IBM Aims Renamed UNIX Server at Sun

Event Summary

[Source: IBM] 10/16/2000

IBM has introduced the eServer pSeries 680 - and announced it will ship the UNIX-based system to customers beginning Nov. 17. Code-named "Turbo," the pSeries 680 has captured eight major performance benchmark records using up to 24 copper microprocessors with IBM's Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) technology. (See IBM Continues RS/6000 Performance Focus.)

Additional features include:

• Capacity Upgrade on Demand - A "pay as you grow" configuration option
  
  
• Built-in service processor - the service processor monitors system operations and takes preventive or corrective actions.
  
  
• Dynamic CPU Deallocation - Automatically deallocates resources if impending CPU failures are detected

IBM will also make available the ability to cluster up to 16 servers.

Market Impact

For those unfamiliar with the new product line names, the "eServer pSeries" is the new name for the former RS/6000 UNIX product line.

IBM is clearly continuing its assault on Sun. But that's to be expected, with Sun still believed by many to be the leading Web server vendor. IBM's take-no-prisoners attitude is exemplified by their publishing a wide range of performance benchmark data (see Table 1 below), especially in those sections of Table 1 where "Sun has not published" similar data.

The pSeries has a few things to recommend it:

1. High performance
   
   
2. IBM's hardware reliability
   
   
3. IBM's breadth of products

Table 1.

One issue which detracts from these figures is the price/performance ratio. This was accomplished with a five-year equipment cost listed in the TPCC report at just under $7 million. Upon closer inspection: we think this is a neat trick, considering that the base cost of the server hardware (again, from the report, and without adding the costs for Oracle or for client hardware) is over $9.3 million. The difference? Deep discount - over $4.5 million. Now, discounts are certainly not un-American. We just wish vendors would maintain an apples-to-apples outlook. (IBM is not the only vendor to offer discounts, they just happen to be the vendor we're writing about today.)

User Recommendations

IBM continues to produce high-performing Unix systems. Customers already using the RS/6000 will appreciate the upgrade path. Of course, these systems aren't cheap, but we're talking about heavy-duty compute requirements, so that's to be expected.

We would not be surprised if Sun started offering discounts, just to steal some of IBM's thunder. Sun's history does not indicate a concern about what IBM does, though.

A key issue for potential customers trying to decide between IBM and Sun is that, currently, there are significantly more software apps available for Solaris than for AIX (IBM's version of Unix). For many customers wanting to have an enterprise-level system, this is a significant issue.

Editor's Note:
This article has been modified from its original form since the original publication date.