IBM SERVER NEWS - CONSOLIDATE 1000s of APPS ONTO NEW CLUSTER
Hello,
As demand grows for cost saving consolidation of IT systems, IBM delivers a
combination of cluster and virtualization technology allowing customers to
manage thousands of applications from one point.
Today IBM announced it will double the capacity of its pre-tested computing
cluster
fueled by POWER4 processor technology. Scaling up to 32 fully configured
IBM eServer p690 systems (formerly code-named Regatta), the cluster uses
IBM virtual partitioning technology and management software to consolidate
an entire corporations workloads on to a single system.
I have provided a copy of the press release below. Please contact me at 650
566 2278, and I can arrange
for you to speak with an IBM executive as well as with the IT manager from
Philip Morris. In addition, the following analysts have been briefed and
are available for comment:
Analysts:
Brad Day, Giga, 781-792-2555
Jonathan Eunice, Illuminata, 603-598-0099 x851
Thanks, Tom
Thomas Clancy
Account Manager - Silicon Valley
Text 100 International
Global High Technology Public Relations
236 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301
Tel - 650 566 2275
Direct - 650 566 2278
Cell - 415 637 2351
Fax - 650 566 2276
http://www.text100.com
PRESS RELEASE
IBM INTRODUCES COMPUTER CLUSTER FOR WORKLOAD CONSOLIDATION
IBM eServer Cluster 1600 Lets Customers Consolidate Hundreds of Applications
and Manage from a Single Point of Control
Armonk, NY, August 2, 2002 -- IBM today introduced an expanded version of
its powerful IBM eServer UNIX® cluster, enabling businesses to reduce
administration costs and floor space usage by consolidating many individual
servers and managing them from a single point of control.
Built with the company's virtual partitioning technology and management
software, the IBM eServer Cluster 1600 has been pre-tested for 32 IBM
eServer p690 32-way systems and IBM eServer p670 16-way systems. IBM also
offers custom clusters connecting hundreds of servers for both commercial
applications and supercomputing.
Companies like Philip Morris appreciate the value provided by the IBM
cluster. "At Philip Morris we count on incredible scalability and the
flexibility of creating granular partitions," said Ralph R. Maggi, senior
manager, UNIX and distributed technologies, Philip Morris. "The Cluster
1600 offers the technology we need to run our mission-critical, daily
business needs."
The IBM eServer Cluster 1600 derives much of its unique workload
consolidation power from IBM's logical partitioning technology. The p690
and p670 can either be operated as single large servers or can each be
divided into as many as 16 "virtual" servers, running AIX® 5L(tm) and the
Linux® operating system in one or multiple partitions.
The IBM eServer p670 and p690 offer flexible and efficient use of
processors, memory and I/O resources, enabling customers to create virtual
servers with a single processor or multiple processors. In the near future,
the p690 and p670 are planned to be able to dynamically reconfigure
partitions -- while still operating -- to meet changing workload
demands.[1]
"Single Pane of Glass" Management
In the IBM eServer Cluster 1600, IBM's powerful partitioning technology
works seamlessly with IBM's robust cluster management software. First
developed for IBM's renowned SP(tm) supercomputer, the clustering software
creates simplified multi-systems management, remote management, hardware
and performance monitoring and distributed, secure parallel commands.
In addition, IBM's high-performance General Parallel File System (GPFS)
provides shared access to files across nodes in the cluster. Scaling to
nine terabytes, the system allows customers to quickly and easily access
huge amounts of data on a cluster.
"More than ever, customers want to improve manageability and simplify their
IT environments," said Surjit Chana, vice president, IBM eServer pSeries.
"The IBM eServer Cluster 1600 enables customers to dramatically reduce the
number of servers in their data centers and manage hundreds of applications
from a single pane of glass."
A cluster is a collection of interconnected computers used as a unified
computing resource with a single administrative domain. In the commercial
world, clusters enable businesses to consolidate servers, or implement
large e-business infrastructures or highly-available and massively
scalable databases.
A Cluster 1600 with two 32-way p690 servers with up to 32 partitions, and a
control workstation starts at $2,416,409.[2] The Cluster also gives
customers the flexibility to mix and match entry, mid-range and high-end
servers including stand-alone enterprise p670, p680, p690 servers as well
as a range of rack-mounted mid-range p660s.
IBM eServer p690 Accolades
The IBM eServer p690 and p670 have been deployed for a wide variety of
mission-critical business applications -- such as large corporate data
warehouses, as well as enterprise resource planning and e-business
applications.
The servers, with the AIX 5L operating system, run the world's most
demanding enterprise-class applications to support customers looking for a
highly reliable, available and scalable platform.
They are both fueled by the IBM POWER4(TM) microprocessor, the world's
first "server on a chip," containing two one-gigahertz-plus processors, a
high-bandwidth system switch, a large memory cache and I/O interface.
The p690 holds the number one position in TPC-C transaction processing on
Oracle9i Database, a key measurement of server performance.[3]
About IBM eServer
IBM is the number one server vendor in the world.[4] For more information,
visit www.ibm.com/eserver.
###
The IBM eServer brand consists of the established IBM e-business logo with
the following descriptive term "server" following it.
IBM, the e-business logo, AIX 5L, SP and pSeries are trademarks of IBM
Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries
licensed exclusively through The Open Group.
SPEC and SPECfp2000 are a trademarks of Standard Performance Evaluation
Corporation (SPEC).
All other company, product and service names are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective companies.
© 2002 International Business Machines Corporation, all rights reserved.
[1] Dynamic reconfiguration of partitions planned availability in 2H 2002.
[2] U.S. List price as of July 25, 2002. Reseller prices may vary.
[3] See www.tpc.org July 24, 2002. Results achieved on an IBM eServer p690
running version 5.2 of AIX 5L, planned for release in the fourth quarter of
this year. For more details about the systems and configurations compared,
see www.tpc.org.
[4] According to 2001 IDC Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker
