Migrate to IBM System x

Your business is poised to take advantage of the next big opportunity. But is your IT environment ready to help you meet your goals? Or will it hold you back? Smarter systems for a smarter planet mean that when you need to grow your business, you can drive forward. IBM System x advancements in scalability, reliability and performance can help you take your business where you want it to go. At IBM we provide the technology that will help your business innovate and thrive. We make that possible today and have a vision and dedication to continued innovation for tomorrow.

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Why should I choose System x to run my business?

System x solutions are the result of a design for building proven IBM innovation around industry-standard components. Solutions that span feature-rich, scalable enterprise x86 servers to rack-optimized servers designed for business productivity to entry-level tower servers. IBM differentiates itself in the crowded x86 marketplace by offering high value offerings that are easy to deploy and manage, leadership quality and service, and leading technology.

Redefining X

The 30-year-old PC server has reached its limits. To combat the spiraling costs and inefficiency caused by the chronic underutilization of x86 servers—and to be able to scale flexibly to meet the demands of new applications and services—real innovation is required, not more commodity solutions.

With the introduction of eX5, IBM’s 5th Generation of the industry leading enterprise x86 servers, IBM engineers have redefined X by radically expanding the capabilities of x86 servers, leveraging the deep history of IBM innovation. The new eX5 servers emphasize three crucial design goals:

Maximize Memory — Competitive servers use the same processors, but only eX5 systems offer memory expansion, yielding the maximum performance for many workloads. The unique System x capability to expand memory independently of the processor has unlocked an unprecedented amount of configuration flexibility. You no longer have to add another (underused and expensive) processor simply because you need more memory for your existing apps. In fact, if your apps (or your need for virtualization) require huge quantities of memory—more than the chassis can hold, in fact—eX5 allows you to expand the chassis with an external MAX5 memory chassis, for the most memory in the industry in each of these classes of servers.

Minimize Cost — With the addition of the 2-socket System x3690 X5, System x has lowered the acquisition cost of enterprise servers, while preserving the ability to expand to much greater capabilities if and when you need to. IBM doesn’t force you to buy everything up front, as some competitive systems do. You can extend memory as you need it. And more memory means you can run more VMs per processor, which helps lower your per-processor software licensing costs. See up to 50% savings in software licensing for the same number of virtual machines (VMs) or database users or nearly twice the number of VMs (82% more) for the same license cost¹.

Simplify Deployment — With single points of management and remote administration, eX5 systems are built for simpler qualification, faster deployment, and easier administration. eXFlash SSD technology allows you to drastically reduce cables and drives. IBM innovation helps set you apart from the competition. More affordable IT allows you to take cost out of IT and use those resources to fuel innovation in your own projects.

Improve application performance while managing growth, complexity and risk

With a data center that's easier to manage and more reliable, you have more time to focus on growing your business.

The IBM System x3850 X5 is unrivaled in its application performance. With leadership performance benchmarks, clients get the industry's best performance per workload. The x3850 X5 delivers 6x the memory of any 4-socket x86 system today for the maximum utilization, reliability and performance needed for compute- and memory-intensive workloads. The x3850 X5 is a versatile, scalable, 4-socket, 4U, rack-optimized enterprise server that provides a flexible platform so you can grow when you need to.

Reduce costs with improved energy efficiency

Managing energy in the data center is a growing concern due to the increasing numbers of servers, the incremental heat they generate and ultimately, the rising cost of energy. System x servers not only help increase performance per watt, but also help you budget, plan, and control power usage. And, by consolidating and virtualizing on IBM System x and BladeCenter servers, you can increase the utilization of hardware and decrease the number of physical assets you need to watch over. With the IBM Director extension and IBM Virtualization Manager, managing your virtualized environment is even easier, giving you a single interface to manage physical and virtual systems from almost anywhere.

The x3650 M3 delivers an energy smart design featuring lower wattage efficient power supplies, counter rotating fans, an altimeter and advanced power management that can reduce annual energy costs by up to $100/server per year. Also, the new x3550 M3 and x3650 M3 have next-generation BIOS technology that offers more functionality and fully supports today’s and tomorrow’s operating systems.

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¹ More VMs based on the following scenario: competition system is a 2S EP based solution, using 8GB memory dimms. This allows the customer to run 175 VM’s, and the virtualization software license would come at a cost of $7K. The x3690 X5 has all 32 dimms installed, and will be able to run 320 VM’s. So for the same license cost, each system being a 6 core processor model, 2S systems would have the same price, and the x3690 X5 would run 82% more VM’s than the competition.

License cost based on the following scenario: Compared a competitive system that can do 64 dimms, to the x3690 X5 with a MAX5 with the same number of dimms. Both configurations will support the maximum number of VM’s, the top limit on the hypervisor. This is an exercise of showing a large number of VM’s, and how each system will support the same number of VM’s. When we max out the number of VM’s the cost of the software license comes into play. For ½ the license price the x3690 X5 will support the same number of VM’s as the competition, due to the amount of memory. In fact in the lab we have found that for most of the configurations, it is becoming difficult to load enough memory to keep the processors utilized.

