IBM System x enterprise servers

With technology that's based on open standards yet committed to innovation, IBM has created the ideal platform for today's business-critical applications: IBM System x™ enterprise servers.

These servers — built on the IBM X-Architecture® blueprint — provide high performance and mainframe-inspired reliability for your x86 workloads, including:

• Database processing
• Enterprise applications such as CRM and ERP
• Server consolidation with virtualization

The result of continuing advancements in X-Architecture are servers poised to help you realize innovation in your business, manage increasing complexity and go green and save.

Realize innovation

System x enterprise servers are built on the X-Architecture blueprint, which includes X3 and eX4 technology — so-named for the unique third- and fourth-generation chipsets — and other groundbreaking technologies. Central to this latest server technology is the balancing of increasing speeds of Intel® Xeon® processors with more memory and I/O capacity. The result is lower latency, higher throughput and continued outstanding performance. Because of X3 and eX4 technology, System x enterprise servers have posted scores of number-one industry-standard benchmarks since their introduction in 2001.

For nearly a decade, X-Architecture innovation has been synonymous with highly reliable x86 servers. To run mission-critical workloads or feel confident consolidating, you need systems that are dependable. IBM continues to enhance the features and functions of the chipset, driving mainframe-like reliability into System x enterprise servers to help your applications remain available. One advantage of X3 and eX4 technology is an enhanced memory subsystem. With three levels of memory protection, you can realize higher levels of availability, so instead of worrying about your data you can drive innovation in your own business. Innovation that can help you gain a competitive advantage.

Manage complexity and growth

The proliferation of servers, along with the supervision and asset control they require, can make it difficult to manage your data center. IBM Director, an industry-leading hardware management solution, is an open, integrated suite of software tools that provides a consistent, single point of management and automation. It can be extended for additional capability and can integrate with and complement higher-level systems management offerings to further save you time and money.

Multiple other capabilities framed by X3 and eX4 technology allow you to manage the risk associated with downtime. In addition to extensive redundancy and three levels of memory protection, IBM System x enterprise servers feature hot-swap and hot-add capability. They also have a "call-home" ability that allows them to independently place help calls to IBM. Together, these features work to maintain ultra high availability for your business-critical applications.

When it's time to add capacity, System x enterprise servers help you manage growth by enabling you to scale your server in tandem with your expanding workloads. This pay-as-you-grow scalability lets you grow from a 4-socket to a 32-socket server, or significantly increase your memory — simply by adding additional server chassis. And, with the balanced design of eX4 technology, you're able to leverage the power of the latest Intel processors, without sacrificing response times. The X-Architecture advantage allows you to tackle tough workloads and gives you room to grow — at your own pace.

Go green and save

You've told us that energy efficiency concerns are at the top of your list. The eX4 memory design consumes up to 37 percent less power than competitive systems incorporating Intel chipsets and fully buffered DIMMs. This lower power consumption, coupled with power supplies that can operate at over 90 percent efficiency, mean that System x enterprise servers deliver excellent performance per watt — from large databases to server consolidation projects. So you can go green to save on energy costs and become more environmentally responsible.

By consolidating and virtualizing on IBM System x enterprise servers, you can increase the utilization of your hardware and decrease the number of physical assets you need to watch over. These systems give you a perfect opportunity to migrate your database and enterprise applications into a more efficient system that will help simplify your IT — saving energy in addition to floor space and management costs. And, the new optional hypervisor capability makes it easy to deploy virtualized applications right out of the box. The server can boot up as a virtualized hosting platform — radically reducing software installation and setup time.

You've also told us that managing energy in your data center is a growing concern because of the increasing numbers of servers, the incremental heat they generate and ultimately, the rising cost of energy. With System x enterprise servers, IBM has created technologies that not only increase performance per watt, but also help you budget, plan and control your power usage. The IBM Power Configurator lets you select systems and IT infrastructure that fit your business goals before you commit to buying the first server. IBM Systems Director Active Energy Manager for x86 (formerly IBM PowerExecutive™) helps optimize energy efficiency so you can be more responsive to energy needs and costs.