|
IBM last week bolstered the new eServer 15 server lineup with a box designed for small and midsize businesses looking for an off-the-shelf server that is easy to integrate into an existing environment.
A new system based on the Power 5 chip that can run multiple operating systems, the i5 550 is the third i5 server to emerge from IBM. In recent months, the company has moved to standardize its former pSeries and Series servers on a common set of components and operating systems.
The i5 servers, the former pSeries now known as p5 servers, have been designed for larger businesses that require a custom server for their environments.
15 servers come with IBM's i5/OS operating system and DB2 database software but can run several operating systems, including Linux, AIX and Windows. IBM's Virtualization Engine software brings partitioning and system management capabilities, once confined to mainframe systems, to the new i5 series servers.
Customers can purchase the server with several application bundles from software vendors such as PeopleSoft and Lawson Software, or a version with IBM's Lotus Domino e-mail software.
IBM's i5 550 server comes with four Power 5 processors, but IT managers can choose to purchase the machine with only two processors activated if their application workload doesn't require the additional capacity right away.This feature gives those businesses the flexibility to purchase a two-way server but have the capacity of a four-way server already built into the system, IBM says.
"The 550 is the one you buy when you know that four-way is as big as I need. It lacks the additional scalability infrastructure and is thus less expandable, but the upside is you get it at a better price," says Jonathan Eunice, principal analyst with Illuminata.
The two-way configuration costs $74,000. The activation fee for each additional processor is $3,700, plus operating system or application licensing costs. It will be available next month, IBM says.
Krazit is a correspondent with the IDG News Service.
Copyright Network World Inc. Aug 23, 2004
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved
| 