How does your system stack up against IBM System x?

	IBM	HP	Dell	Oracle
Intel® Xeon® processor-based 4-socket scalable server	System x3850 X5 scales 8-sockets, 64 cores	--	--	--
Three levels of memory protection with IBM Active Memory™ technology	System x3850 X5, System x3950 X5	--	--	--
Intel Xeon EX processor-based 2-socket, 2U server	System x3690 X5	--	--	--
IBM Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA)	Tool that can provide up to 48 hours notice that a component may fail. Select models feature PFA on memory, hard disk drives, CPUs, fans, blowers and voltage regulator modules	Hard disk drives, memory, CPU	Hard disk drives, memory	--
IBM Light path diagnostics	Provides easy notification and identification of a failed component, via an externally visible panel - even if the power is off	Insight Display	--	--
IBM Virtualization Manager	HP charges clients for the capability 1	--	--	--
IBM Electronic Service Agent™ ('Call home' ability)	Places help calls directly to IBM service and support	--	--	--

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¹ http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliantessentials/valuepack/vms/ (link resides outside of ibm.com)

© 2008 International Business Machines Corporation. All rights reserved. IBM hardware products are manufactured from new parts, or new and serviceable used parts. Regardless, our warranty terms apply. For a copy of applicable product warranties, write to: Warranty Information, P.O. Box 12195, RTP, NC 27709, Attn: Dept. JDJA/B203. IBM makes no representation or warranty regarding third-party products or services including those designated as ServerProven® or ClusterProven®.

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What path should you take?

When you're ready to move up, it's smart to go with IBM. IBM's expertise and leading product portfolio take the sting out of migrating from your current platform. Let us help you make the move.

Migrate from	Needs	Migrate to	Form Factor
HP HP Entry Integrity (rx120, rx2620) HP Alpha servers HP 9000 Midrange PA-RISC Servers HP Integrity rx7640 HP Integrity rx8640 HP Superdomes (<64 cores) HP Superdome (64 & 128 core)	Consolidate to streamline IT infrastructure and simplify management Reduce power, cooling and total cost of ownership Reduce server sprawl Migration to new operating systems Support new workloads, platforms and applications-including Web service and security Move up to virtualization and reserve, trial and on/off capacity on demand Increase compatibility, utilization and availability Improve quality control and performance	IBM System x3950 X5 (US) IBM System x3850 X5 (US)	4U per chassis 4U
Oracle Oracle Sun Fire V125-440 Oracle Sun Fire T1000-2000 Oracle SPARC Enterprise 4000 Oracle Sun Fire V490-1280 Oracle Sun Fire E4900-6900 Oracle SPARC Enterprise 5000 Oracle Sun Fire E10K-E25K Oracle SPARC Enterprise 8000-9000			4U per chassis 4U

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Migrate from	Needs	Migrate to	Form Factor
Dell PowerEdge 1950 Dell PowerEdge R200 Dell PowerEdge 860 HP ProLiant DL 360 G5 HP ProLiant 320 G5	Maximize ROI in single processor servers that support quad-core computing Reduce TCO through low power and cooling requirements Deploy anywhere: The x3250 M2 plugs into a standard 110-volt outlet Maximize uptime: The x3350 has availability features previously found only in dual processor servers	IBM System x3250 M3 (US)	1U
Dell PowerEdge 1950 HP ProLiant DL 360 G5	Increase performance in a dual processor server with a chipset optimized for better application computing Reduce TCO with advanced power management and cooling Improve reliability and availability Easy deployment and manageability	IBM System x3550 M3 (US)	1U
Dell PowerEdge 2950 HP ProLiant DL 380 G5	Optimize price/performance for business critical applications Reduce TCO with advanced power management and cooling Increase flexibility and scalability Improve system uptime and lessen service outages Easy deployment and simplified manageability Consolidate through virtualization	IBM System x3650 M3 (US)	2U

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Migrate from	Needs	Migrate to	Form Factor
Dell PowerEdge 840 HP ProLiant ML 350 G5	Configuration flexibility and availability features Simplified support with remote access and advanced manageability Lower lifecycle costs through component and platform longevity	IBM System x3200 M3 (US)	Tower

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It can be hard to tell facts from “spin” when new and old competitors alike make grand claims against IBM System x because we’re recognized as a technological leader in the market. This “Get the facts” Q&A series provides our fact-based response to these competitors' claims. We aim to keep you informed of key platform considerations such as reliability, efficiency, and total cost of ownership.

For more detail, read the following Q&A article.

 

Q: In March 2009 HP claimed that more than a month after the issue was first reported, IBM still has no fix available for customers who are affected by issues with SATA drives in their System x and BladeCenter Servers.

