IBM Debuts Cheaper Power Servers

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IBM is taking on competitors HP and Oracle more directly by introducing a line of less expensive Power Servers. The servers can be used for cloud computing, and they integrate Big Data analytics technologies from the “Watson” supercomputer.

All Things D’s Arik Hesseldahl reported, “Computing and tech services giant IBM said today that it has cut back the prices on its Power Systems servers in a bid to compete more directly with mainstream servers from rivals Hewlett-Packard and Oracle. For years, IBM’s Power line of servers has been aimed at higher-end businesses. The servers run IBM’s Power7 chips, and are priced to compete against servers running with chips from Intel. Starting prices on the entry level machines begin at $5,947.”

Computerworld’s Agam Shah added, “IBM’s Watson supercomputer outperformed humans in the televised game show ‘Jeopardy.’ Now the company is moving some of its underlying technologies from the supercomputer into new entry-level servers. The company’s new Power Express servers announced on Tuesday will integrate some hardware and software elements derived from Watson.… With Watson technologies, companies can use the new servers to analyze warehouses of data, and to answer complex queries with high levels of confidence. The technologies will provide insights into structured and unstructured data at a cheaper cost, said Steve Sibley, director of Power Systems offering management at IBM.”

V3.co.uk quoted IBM’s Rod Adkins, who said, “Big data and cloud systems that were once only affordable to large enterprises are now available to the masses. With these new systems, IBM is forging an aggressive expansion of its Power and Storage Systems business into SMB and growth markets.”

The Register’s Timothy Prickett Morgan observed, “With the aggressive pricing IBM has set across the entry Power7+ machines – that’s the Power 710+ through Power 740+ — and the goose in performance, the new machines offer anywhere from 14 to 60 percent better bang for the buck than the Power7 machines they replace. This is a bit better than last October’s initial Power 770+ and Power 780+ boxes offered to AIX, IBM i, and Linux customers, and somewhat better than the the Flex System p260+ nodes that came out with the new processor in November delivered.”