* IBM continues its efforts to woo the Linux crowd
If you’ve got a bunch of underutilized x86 systems running Linux, you’re probably thinking virtualization as a way to rid your data center of unnecessary – and power hungry – hardware. Last week, IBM used Valentine’s Day to continue demonstrating its love for Linux on System p and give you another option when it comes to consolidation platforms.
IBM has been promoting Linux on Power for a few years now. This past summer it rolled out a bunch of quad-core System p machines that were priced competitively with x86 servers.
At the Open Solutions Summit in New York last week, IBM continued its efforts to woo Linux customers with the announcement of a new family of Web-tier consolidation systems. The midrange p5 560Q, which comes with four quad-core processors, is the most powerful of the bunch.
Using IBM’s Advanced Power Virtualization (APV) capabilities, including the ability to carve a processor core into multiple virtual partitions, the server can handle up to 160 virtual server images per system.
As an illustration, IBM says that clients could consolidate as many as 320 x86 Linux servers onto a single rack of five 16-core 560Q servers, reducing data center space demands by about 80%.
The p5 560Q supports AIX 5L, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Novell SuSE Linux Enterprise. The p5 560Q is expected to begin shipping Feb. 23 with a starting price of just under $44,000.
In addition to the p5 560Q, IBM also introduced the BladeCenter JS21, with up to 14 blades, for Web serving farms, as well as an express offering that starts with a single processor-based blade or 1U server. Both include the APV technology.
The BladeCenter H chassis and 14 JS21 blades is priced starting at just under $39,000, while the System p5 505 Express starts at $3,700, with the quad-core version, the p5 505Q, starting at $5,500.
