Raymar's IBM 5th Generation

IBM Enterprise X-Architecture® Technology (eX5)

Computing has become increasingly pervasive and abstract, an invisible layer that makes everything work with lightning speed. From an end user perspective, this is great. However, from the perspective of the people who provide the underlying infrastructure, this is not so great. When infinite possibilities meet finite resources, there's a conflict.

With shrinking budgets and a mandate to keep costs down, IT departments are tasked with processing exponentially more transactions and managing massive amounts of data. At the same time, they're expected to buy less equipment, consume less energy and manage with less space and staff.

It's not surprising that cash–strapped IT departments are turning to the x86-based server. X86 servers are no longer restricted to file, print and collaboration functions. They're running mission–critical workloads in businesses of practically all sizes—from high–volume transaction processing to memory–intensive business applications and analytics as well as Web and collaboration infrastructure. The ability of organizations to optimize these workloads – for speed, scalability, security, availability and manageability—will become the new definition of performance moving forward.

Rethinking what x86 servers can do

Larger servers, more sockets, more powerful processors and basic virtualization of x86 systems have certainly helped IT address this performance challenge. IT departments can make better use of the servers they already have—saving on capital and operations costs.

Working closely with clients, IBM approached the performance challenge by designing systems, not simply exploiting a chip. No matter how powerful, a processor alone cannot provide computing speed, energy efficiency, ease of use, flexibility and availability. Only a well-engineered system can do so.

Fifth Generation IBM Enterprise X-Architecture® Technology (eX5) decouples memory and input/output (I/O) from the processor—moving processing power from what's theoretically possible to what is actually possible.

Closing the gap between theoretical and actual performance

Certain aspects of the overarching server design, such as memory and I/O, constrain real-world performance. In particular, multi-core processors like the Intel Xeon processor require huge amounts of memory to achieve maximum utilization.

By decoupling memory from the processor, the IBM goal was to make it possible for organizations to "snap on" enough memory to leverage the full processing power of the powerful Intel Xeon processor and enable superior performance of the system overall.

The IBM engineering breakthrough completely changed the economics of an enterprise x86 server environment. You are now able to dramatically increase utilization of the Intel Xeon proc-essor 7500 series to ramp up the real-world performance of x86 servers—unleashing memory, providing flexible scalability and simplifying deployment for dramatic efficiency gains.

Redefining X

When an organization needs more computing power for today's memory-intensive workloads, the conventional wisdom is to buy more servers. This can lead to massive inefficiency and server sprawl. By letting you add memory independently of the processor, the fifth generation of IBM Enterprise X-Architecture technology has redefined the capabilities of the x86 platform.

Remove performance bottlenecks by unleashing memory

With the ability to add memory capacity independent of the processor, you gain exceptional configuration flexibility. You're better able to achieve the right balance between the processor and the memory to achieve superior performance. The number of processors no longer constrains the number of dual inline memory modules (DIMMs) available. You don't have to add another underutilized and expensive processor simply because you need more memory for your existing applications.

If your enterprise-level workloads or virtualization requirements require more memory than you System x or BladeCenter chassis can hold, you can simply add a MAX5 external memory enclosure. And memory technology from IBM boosts the memory performance of eX5 servers beyond that of other servers using the same processors and memory.

You can extend memory as needed to address the performance demands of just about any given workload. Server utilization goes up. And infrastructure complexity goes down—along with operating costs.

MAX5 technology allows eX5 systems to add more memory than standard Intel Xeon processor 7500 implementations—helping to deliver higher performance for enterprise-level workloads:

• In two-socket rack systems, the Intel Xeon processor 7500 series supports 32 DIMMs, while the two-socket IBM System x3690 X5 system with MAX5 supports 64.

• In four-socket rack configurations, the Intel Xeon processor 7500 series supports 64 DIMMs, while the IBM System x3850 X5 with MAX5 supports up to 96 DIMMs, and the four-socket IBM System x3690 X5 system with MAX5 supports 128.

• Plus, the larger memory footprint of the eX5 systems helps reduce I/O requirements significantly.

The IBM eX5 systems are available in configurations from 2 sockets and 16 DIMMs to 8 sockets and 192 DIMMs.

Add capacity when and where you need it

You need systems that can start out small and inexpensive and grow with the business yet be simple to administer and flexible enough to be repurposed as workloads change.

Such flexible scalability begins with memory. Because IBM decouples memory from the processor, you don't have to buy everything up front. You can decrease your hardware acquisition costs while increasing the processing power and extending the life of your existing servers. You purchase only the capacity you need at any given time. You're free to scale to accommodate greater capabilities as your workload and processing needs change.

More memory also means you can support more virtual machines per processor, increasing utilization, cutting down on physical servers and helping to lower your per-processor software licensing costs.

• Run up to 82 percent more virtual machines on eX5-based systems for the same license fees

• Reduce enterprise application expense dramatically—for example, running a Microsoft® SQL Server database environment on an eX5 system for half the licensing cost of the same number of users

• Slash storage costs by up to 97 percent with the eX5 system eXFlash database capabilities

The more you can virtualize workloads, the more space and energy you save, particularly if the servers you have are highly energy efficient. In addition, high-availability features that keep your systems up and running mean fewer expensive service calls.

Simplify deployment and ease system management

IBM provides its industry-leading eX5 technology in both rack and blade form factors built with "ready-to-go" building blocks already optimized for particular workloads and designed to be quickly and easily implemented. In addition, with consolidated single points of management and remote administration, you can rapidly qualify and deploy eX5 systems.