A: IBM's first priority is to take care of its clients, and despite speculation from HP, IBM responded immediately to client needs regarding the SATA drive issue. To be clear, the issue was industry-wide and related to common SATA drives sourced from one manufacturer. In fact, HP had a similar support communication for the exact same issue on their support site (link resides outside of ibm.com). To alleviate customer concerns IBM immediately put a stop shipment on the effected drives and we have also issued 3 retain tips (H194632, H194623, and H194697) on this subject since 2/4/09.

In the meantime, we have been assured by the vendor that this problem is extremely rare, and all new products and options have been re-worked with the new firmware. We are saving the customer time and effort and by enabling one download with multiple code fixes, so that multiple updates can take place over one re-boot.

To clarify, IBM has a long history of solving client business needs with speed and agility. The SATA drive issue was consistent with that heritage. Rest assured, this problem has been addressed by IBM and our next release of hard drive firmware will fix these issues. The OEM vendor has provided IBM with the fixes and IBM is dedicated with a sense of urgency to have a tested version of the firmware release available on the IBM support website.

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Q: Our competitors are claiming that IBM’s licensing deal with Lenovo for x86 servers means IBM is getting out of the server business. Is this true?

A: HP would have the world believe that due to our licensing deal on x86 technology with Lenovo—exactly the same kind we have with other industry partners such as Rackable—that their dream has come true: IBM is leaving the x86 server business. We’re sorry to disappoint HP, but that’s just wrong. IBM is in the x86 business to win.

With HP on the attack, it is our job to educate our customers about Lenovo’s entry as a competitor. It is our intention to target different markets. Lenovo’s entire set of x86 offerings compete with a very limited subset of our entry-level rack and tower servers. They offer nothing to compete with our blade servers, our high-performance computing offerings like iDataPlex, or our enterprise eX4-based servers. We offer quality system management tools with every system we sell, and we offer unmatched worldwide support.

We continue to lead the industry in investment in x86 innovation. We’ve put one hundred million dollars of investment into IBM iDataPlex to solve the needs of large-scale datacenters. Our small and medium business blade solution, IBM BladeCenter S, is a much stronger product than HP’s comparable offering, and is now providing great value to customers by providing a low-cost, all-in-one SAN solution with the introduction of our new ServRAID Vault Controller. And on the high end, we just announced updates to our fourth-generation enterprise architecture systems with refreshes to the System x3850 M2 and x3950 M2. These updates have rocketed us beyond the 1M transactions per minute milestone where no other competitor can touch us.

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Q: HP is promoting their PREMA architecture as superior to IBM’s eX5 design. Is their design really better?

A: HP has introduced their first Xeon-based 8-socket system, the DL980 G7, and of course they want clients to think that their new design is better than IBM’s fifth generation scalable enterprise X-architecture. The truth is, HP’s PREMA design contains many more components and interconnects than eX5, increasing both the price of the system and the potential for parts to fail. HP tries to focus the client on the importance of the standard Intel reliability features, but fails to mention the quantity hardware that the HP 8-socket system adds versus a the native 8-socket x3850 X5.

8-socket CPU Interconnect	IBM 8-socket  x3850 X5	HP 8-socket DL980 G7
QPI (42 Pairs, 21 Tx, 21 Rx)	12	20
XNC (Node Controller Links)	0	12
Total High Speed Buses	12	32

Also, the DL980 G7 will have poor remote CPU latencies, which are all 3-hop in both directions, including a higher latency scaling hop between XNCs. The proof can be found in the SAP SD benchmark:

SAP Benchmark	IBM 8-socket x3850 X5	HP 8-socket DL980 G7
Sales and Distribution (SD)	19,700 (+5.7%)	18,635
SAPS	108,270 (+6.4%)	101,720

ftp://public.dhe.ibm.com/eserver/benchmarks/news/
newsblurb_x3850X5_Windows_sap_101110.pdf (PDF, 19KB)

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/c-products/servers/benchmarks/HP_ProLiant_DL980_SAP_100410.pdf (PDF, 236KB) (link resides outside of ibm.com)

Direct 8-socket IBM Advantages

• Customers can purchase x3850 X5 and scale later . . . no 8-socket capability in DL580 G7
• 4 Boxboro IO Hubs (vs 2-3) for more IO bandwidth, and more x8 slots
• IBM is 2 chassis, 4 cables; HP is 2 XNC boards, 2 interface boards, 2 link boards, 4 wrap cables
• 16 SFF 2.5" hard drive bays vs 8
• eXFlash - 1.8" SSD support and high IOPS adapter for SSD performance
• PDUs/Line Cords - HP has 8 Power Supplies, IBM has 4 Power Supplies
• Service – x3850 X5 top access to CPUs and memory versus front access
• Service - HP back access to 3rd Boxboro IO Hub option
• Lower power, higher bandwidth x8 DIMM support

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¹ http://www.tpc.org/tpcc/results/tpcc_last_ten_results.asp (link resides outside of ibm.com)