Transcript Is IBM ia dying platform, or still going strong?

Technical Update Hardware
IBM Power Platform
What you wanted to know about the iSeries
hardware POWER 5, POWER 6 and POWER 7
Bill Fuller
Natco Products Corporation
[email protected]
401 828-0300 x112
Myths Versus Reality
Is IBM i a dying platform, or still going strong?
Myth: Organizations are no longer investing in this
platform. The install base is shrinking quickly.
Myths Versus Reality
Is IBM i a dying platform, or still going strong?
Reality: An Info-Tech survey found that only 4% of
organizations are planning to migrate away from IBM i,
while 64% are planning to upgrade to new
hardware/software. (28% are staying with their current
version for the foreseeable future, while 3% are
exploring Managed Services/Hosting providers.)
Myths Versus Reality
Is IBM i a dying platform, or still going strong?
Myth: IBM i and its Power Systems hardware platform are
old technology.
Myths Versus Reality
Is IBM i a dying platform, or still going strong?
Reality: IBM has consistently delivered new Powerbased processors every three years since 2001, and has
consistently introduced new features ahead of most
competitors (e.g., 64-bit processing since 1995, and
virtualization via logical partitioning since 1988).
Myths Versus Reality
Is IBM i a dying platform, or still going strong?
Myth: IBM i (and its predecessors such as the
iSeries) only run applications that provide green
screen interfaces.
Myths Versus Reality
Is IBM i a dying platform, or still going strong?
Reality: 39% of respondents to an Info-Tech survey
are running web applications on an IBM i/iSeries
system. The release of IBM i v6.1 for Power Systems
(in 2007) added support for languages such as Java,
PHP, and C++, expanding the ability to provide
modern interfaces.
In addition, development tools are available to
create modern, web-based interfaces for interacting
with a legacy application, making even RPG-based
software accessible to tablets and smartphones.
Myths Versus Reality
Is IBM i a dying platform, or still going strong?
What is the canary in the mineshaft for IBM
Power Systems?
Myths Versus Reality
Is IBM i a dying platform, or still going strong?
The first sign that IBM i may in fact be dying and
following the path of OS/2 will be when major ISVs
stop supporting this platform.
At this time, the ISV market is still strong, especially
where it matters for this platform — enterprise
software. IBM counts over 2,500 ISVs and 5,000
solutions available for Power Systems overall, and
over 850 ISVs and 2,300 applications for IBM i 6.1
and 7.1.
IBM POWER 5
• Power Architecture
• Microarchitecture Power PC
V2.02
• 276 million transistors and
has an area of 389 mm2
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Introduced in 2004, supported 2 cores
Clock rate 1.5 Ghz to 2.3 Ghz
130 nm to 90 nm Feature Size
On the left a QCM with 4 POWER 5 chips
and 4 Level 3 cache memory of 36 Mb
IBM POWER 6
• Power Architecture
• Power ISA V2.05
• 790 million transistors and is
341 mm2
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Introduced in 2007
Dual core processor, with each capable
of SMT.
Clock rate 3.5 Ghz to 4.7 Ghz
65 nm Feature Size
POWER7® System RAS
Reliability, Availability, and
Serviceability
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Introduced in 2010
Power Architecture
Power ISA V2.06
45nm technology – 567 mm2
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Eight processor cores, 4 SMT threads
per core, 32 things at once!
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Integrated L3 cache
POWER 7 Proton Bombardment
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Because the real world can trip up the fastest computer, testing includes real world elements.
Solar flares, cosmic particles can cause temporary and permanent failures.
Errors generated in memory, registers and on the processor are detected, avoided,
recomputed ands if necessary the component is taken out of service automatically and the
problem logged and service call placed.