IBM Reinvents x86 Platform with eX5 Servers

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Part of the problem is the x86 platform itself. The 30-year-old architecture locks the processor and memory capacity together. To solve this problem IBM embarked on a three-year engineering effort to decouple the process and memory and improve the economics of operating enterprise-size x86 systems. By decoupling memory from its traditional tightly bound place alongside the server's processor, IBM could eliminate the need for customers to buy another server to support their increasing number of memory-intensive workloads.

The result of IBM's effort is the new line of eX5 servers, which offer six times the memory scalability available today and can help flatten the ever-rising cost of operating industry-standard data centers.

IDC - IBM System X4: Delivering High Value Through Scale Up Whitepaper: With rising utility costs and diminishing floor space, adding smaller servers to your system is impractical. This IDC whitepaper explores the benefits of consolidation and virtualization. It shows how utilizing larger servers with scale-up architectures can be more cost effective approach to growing business needs.

The IBM Enterprise X-Architecture chip is in its fifth generation with eX5. Thanks to a unique IBM silicon innovation, the processors are able to access extended memory very quickly, delivering the largest memory capacity in the industry.

Independent memory scaling technology, called MAX 5, offers six times more memory than is available across the industry today, which can allow eX5 customers to run 82 percent more virtual servers for the same license costs and reduce middleware and application expenses dramatically. Clients running a Microsoft database can cut their license costs by 50 percent with eX5, according to IBM.

To further help reduce data center costs, IBM's eX5 systems take advantage of integration with IBM middleware to create a highly virtualized environment that can give users a flexible, highly scalable system that can reduce the number of servers needed by half while cutting storage costs 97 percent and licensing fees by 50 percent.

IBM will introduce three ultra-scalable eX5 systems in 2010: the four-processor IBM System x3850 X5; the BladeCenter HX5; and the System x3690 X5, an entry-priced server capable of enterprise-class operation that IBM claims will become the most powerful two-processor server on the market.

Additional eX5 Features

In addition to MAX5 memory scaling technology, IBM's new eX5 systems feature additional new features that can improve the performance, cost, and flexibility for x86 workloads. eXFlash is a unique, next-generation flash-storage technology that replaces an older, less reliable generation of storage and can slash storage costs up to 97 percent by replacing hundreds of hard-disk drives and thousands of wires and cables.

FlexNode provides the physical partitioning capability to change from one system to two distinct systems and back again, allowing clients to run infrastructure applications by day and larger batch jobs by night on the same system for superior asset utilization.

IBM's Systems Director software management suite has been upgraded to support eX5 technology and will allow users to pre-configure servers, remotely repurpose systems, and set up automatic updates and recoveries. In addition, IBM is planning to offer simplified Lab Services to help clients migrate to eX5 systems and maximize virtualization and database performance.

The IT department at Acxiom Corp., a leader in interactive marketing services, is an early user of IBM eX5 systems. The company counts among its clients seven of the top 10 retail banks and nine of the top 10 automakers. Acxiom analyzes massive amounts of rapidly ballooning consumer data on behalf of its clients — four petabytes one year ago; seven petabytes just six months ago; and more than 10 petabytes of data today. Acxiom now has 22,500 servers.

"The IBM eX5 systems are game changers," said Acxiom CIO David Guzman. "We've been able to double our virtualization capacity, dropping our software licensing costs. The price/performance equation is extraordinarily compelling, with five times the performance at a fraction of the cost."

Guzman also cites the positive impact eX5 systems have on all of the key components of Acxiom's IT cost, including space, power, labor, and maintenance.

"The concrete results of this next generation machine are exciting, and the roadmap has 'knock-your-socks-off' vision," he said.