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Latest IBM Enterprise X-Architecture Technology to Scale Intel Servers

Posted on: Monday, 30 June 2003, 06:00 CDT

ARMONK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 30, 2003--IBM today announced a series of powerful new eServer* systems, including a server based on the second generation of IBM's Enterprise X-Architecture(TM) (EXA) technology that will scale up to 32 of the newest Intel(R) Xeon(TM) processors MP. Other new eServer systems announced today are based on Intel Xeon and Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processors.

The scalability of the new eServer xSeries(TM) 445 will help customers protect existing IA-32-based software investments as well as help control costs with XpandOnDemand(TM) configuration, which allows customers to increase computing capacity on demand and only pay for the capacity as needed. Singapore Polytechnic has selected the new eServer x445 as the base building block for its new scale up infrastructure. The customer is using the x445 to support the E-Cell research project and help further research efforts in Virtual High Throughput Screening for possible drug leads against Dengue Virus.

"We are extremely excited about the introduction of the IBM eServer x445. With its superior price-performance and promise of XpandOnDemand scalability, we realized that no other system but the x445 could satisfy our high-performance research needs today and into the future," said Dr. Ng Yan Hong, Senior Lecturer, School of Inform-Communications Technology of Singapore Polytechnic, a leading government tertiary institution in Singapore. "With Enterprise X-Architecture and the x445, IBM is truly extending its technology leadership in industry-standard servers by offering pay-as-you-grow scalability, industry-leading price-performance, and extended memory availability which caters for both SMP and cluster environments much to the requirements for our research works in Bioinformatics. With the x445, we will be able to advance our bioinformatics research works confidently on one of the most advanced and versatile industry-standard servers in the world."

EXA, designed to support both Intel Xeon processors MP and Itanium 2 processors, has helped propel IBM to the leadership position in high end Intel-based computing. EXA-based systems are designed to lower the cost of acquisition by offering customers "pay-as-you-grow" scalability, and help lower ongoing cost of operations with mainframe inspired technologies. According to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, in the first quarter of 2003 IBM posted the strongest year-over-year factory revenue growth rate among the top five vendors of x86 servers and was the worldwide revenue leader for eight x86-processor based servers.

The EXA-based eServer x445 is available in 4U building blocks with eight processors each. Ideal for server consolidation, the eServer x445 also includes up to 64GB memory per chassis, Remote I/O (using the RXE-100 expansion box) + RIO Sharing and Active Memory(TM) now with Hot-swap Memory and Hot-add Memory.

"IBM's EXA technology revolutionized the high-end Intel-based server when it was first announced in December of 2001," said Susan Whitney, general manager, IBM eServer xSeries. "We continue to see strong interest from our customers for scalable systems based on Intel's Xeon processors. With EXA customers can scale their systems to meet their business needs and protect existing software investments."

"IBM's new EXA and eServer-based systems are leading systems and are well-suited for the diverse needs of the high-end enterprise," said Mike Fister, senior vice president, Intel Enterprise Platforms Group. "These platforms, based on the new Intel Itanium 2 and Intel Xeon processors, deliver tremendous performance and value for the most demanding enterprise applications such as enterprise resource planning and business intelligence."

IBM reinforces its leadership in the high-end Intel processor-based server market with new results on leading industry-standard benchmarks on the eServer x445 system:

-- Highest performance and best price/performance for an 8-way

server on the TPC-C online transaction processing benchmark;

(1)

-- Highest performance ever achieved on the 100GB TPC-H business

intelligence benchmark; (2)

-- Leadership performance on the SAP(R) Standard Application

Sales & Distribution Benchmark, SAP R/3(R) Enterprise Release

4.70. (3)

Other new IBM eServer xSeries systems the company is introducing include:

-- The eServer x450 is the first IBM EXA-based system to use the

new Itanium 2 processor with 6MB of level 3 cache memory.

Offering superior density, the 4-way eServer x450 fits in 4U

(7 inches) of industry standard rack space. The x450 includes

XpandOnDemand I/O scalability, industry-leading performance

and OnForever availability to meet the needs of customers

searching for a high-performance database and enterprise

resource planning solutions server.

-- The eServer x382 includes up to two Itanium 2 processors in a,

2U (2.25 inches) system that is optimized for the Linux

cluster configurations utilized primarily by the technical and

scientific communities.

-- IBM also announced that new Intel Xeon processors would be

available for a number of eServer rack and tower systems

including the eServer x360, x205, x225 and x255. This will

give xSeries the flexibility to offer a modular solution to

meet the needs of virtually any customer no matter what their

scalability needs.

