As noted at the end of last week's post, on July 30 IBM made
another PowerLinux announcement. Here's the full IBM press release.
"The PowerLinux 7R4 is
the high-end addition to IBM's line-up of Power Systems PowerLinux servers running industry standard
Linux from Red Hat and SUSE. Joining the PowerLinux 7R1 and 7R2 models, the
PowerLinux 7R4 delivers a new level of performance with up to 4 sockets and 32
cores -- ideal for clients seeking a Linux solution capable of handling
compute-intensive workloads including analytics, cognitive computing, database
and web infrastructure. The PowerLinux 7R4 takes advantage of the same
virtualization, middleware, and applications that are available on all Power
Systems running Linux today.
“In addition to IBM DB2
database software for Linux, which offers an average 98 percent compatibility
when migrating Oracle Database applications, IBM announced that EnterpriseDB's
enterprise-level PostgreSQL-based database solution is now available on all
Power Systems servers running Linux.
"Switching databases has
traditionally been costly and risky due to limited application compatibility
and lack of comprehensive migration tools and resources. EnterpriseDB's
Postgres Plus Advanced Server and IBM Power Systems solve this problem by
providing extensive Oracle compatibility functionality, migration tools and
expertise that can deliver significant cost savings while allowing many Oracle based
applications to run virtually unchanged,” said Ed Boyajian, President and CEO,
EnterpriseDB.
“IBM has
participated in a wide range of open source projects since 1999, and today this
includes Open Stack, Open Daylight, KVM, Apache and Eclipse in addition to
Linux. Hundreds of IBM programmers and engineers around the world are
contributing to open source as part of the collection of global open source
communities, including experts working on projects such as KVM and hands-on
support for clients, IBM Business Partners and software vendors interested in
running Linux on Power Systems. In May 2013 IBM opened the world’s first IBM’s
Power Systems Linux Center in Beijing, and in June 2013 IBM announced its
intention to open two more IBM Power Systems Linux Centers in New York and
Austin."
Here's the IBM PowerLinux 7R4 announcement letter:
“The IBM PowerLinux 7R4 (8248-L4T) server is a powerful 2-socket or 4-socket server that ships with 16 or 32 fully activated cores and I/O configuration flexibility to meet today's growth and tomorrow's processing needs. The server features:
- Powerful POWER7+ DCM processors that offer 3.5 GHz and 4.0 GHz performance with 16 or 32 fully activated cores
- Up to 1024 GB of memory
- Rich I/O options in the system unit: six PCIe 8X Gen2 slots in the system unit; two GX++ slots for I/O drawers; six hard disk drive (HDD)/solid-state drive (SSD) SAS small form factor (SFF) bays and integrated SAS I/O controllers; integrated multifunction card with four Ethernet, two USB, and one serial port; redundant hot-swap ac power supplies in each enclosure; 19-inch rack-mount 5U configuration ...
“Without
PowerVM, dynamic LPAR allows one partition per processor. With PowerVM , up to
20 partitions are allowed per processor. Logical partitioning is supported when
IBM PowerVM for IBM PowerLinux (#EC22) is ordered.
“The backplane can be
configured as one set of six bays, two sets of three bays (3/3), or three sets
of two bays (2/2/2). Configuration options will vary, depending upon the
controller options and the operating system selected. The controllers for the
six-bay or 3/3 configurations are always the two pairs of embedded controllers.
If the 2/2/2 configuration is used, the two embedded controllers run the first
two sets of bays (2/2) and a feature 5901 PCIe SAS adapter located in a PCIe
slot in a CEC enclosure controls the third set (2). By having three controllers,
you can have three boot drives supporting three partitions.
“The IBM PowerLinux 7R4
(8248-L4T) server is designed with both IBM and customer serviceability in
mind. Advancements such as Guiding Light LED architecture are used to control a
system of integrated LEDs that lead the individual servicing the machine to the
correct part as quickly as possible. With the PowerLinux 7R4 server, you can
replace service parts (customer replaceable unit). To do this, the PowerLinux
7R4 server uses Guiding Light LEDs to indicate the parts that need to be
replaced. An HMC attached to the PowerLinux 7R4 server enables support
personnel (with your authorization) to remotely log in to review error logs and
perform remote maintenance if required.
“Concurrent
maintenance guided service procedures will continue to be supported by the
Repair and Verify (R&V) component of the Service Focal Point application
running on the HMC. Repair procedures that are not covered by the guided
R&V component are documented and available for display on any web
browser-enabled system as well as on the HMC. These procedures are available
through the InfoCenter application.”
If you search for IBM 7R4 you will find more analysis. Here
are two additional articles. Informationweek says:
“Why buy Power when there are more x86
choices? Performance is the differentiator, according to IBM. Multi-threaded
Java applications, for example, can take advantage of four threads per core
instead of the two threads per core on Intel machines. What's more, Power 7+
series upgrades introduced over the last year include a highly optimized IBM
Java Virtual Machine for better Java performance. Finally, the machine has a
2.5 times more cache than competitive Intel machines.
The register says:
“... because of the relatively high cost of
Power Systems iron, which was marketed to Unix and proprietary customers used
to paying a premium for every component in their systems, it was difficult to
pitch a Power-based machine against an x86 box and win. So, with the
PowerLinux machines, IBM cut its prices to take that issue off the table. And
now, IBM can focus the conversation on the performance of Java, database, and
analytics workloads and show that a Power7+ alternative can take on a Xeon
system and make economic as well as technical sense.”
IBM continues to make Power servers an attractive option for running Linux. As
AIX and IBM i cannot run on the 7R1, 7R2 or 7R4, IBM has made the pricing on
these systems very competitive when compared with traditional x86 commodity
hardware. Take the time to investigate whether Linux on Power makes sense in
your environment.
In
case you missed it, here is some information from today's Wall Street journal about the OpenPOWER Consortium:
“The
effort will start with Power8, a forthcoming member of the chip family that IBM
plans to discuss at a technical conference this month.”
The IBM news release says the consortium is “an open development alliance based on
IBM's POWER microprocessor architecture. The Consortium intends to build
advanced server, networking, storage and GPU-acceleration technology aimed at
delivering more choice, control and flexibility to developers of
next-generation, hyperscale and cloud data centers.”
By: Rob McNelly
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