This morning, at the spring COMMON Conference in San Antonio, Texas, IBM will unveil the first servers that run on the company's new POWER5 processors. Those systems--the eServer i5 Models 520 and 570--represent the next generation of iSeries servers and the first generation of eServers that can support OS/400, Linux, AIX, and Windows workloads in an integrated environment. IBM will ship the first eServer i5 models on June 11.

While the eServer i5 carries on the rich heritage of the AS/400 and iSeries, it also represents a significant break from its progenitors. One welcome break is the nearly complete elimination of the price premiums that IBM has put on iSeries hardware over pSeries counterparts. When IBM unveils the POWER5-based pSeries servers later this year, customers will find that prices for processors, memory, disk storage, and adapter cards are the same across both POWER server families. According to sources inside IBM, one reason for this change is an increased resolve to compete aggressively in the small and medium-business (SMB) market. In this fight for market share, Big Blue will pitch the i5 as a server that not only provides high levels of software integration out of the box, but also meets or beats Intel servers on a price/performance basis.

With its support for AIX and its extended Linux and Windows capabilities, the eServer i5 is also more of a workload consolidation platform than the AS/400 and iSeries. Indeed, IBM will position the new server as a cost-effective "network in a box" that can consolidate and simplify entire IT infrastructures. Given the eServer i5's enhanced On Demand features and management facilities, it may actually deliver this benefit to many customers.

The i5 Up Close

Besides having a faster and more sophisticated processor than the iSeries, the eServer i5 is packaged differently than its predecessors were. Unlike the iSeries models, which IBM housed in their own unique chassis, each 520 and 570 server comes packaged as an industry-standard unit that is 19 inches wide and 4U in height. The Model 520 can fit in either a 19-inch rack or a deskside cabinet, while the Model 570 fits only in racks.

As the following table indicates, the Model 520 serves as the upgrade path for the iSeries 800 and 810 as well as for the older iSeries 820. At the entry level, the 520 is available in a Value Edition that runs at 500 or 1,000 processor CPWs and delivers 30 or 60 CPWs of 5250 application performance, respectively. The 520 also comes in a Standard Edition with no 5250 performance and an Enterprise Edition with unlimited 5250 performance. These editions are available on 520 models ranging from 1,000 to 6,000 processor CPWs. No matter what edition a customer chooses, each 520 (as well as each 570) comes standard with the next-generation release of OS/400, DB2 UDB for OS/400, and WebSphere Application Server (WAS) Express Version 5.0. IBM is making WAS Express a standard feature in order to integrate Web support into the eServer i5 and encourage software vendors to support WebSphere on their applications.

As the table indicates, there are significant differences between the iSeries 800/810 and the eServer i5 520. Besides its greater performance range and higher memory and disk capacities, the 520 supports more Integrated xSeries Server (IxS) and Integrated xSeries Adapter (IxA) cards than its predecessors. In addition, both the 520 and 570 can host logical partitions (LPARs) running AIX 5L V5R2 as well as Linux and OS/400. By contrast, the iSeries cannot support AIX. Both the 520 and 570 also offer a new LPAR management feature: automatic balancing of workloads across LPARs. With this feature, LPARs that are designated as having "uncapped" capacity can draw upon unused processor resources when they reach utilization thresholds. This transfer of resources takes place without operator intervention.

It should also be noted that the LPAR support limits are somewhat different on the 520 and 570 than they are on the iSeries. While the iSeries supports four OS/400 LPARs and 10 Linux LPARs per processor, the 520 and 570 support the same number of LPARs on a per-processor basis, regardless of the operating systems they are running. This means that customers could theoretically support up to 10 OS/400 LPARS per processor on the 520 running at 2,400 CPWs or higher. Realistically, however, most customers would not approach this limit and probably should not do so. On the 520 Value Edition models, the new limits also mean that customers are theoretically limited to fewer LPARs than on iSeries models. In reality, though, an iSeries running at similar speeds could not support more LPARs than a comparable 520.

As you may have noticed, the 520 and the 570 run a next-generation release of OS/400. That release, known as i5/OS V5R3 or simply as i5/OS, is the only OS/400 release that runs on the i5. However, customers can also run i5/OS on all iSeries servers and on any AS/400 Model 170, 270, or 7xx. Holders of OS/400 V5R1 and V5R2 licenses can upgrade their operating systems to i5/OS.

I will say more about i5/OS later in this article. For the moment, though, let's look at what the Model 570 offers to customers who need greater performance than the 520. At present, the 570 comes packaged as a 1/2-way system (1 active and 1 standby processor) or as a 2/4-way unit. This makes the 570 an upgrade path for larger iSeries 810 servers as well as for the Model 825 and the 5/8-way Model 870.

