INDUSTRY

New IBM System p5 Server Sets Record, Passes One Million Transactions per Minute; IBM Introduces Reduced Software Pricing for Quad Core Module -- IBM today introduced eight new System p5 servers, including several based on the fastest POWER 5+ processors available, including the breakthrough Quad-Core Module technology. IBM's System p5 and eServer p5 servers, with the number one position in over 70 benchmarks, provide new levels of midrange performance in more affordable packages, making it easier for clients large and small to take advantage of the performance and virtualization capabilities of IBM System p servers. In addition, the company announced that the new IBM System p5 570 server set a new record for transaction processing performance in a 16-core system, delivering 1,025,169 tpmC (transactions per minute) on the TPC-C benchmark.This performance surpasses the TPC-C performance of the 64 core HP Superdome running HP-UX and is more than 3 times the performance of the comparable 16-core HP Integrity rx8620. Using new POWER5+ processor technology at 2.2GHz, the p5-570 server expands client options for large database, ERP, and CRM applications as well as server consolidation. IBM also unveiled three new systems featuring the computing industry's only four-core processor module, the POWER5+ Quad Core Module (QCM) technology, creating a complete family of QCM systems from 2U form factors with up to 4-cores, to 8U with 16-cores. The new System p5 560Q server delivers POWER5+ 16-core performance at new low price levels, creating an outstanding value for midrange systems. With Quad Core Module technology, the p5-560Q server beats all competitive 16-core systems on Java business application performance, making it an ideal choice for medium to large database intensive or web application implementations. To support the innovative System p5 Express family of 'Q' models, IBM intends to provide promotional software pricing for customers who purchase selected IBM middleware products, such as WebSphere Application Server and DB2 Enterprise Server Edition, together with any System p5 model 510Q, 520Q, 550Q, or 560Q. This promotional pricing is intended to provide up to 50% savings on selected middleware products when acquired with these System p5 models. Details on this promotional offering, including specific terms and conditions and eligible middleware products, are expected to be available by the end of April. For more information please contact your IBM representative or business partner. "IBM's UNIX systems have set the industry standard for price and performance for the last 5 years, earning IBM the pole position in this competitive marketplace," said Karl Freund, vice president, IBM pSeries. "With these new products, the AIX Collaboration Center and the IBM Migration Factory, we have widened the competitive gap even further, deliver more computing power for the money for our clients and making it easier than ever to switch to IBM." New Industry-leading performance from 2.2 GHz POWER5+ processors In addition to the new System p5 570 server, the new 2.2 GHz POWER5+ processor is also utilized in the new IBM System p5 575 supercomputer building block. The 8-core p5-575 server delivers over 9 times the STREAM Triad performance of the HP Integrity rx7620 in unique, very dense 2U form factor. The new 16-core, 1.9 GHz p5-575 server provides over 4 times the performance of the HP Integrity Superdome5. These advanced POWER5+ systems provide clients with high per-core performance, providing low software, maintenance, and management costs. System Details: -- The IBM System p5 570 is the first of any 16-core system to deliver more than 1 million transactions per minute. The IBM System p5 570 is the highest performing transaction processing server in its 16-core class as well as the number one 16-core system for Java business and 8-core system file serving applications. -- The IBM System p5 185 Express offers outstanding performance and is available in desk side or rack mount (3 Bays; 4 Slots). Customers can choose from thousands of AIX or Linux applications, as well as IBM integrated offerings like WebSphere software, Apache, SAMBA, Network E-Mail Security Express, and J-Scribe Intelligent Server Solution. -- The IBM System p5 510 Express is IBM's lowest priced POWER5+ server and provides the industry's fastest 2-core performance for Java business applications. This 2U rack server is enabled for optional Advanced POWER Virtualization with the easy-to use, web-based Integrated Virtualization Manager. -- The IBM System p5 510Q Express uses the innovative Quad-Core Module to provide 4-core performance in the same package as the 2-core p5-510. The system is designed for application or server consolidation and medium to large transactional applications. It is also ideal for multi-threaded high performance HPC applications. -- The System p5 520 Express and IBM System p5 520Q Express delivers 90% faster performance over their popular predecessor -- the IBM eServer p5 520 -- at lower prices. The deskside or 4U rack models come in 1-, 2-core or 4-core POWER5+ configurations and offer more internal expansion than the p5-510 and 510Q. -- The IBM System p5 560Q Express enables customers to get up to 4- or 8-core POWER5+ Quad-Core Module scalability with the ability to upgrade to 16-core. The four socket p5-560Q server delivers over 6 times the SPECjbb2005 performance of the four socket Sun Fire v40z Opteron system. The latest System p5 Express servers are available in special, pre-configured AIX 5L Editions and OpenPower Editions for Linux environments and can be configured to run both concurrently. IBM also announced new systems. They include: -- The IBM System p5 575 server is equipped with 16-core and 8-core capabilities. The 16-core is available with 100 GFLOPS/node for computationally demanding applications and up to 256 GB of memory, with less than 200 GBps memory bandwidth. The system offers just under 1 TeraFLOP per footprint and includes an optional Rear Door Heat Exchanger, designed to reduce heat emissions by up to 55%. The 8-core is available with just under 25 GBps of memory bandwidth per processor. The p5-575 server took the #1 8-core RISC system spot across the HPC performance board (floating point, integer, OpenMP, Linpack, Stream). -- IBM Intellistation POWER 185 Express is IBM's lowest priced AIX 5L workstation ever. It has advanced 3D graphics capabilities for a UNIX workstation with excellent performance. The IBM Intellistation POWER 185 Express is great for AIX 5L and Linux application development and more than meets IBM's Quiet Office standard for low-noise environments.