When IBM announced its eServer i5 systems two weeks ago, the company stated that it was pricing the new models aggressively. Now that list prices for i5 configurations are available, it is becoming clear that Big Blue meant what it said. The i5 servers offer 35% to 60% better price/performance than the iSeries 8xx models did before IBM slashed their prices in late April. Even with those price cuts, most i5 models still cost less on a per-CPW basis than their iSeries counterparts do. Moreover, costs to maintain i5 servers are substantially less than those for iSeries models.

Let's Do the Numbers

The eServer i5 models come in the same three basic types as their iSeries 8xx predecessors. You can get an entry-level i5 with a fixed number of CPWs for 5250 interactive workloads, a Standard Edition model with no interactive CPWs, or an Enterprise Edition with unlimited interactive CPWs.

In the i5 family, the "fixed interactive" servers are Model 520s that are comparable to the iSeries Model 800. The 520 models come in two editions. The Value Edition is a "bare bones" configuration of the Model 520 running at 500 or 1000 CPWs that offers 30 or 60 interactive CPWs. The Express Edition is a more full-featured version of the Value Edition that IBM will sell through its distributors. For instance, the Value Edition of the 520-0900 comes with only 512 MB of memory, a single 35 GB disk drive, and no twinaxial adapter at a list price of $9,995. By contrast, an Express Edition of the same model comes with 1 GB of memory, two 35 GB disks, and a twinaxial adapter for $11,500.

IBM has published suggested retail prices for the Express Edition models, but it will allow resellers to price them based on local market conditions. Regardless of the price, most customers will get more system for their money if they buy the Express Editions. Indeed, I expect that most entry-level customers will purchase Express Editions rather than Value Editions. As such, I have used Express Edition prices in the comparison table that follows. For the purposes of this table, I have lined up the iSeries 8xx and i5 models so that models with similar performance appear on the same rows.

As you can see from the above table, the i5 Express Edition models are a definite value compared to the iSeries 800 lineup. Depending on the model, customers will spend anywhere from 10% to 60% less on a per-CPW basis for the i5 models. As I explained two weeks ago, however, realizing this value will require customers to upgrade to i5/OS. That may not be immediately possible for you if your software vendors have not yet certified their applications on the new operating system release.

By the way, the Express Editions vary significantly from each other in the software that they include. While all models come with OS/400, DB2 UDB, and WebSphere Application Server Express, the Express Editions #2 and #3 also include DB2 Query Manager, Query/400, iSeries Access, and WebSphere Development Studio.

While the i5 Express Editions are clear price/performance leaders over the iSeries, the Standard Editions are another story. Here, the cost per CPW of the iSeries 810 is quite competitive with the 520 Standard Editions. However, there is another factor to consider when comparing these models--or for that matter, when comparing any eServer i5 model against the iSeries. Compared to the iSeries 8xx family, the entire eServer i5 lineup offers substantially lower maintenance prices. For instance, while a 24/7 maintenance contract for the 810-2469 Standard Edition costs $450 per month, a comparable maintenance contract for the 520-0904 costs just $261 per month. Over four years, that adds up to $9,072 in savings. Moreover, if you include four years of 24/7 maintenance charges in the overall cost of these two models, the cost per CPW of the 520-0904 turns out to be over 9% lower than that of the 810-2469. In short, be sure to consider the maintenance contract savings of the i5 as part of any purchase decision.

The i5 520 Enterprise Editions represent a definite value over comparable iSeries 810 servers. This value is all the greater because maintenance contract prices for all i5 Enterprise Edition models are identical to those for Standard Editions of the same models. By contrast, maintenance charges for iSeries 8xx Enterprise Edition models were up to twice as much as those for Standard Editions. To understand the savings this represents, consider the fact that when excluding maintenance charges, a 520-0904 Enterprise Edition has a cost per CPW that is 19% better than that of the 810-2469. When one adds four years of maintenance to the cost of each model, the cost per CPW of the 520-0904 becomes 32% better than that of the 810-2469.

The lower maintenance prices of the eServer i5 come into play as well when comparing the Model 570 to its iSeries predecessors. The following table compares the two server families to each other.

¹ Based on the CPW ratings of the models with the minimum number of active processors

Overall, the cost per CPW of the i5 570 models is fairly close to that of the iSeries 825 and 870. The only 570 model that has clear price/performance leadership is the 570-0920 Standard Edition, which has a cost per CPW that is 30% better than the 5/8-way iSeries 870. However, when one considers maintenance charges, every i5 Model 570 becomes a price/performance leader. For instance, the cost per CPW of a 570-0920 Enterprise Edition with four years of 24/7 maintenance (and the minimum number of active processors) is $88.25. By contrast, the cost per CPW of an iSeries 870-2489 Enterprise Edition with the same maintenance contract and the minimum number of active processors is $98.49.

As the blank spaces in the above table make clear, the i5 570 does not yet cover the full performance range of the iSeries 870, much less that of the 890. However, IBM will remedy that situation this summer when it will enable customers to tightly couple up to four of the 2/4-way 570s to create symmetrical multiprocessing (SMP) systems with up to 16 POWER5 servers. It is likely that the costs per CPW of these configurations will be in line with those of the iSeries 890 models, but with significantly lower maintenance charges.

While the above tables do not evaluate the cost of iSeries and i5 feature codes, let me remind you that IBM reduced prices for many of these items in late April. The reduced prices apply to both iSeries 8xx and i5 feature codes, so costs for hardware such as memory and disk storage are the same across both product families.

The Net of It All

There is a simple way to summarize what all of these numbers are saying. If you buy an iSeries 8xx, you will get price/performance that is close to that of a comparable i5 server. However, you will not get significantly lower maintenance charges, new On Demand capabilities such as Memory on Demand, automatic workload balancing across logical partitions (LPARs), LPAR support for AIX, and many other i5-exclusive features. You will get all of this if you purchase an i5, but you will not get support for OS/400 releases before i5/OS. That is why IBM is still offering iSeries 8xx models and is doing so at attractive price points.

Of course, many iSeries customers will upgrade into the i5 servers rather than purchase them on an outright basis. With that in mind, I'll be dedicating an entire article to an analysis of upgrade options. If you are considering those options, be sure to join me next Monday.

Lee Kroon is a Senior Industry Analyst for Andrews Consulting Group, a firm that helps mid-sized companies manage business transformation through technology. You can reach him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Lee Kroon is a Senior Industry Analyst for Andrews Consulting Group, a firm that helps mid-sized companies manage business transformation through technology.

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