be expanded easily.
The IBM eServer x342 is a powerful two-way system designed for medium and larger enterprises that need high availability features in a compact 3U rack design for space constrained environments. The latest Intel Tualatin processors, a large L2 cache and an integrated systems management software solution supported by IBM Director allow the x342 to provide consistent high-performance in the face of heavy fluctuating workloads.
IBM also announced the availability of Tualatin on the eServer x330.