Like the iSeries 825 and 870, the eServer i5 570 comes in a Standard Edition with no 5250 performance and an Enterprise Edition with unlimited performance. Also like the iSeries, the 570 offers Capacity Upgrade on Demand (CUoD) and On/Off Capacity on Demand (COD) for processors. However, the 570 also comes with Memory COD, an offering that allows customers to purchase inactive memory at about 60% of its list price and then permanently activate that memory as workloads expand. The 570 also offers Reserve COD, a facility that automatically activates unused processors if the utilization rates for active processors reach 100%. These two offerings--which IBM intends to ship during the third quarter of this year--will significantly increase the flexibility and value of the 570's On Demand offerings versus those of the iSeries.

Since the 570 tops out at four processors and 11,700 CPWs, it is currently not an upgrade path for owners of the 8/16-way iSeries 870 or the iSeries 890. However, according to an IBM statement of direction, that will change during the third quarter of this year. During the quarter, IBM will ship 4- to 16-way Model 570s that cover the performance range of the iSeries 890 and support up to 160 LPARs. About the same time, IBM will ship High-Availability Editions of the 520 and 570. The company also plans to offer Capacity Backup versions of both models, though it is not yet clear when these will become available.

While IBM is not making any statements about POWER5 processors with more than 16 processors, rest assured that it has plans for such systems. As I have predicted in previous articles, IBM will unveil i5 servers that run on as many as 64 POWER5 processors and support up to 256 LPARs. At the high end, I expect such servers will deliver well over 100,000 CPWs.

i5/OS: Something for Nearly Everyone

As I indicated earlier, IBM is also announcing the next release of OS/400--rebranded as i5/OS--at COMMON today. Since i5/OS runs on the AS/400 170, 270, 7xx, and iSeries 8xx, it can deliver many of the benefits of the i5 to owners of older systems. Here is a quick summary of the major enhancements that i5/OS brings to existing servers.

• An integrated copy of WAS Express. No longer a chargeable option, WAS Express is a standard feature of i5/OS. The product also comes with a new application for conducting surveys along with the existing Telephone Directory application.
• Enhancements to Backup Recovery Management Services (BRMS). Under i5/OS, BRMS can perform automated backups of Windows, Linux, AIX 5L, and Domino servers. The new release also contains a wizard that condenses and reorganizes data to optimize tape utilization and save on media costs.
• Availability improvements. Several features of i5/OS promote higher levels of system uptime. These include RAID5 protection across SCSI buses, Rapid Checkpoint Save-While-Active, and the ability to add or remove I/O towers and IXA cards without restarting the system. A new Cross Site Mirroring facility allows users to mirror all objects in an Independent Auxiliary Storage Pool (iASP) to geographically remote disaster recovery sites.
• Tighter security. The new release also enables native, real-time scanning for viruses within the iSeries' Integrated File System (IFS) via Bytware's StandGuard Anti-Virus product. In addition, i5/OS has a native Kerberos server that provides users with a single sign-on across i5/OS applications, Windows servers, and all portlets and servlets.
• Expanded DB2 functionality. Database administrators will appreciate the support in i5/OS for Star Joins, query result set caching, and several of the latest SQL standards. In addition, DB2 UDB for i5/OS can support single tables of up to 1.7 TB in size.

There are many details in the i5/OS announcement that I do not have space to cover here. Before I move on, however, you should know that among the iSeries software vendors I have spoken to who received early versions of i5/OS, many said that it was one of the most stable beta releases they ever tested. I intend to write more about i5/OS in a future issue, so stay tuned.

A New Name...An Expanded Mission

In a time-honored tradition, the eServer i5 maintains full support for the AS/400 and iSeries technologies that users know and trust. However, its new name and new technologies make it clear that IBM wants to take the i5 where no AS/400 or iSeries has gone before. With its support for AIX and its ability to manage hundreds of virtual Linux servers, the i5 will make a bid for software vendors, systems integrators, and customers that never considered its predecessors. With its dramatically better price/performance, the i5 will also vie for the attention of IT vendors and customers that traditionally pick Intel servers. In such environments, the complete elimination of "400" from the i5's branding could help to dispel any association of the server with green-screens and expensive hardware.

Will the eServer i5 gain the allegiance of large numbers of new customers? That all depends on what you mean by "large." In my opinion, the i5 stands a fair chance of winning over tens rather than hundreds of thousands of new SMB customers over the rest of this decade. Just as importantly, it will give existing customers many good reasons to stick with POWER servers. In the process, the i5 will gain new Linux and AIX solutions that will make it a more flexible and powerful server for all customers. In short, the eServer i5 guarantees that IBM's leading midrange server will be a force in the IT community for years to come. That is good news for all of us who have a stake in the system's future.

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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