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IBM claims it has achieved massive performance improvements per watt with its new mainframe and system design for compute clusters to be deployed in data centers. The company says its new zEnterprise mainframe server can deliver 60 percent more capacity than the previous-generation z10 mainframe, while using the same amount of energy.
In addition to announcing the new mainframe, IBM rolled out a new system design that allows for integration of zEnterprise with select Power7-based and System x servers. Power7 is IBM’s processor based on Power Architecture – an approach used by multiple chip makers that simplifies instruction sets for processors.
“The new IBM zEnterprise System represents a bold move to fundamentally change how data centers are managed,” IBM Power and z Systems General Manager Tom Rosamilia said in a statement.
“This new dimension in enterprise computing-- extending mainframe governance to Power7 and System x blades integrated into the zEnterprise System architecture--was developed over the past three years with direct involvement from a team of IBM's 30 top customers.”
IBM employees Larry Terpak (foreground), Johnson City, N.Y., and Chris Wallner, Poughkeepsie, size up covers ready to be installed on the new IBM zEnterprise System mainframe. Image courtesy of IBM
The mainframe, used as part of the new system design, allows for management of more than 100,000 virtualized servers as a single system.
The new design allows workloads to run on a shared architecture, deployed as a single virtualized system. It combines the new mainframe with the new zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension and the new zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager. The combination enables workload management across System z and select Power7 and System x servers.
zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension integrates IBM blade servers with System z, allowing the user to manage them like mainframe resources. IBM expects to deliver BladeCenter Extension that supports Power7 blades running AIX, its UNIX operating system later this year.
Management of the new design as a single system is enabled by the new Unified Resource Manager, a firmware that integrates multiple platforms into one virtualized system.
Power7-based blades that can be connected to the BladeCenter Extension and managed by the Unified Resource Manager will be shipped in the fourth quarter. The feature will be extended to some System x blades in 2011.
Along with the new system, IBM also announced a slew of new software that enables its deployment, including a new version of the vendor’s Tivoli management framework for zEnterprise.
IBM invested more than $1.5bn in research and development to create the new technology over about three years.
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Keywords: IBM, zEnterprise System, zEnterprise mainframe, zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension, zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager, Power7, System x | |
