Oct 5, 2001 : IBM Launches High-End Server "Regatta"

📅 October 5, 2001 - IBM (ibm.com) yesterday introduced what it is calling the world's most powerful UNIX server, crowning a five-year effort to deliver a new class of UNIX system that incorporates microprocessor breakthroughs and mainframe technologies.

At half the price of the just-released Sun Fire 15K, the IBM eServer p690 -code-named "Regatta" - fundamentally transforms the economics of UNIXservers The IBM eServer p690 offers enterprises the most efficient platformfor both server consolidation and large, single-system applications. Whentackling the most complex problems, multiple p690 servers can be linkedtogether to create supercomputers powered by more than 1,000 processors.
Initial p690 customers include Raytheon, Ahold Corporation, Telia Net, TokyoMetro University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Max Planck Societyfor the Advancement of the Sciences.
"Five years ago, IBM set out to reinvent the UNIX server, and today we aredelivering groundbreaking technologies never before seen in UNIX systems,"said Rod Adkins, general manager, IBM eServer pSeries. "There is nothing intoday's UNIX marketplace - and on the horizon - that begins to match itsperformance, reliability and flexibility to consolidate diverse workloads."IBM's server innovation doesn't stop here," Adkins added. "Our next stepwill be to leverage IBM's mainframe technology to reinvent the Intel-basedhigh-end server market."
With fewer, more powerful processors, the eServer p690 achieves leadershipbusiness, scientific and Java performance benchmarks while deliveringgreater reliability and lower electricity, maintenance, operating and systemadministrator costs. Fewer processors also translates into lower cost ofownership, since many key software applications priced according to totalnumber of processors are significantly less expensive to run on the eServerp690.
Key features include:
Server on a Chip - IBM's POWER4 microprocessor, widely acknowledgedto be at least one generation ahead of competing chips, is the first "serveron a chip," containing two one-gigahertz-plus processors, a high-bandwidthsystem switch, a large memory cache and I/O. This design enables the serverto conserve energy and dramatically outperform servers that have more thantwice as many processors.Ultra-Dense Building Blocks - The eServer p690 building block is apalm-sized, eight-processor, multi-chip module with the equivalentprocessing power of much larger system boards in competing high-end servers.As a result, the IBM server packs more computing power in less floor spaceand consumes less power than these other systems.Virtualization - The eServer p690 can either be operated as a singlelarge server or divided into as many as 16 "virtual" servers, running anycombination of the AIX 5L and Linux operating systems. The p690 offers theUNIX market's most flexible and efficient use of processors, memory and I/Oresources, enabling customers to create virtual servers with a singleprocessor or multiple processors. By contrast, the "hard" partitions incompeting systems require at least four chips, which typically wastesvaluable system resources and degrades performance. The p690 will be able todynamically reconfigure partitions - while still operating - to meetchanging workload demands.Self-Healing Architecture - Built with technology from IBM's ProjecteLiza initiative, the eServer p690 is the industry's only UNIX server thatoffers multiple layers of self-healing technologies that allow the server tocontinue operating - even through major failures and system errors. Bycontrast, other high-end servers only offer manual hot-swapping ofalready-failed components or simple failure isolation within a partitionthat may not prevent failures from crashing applications. The IBM eServerp690 runs AIX 5L, the industry's fastest-growing UNIX operating system, andis ready for 64-bit Linux, the popular open source operating system.
Pricing for the eServer p690 starts at $450,000 for an 8-way 1.1 Ghz systemwith 8 GB memory and 36.4 GB of storage. The system will begin shipping involume in December 2001.
IBM's newest multi-chip module technology breakthrough was first deployed inthe IBM eServer z900 mainframe. Information flows between the memory cacheand the processor at nearly 125 gigabytes per second - the equivalent ofmoving 25 full-length DVD movies in a single second. The POWER4 processorand ultra-dense multi-chip module are scheduled to be introduced in the IBMeServer iSeries integrated mainframe server for the mid-market in 2002.
The IBM eServer p690 runs AIX 5L and Linux applications. AIX 5L offers thescalability, performance, reliability and security needed to accommodatedemanding e-business workloads. AIX features a strong affinity with Linux,allowing customers to build and run many popular Linux applications on AIX.Linux will also run natively in a partition.
For continuous operation and extreme scalability, multiple servers can beclustered together with IBM's industry-leading clustering managementsoftware.
To make it easy for customers to expand their infrastructure, IBM will offerCapacity Upgrade on Demand for processors and memory. When needed, systemresources can be activated incrementally.