IBM announced it is bringing its POWER6 microprocessor-based
technology to small and medium-sized customers and delivering new
virtualization offerings designed to help those customers consolidate server
capacity, save energy and more effectively manage their IT costs.
A “virtualized” approach to computing is designed to allow
corporations around the world to reduce energy consumption by as much as 80
percent, better manage system growth, and achieve total cost of ownership
reductions of up to 72 percent.
Virtualization technology allows multiple server functions
to run on fewer servers. For example, one server could run many
operating systems and simultaneously host several business applications.
Deploying these virtualization capabilities can help lower IT costs and
business risks, increase efficiency and flexibility, simplify deployment and
management, enhance overall business resilience and enable new forms of
innovation.
Addressing these requirements, IBM introduced today a new virtualization
platform – PowerVM Express – specially made to enable customers to better
manage their IT costs, drive maximum energy efficiency and increase resource
utilization. PowerVM provides virtualization solutions for the broadest
range of operating systems in the industry, including AIX -- IBM's UNIX
operating system, Linux, and i5/OS for System i customers.
When combined with new POWER6 microprocessor-based System p
servers and BladeCenter servers – designed specifically for small and
medium-sized businesses – customers can create up to 160 virtual partitions in
a single system, dramatically improving the utilization of the servers.
"Virtualization has typically been in the domain of
large enterprises. Today we aim to simplify the adoption of virtualization
technologies, making it available to small and medium-sized businesses,” said
Scott Handy, vice president of marketing and strategy, IBM Power Systems. “The
capabilities we deliver when combining IBM's leadership virtualization software
and POWER6 technology in our new offerings take us beyond just world-class
performance and allow us to help clients build more efficient businesses by
saving time, space and money."
PowerVM software – formerly known as Advanced POWER
Virtualization (APV) – is now available in Express, Standard and Enterprise
Editions. New to all three PowerVM editions is a feature – at no additional
charge - that allows System p servers to run Linux x86 binary applications
unmodified without recompilation, in addition to UNIX and Linux on POWER applications.
According to IDC, spending on virtualization software and
services is expected to exceed $15 billion worldwide by 2011, up from $6.5
billion in 2006.3 Forrester says that awareness of server virtualization by
companies with 500-999 employees jumped from 60 percent to 86 percent in one
year.4
Many of the attributes of virtualization technology, a
mainstay in many IBM large systems for more than 40 years, are now being
utilized by customers large and small. Nearly 70 percent of IBM POWER6
processor-based System p servers use PowerVM technology today. In addition to
systems management and cost benefits, the PowerVM platform provides customers
with new options to improve system and application availability, allowing
reductions or elimination of planned downtime.
While competitive virtualization offerings in the industry
are limited to supporting Intel processor-based servers, IBM’s leadership
innovation with the POWER6 microprocessor and PowerVM virtualization software
enables customers to partition below the processor level to one-tenth of the
processor.
OSRAM SYLVANIA, a leader in lighting solutions and specialty
products that feature innovative design and energy-saving technology, was
reaching server capacity and wanted to avoid costly upgrades to their existing
systems. The company was challenged to significantly reduce operating costs as
they implemented a new five-year strategy. IBM System p servers, PowerVM
virtualization technology, and migration services from IBM provided the right
solution.
"Upon researching the problem, we were convinced that
IBM offered the best support for the transition, the best technology for
operations, and the best strategy for long-term development," said Jeffrey
Ruck, director of IT infrastructure services, OSRAM SYLVANIA. "In two
separate projects, we were able to consolidate a total of 61 UNIX and x86
servers from HP and Dell to 11 System p servers running AIX. The IBM Migration
and x86 Server Consolidation Factory teams spearheaded the project, and as a result
system response is twice as fast, the CPU footprint has been reduced by a
factor of four, and we're able to deliver better business results with less
power and less cooling, and with significantly lower license costs."
In addition to the introduction of PowerVM, IBM also
announced:
Two new POWER6 processor-based UNIX servers, the entry-level
System p 520 Express and entry-level System p 550 Express, both built to handle
mission-critical business workloads and both expected to entice additional
Solaris and HP/UX customers to switch to IBM.
A new release of the i5/OS operating system, IBM's flagship
operating environment for small and medium-size clients using the System i
platform with new support for the IBM BladeCenter POWER6-based JS22 blade
server.
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