IBM beefs up array of Unix servers

IBM has added four-core processing capability to the low end of its Unix servers.
The company last week unveiled a quad-core system, the System p5 505Q Express, which IBM is billing as its first IU system with four processor cores. IBM also announced processor upgrades to its dual-core and quadcore Express systems.
IBM is targeting midsize companies with these Express systems by offering the more powerful machines that it says are priced competitively with x86-based servers. IBM also is offering special pricing on preconfigured Solution Edition servers when they are paired with popular enterprise software such as that from Oracle or SAP
By bundling preconfigured hardware designed to run enterprise software at a special price, "we can neutralize the price issue and the customer can consider the other variables," says Charles Bryan, a team lead for IBM's System p integrated offering and independent software vendor marketing.
For example, a System p5 model 510 Express server with a single-core processor carries a base price of about $4,200, while the same model with a four-core processor lists at slightly more than $5,500. Other configurations of the volume-market-segment servers are priced in the mid-teens to more than $20,000. The models preconfigured to run a certain software will carry 10% to 15% discounts from build-to-order servers.
By pairing hardware and software, IBM is "attacking the high cost of integration" for enterprise customers, says Joe Gabby president of Clabby Analytics. Enterprises might buy a stand-alone server but then incur extra costs to install a particular software program on that server.
"They are trying to reduce the cost of deployment and are saying, 'I don't want any hidden costs,'" Clabby says.
With this announcement, IBM adds to the array of servers featuring its four-core processor technology, which lets the CPU handle as many as four tasks simultaneously. A single-core processor could be idle while waiting for another task to be performed, such as retrieving data from a storage device. With multiple cores, the processor can perform other tasks while waiting for that data. Combining multiple independent processors into a single integrated circuit is a more efficient design than putting multiple microprocessors in separate physical packages.
Although dual-core processors are available from other vendors, IBM says right now it offers the only four-core processor.
"We're seeing the move toward multicore processors as one way to increase performance without just winding up the clock speed," says clay Ryder, president of the Sageza Group.
This more efficient use of the CPU helps reduce heat buildup and electrical consumption, factors of growing concern to companies trying to control data center costs, Ryder says.