IBM has unveiled new hardware and software to help automate the management of power consumption in the datacenter to improve power utilization and reduce energy costs. Part of this innovation is the introduction of a new line of IBM System x servers based on the next generation of IBM's Xtended Design Architecture (XDA), enabling up to 90 percent better application performance, and up to 163 percent better performance per watt.
According to Robert Frances Group, power usage will be the number one issue for most large-company IT executives to address in the next two to four years, according to analysts. "IBM is giving organizations the means to 'personalize' their power utilization," said Susan Whitney, general manager, IBM System x. "IBM has been pioneering superior system design to maximize energy efficiency for over 40 years. Now with PowerExecutive, clients can control how and where power is used across the datacenter."
The new System x servers, including the x3650, x3550 and x3500, feature the latest in dual core processor technology and up to three times the memory expansion of the previous generation of systems. IBM PowerExecutive allows customers to effectively manage power consumption in the datacenter. PowerExecutive, an extension to IBM Director systems management software, allows clients to "meter" actual power usage and trend data for any single physical system or group of systems. Developed by IBM Research, PowerExecutive utilizes IBM-developed monitoring circuitry to help identify how much actual power is being used and the temperature of the system. The software is available across IBM's new System x servers, as well as its BladeCenter line of systems.
"Under-sizing power or cooling can bring an entire datacenter down, while over-sizing can mean millions in excessive cost," said IBM customer Mark E. Towfiq, president and CEO, InteleNet Communications Inc. "With PowerExecutive, we will be able to understand our actual power draw, as opposed to benchmarked power consumption, and effectively allocate and match power and thermal limits in our datacenter at the system, chassis or rack level. The tool will also help our systems automatically respond to a power shortage or outage."
IBM's new System x servers and workstations offer the latest in dual-core processor technology and up to three times the memory expansion of the previous generation of systems. They include: System x3650 — a stable business critical application server for workload consolidation (starting at US $2,124); System x3550 — an application density for power managed datacenter performance (starting at US $1,921); System x3500 — a stable business critical application server for remote office management (starting at US $2,013). IBM expects these systems to be available in early June 2006. IBM Power Executive was introduced for IBM BladeCenter in November 2004 and is available today across the IBM System x line of servers introduced today, free of charge and available by download for customers.