IBM eServer xSeries systems are available with the latest version of IBM Director systems management software. IBM Director provides users an easier way to manage systems and respond in real time to changing business conditions.

All of the systems announced today will support both Linux and Microsoft operating systems.

The eServer x445 is available on July 1 at a base price of $18,599. (4) The 32-way version of the x445 will be available in later this year.

The eServer x360 and x255 are available immediately. The eServer x360 starts at $7,059 (5) and the eServer x255 starts at $6,009. (6) The eServer x205 will be available July 15 for $499 (7) and the x225 will be available August 1 at a base price of $2,039. (8)

The eServer x450 will be available July 18 and will start at $25,999 (9) while the eServer x382 will be available August 20, for a base price of $26,589. (10)

About IBM

IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com.

For all TPC-C and TPC-H benchmark results, visit www.tpc.org.

For all SAP results, visit www.sap.com/benchmark.

Results referenced are current as of June 30, 2003.

(1) 139,153.98 tpmC, $5.07/tpmC, total solution availability December 31, 2003.

(2) 5,602.6 QphH@100GB, $73/QphH@100GB, total solution availability December 31, 2003.

(3) 525 SAP Standard Application SD Benchmark users, 1.97 seconds average dialog response, measured throughput 158,000 dialog steps per hour (52,670 fully business processed order line items per hour), average CPU utilization of 95 percent for the central server. This benchmark fully complies with the SAP Benchmark Council regulations and has been audited and certified by SAP AG. Details can be obtained from IBM and SAP. The benchmark was performed at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA, by IBM engineers.

(4) IBM list price as of June 30, 2003. Priced system includes two Intel Xeon MP processors at 2.0 GHz, 2GB of memory and does not include a hard drive, operating system or other features. Price is in U.S. dollars and valid in the U.S. only. Price does not include tax or shipping and is subject to change without notice. Reseller prices may vary.

(5) Starting price based on U.S. list price for minimum IBM eServer x360 one processor configuration including: four Intel Xeon MP processors at 2.0 GHz, and one GB of memory and does not include a hard drive, operating system or other features. Effective June 30, price does not include tax or shipping and is subject to change without notice. Reseller prices may vary.

(6) Starting price may not include a hard drive, operating system or other features. Based on U.S. list price for minimum IBM eServer x255 rack-optimized configuration including: Intel Xeon processor MP at 2.0 GHz and 512 MB of memory effective June 30, price does not include tax or shipping and is subject to change without notice. Reseller prices may vary.

(7) Starting price may not include a hard drive, operating system or other features. Price is based on U.S. list price for minimum IBM eServer x205 configuration including Intel Xeon DP processor at 3.06 GHz. Effective June 30, price does not include tax or shipping and is subject to change without notice. Reseller prices may vary.

(8) Starting price may not include a hard drive, operating system or other features. Based on U.S. list price for minimum IBM eServer x225 configuration including: 3.06 GHz Intel Xeon processor DP, 512 MB memory and 425W power supply. Effective June 30, price does not include tax or shipping and is subject to change without notice. Reseller prices may vary.

(9) Starting price may not include a hard drive, operating system or other features. Based on U.S. list price for minimum IBM eServer x450 configuration, including one Intel Itanium 2 processor at 1.3GHz, one GB of memory and two power supplies. Effective June 30, price does not include tax or shipping and is subject to change without notice. Reseller prices may vary.

(10) Starting price based on U.S. list price for minimum IBM eServer x382 2-way configuration including: two Intel Itanium 2 processors at 1.5GHz, 4 GB of memory, two 73GB hard disk drives. Effective June 30, price does not include tax or shipping and is subject to change without notice. Reseller prices may vary.

This publication was developed for products and services offered in the United States. IBM may not offer the products, services or features discussed in this document in other countries. Information is subject to change without notice. Consult your local IBM representative for information on offerings available in your area.

* The IBM eServer brand consists of the established IBM e-business logo with the descriptive term "server" following it.

** IBM, the e-business logo, X-Architecture, XpandOnDemand, and xSeries are trademarks of IBM Corporation. Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Intel, Itanium and Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.

All other trademarks, registered trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

SAP, R/3 and all other SAP product and service names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries.

TPC, TPC-C, tpmC, $/tpmC, TPC-H, QphH, and $/QphH are trademarks of the Transaction Processing Performance Council.

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