IBM has opened up its Power8 processor specifications, making it possible for anyone to develop new systems on the platform.
The company yesterday launched its new Power Systems servers that allow data centres to manage massive data requirements, all built on an open server platform.
The company also announced the OpenPower Foundation, wherein released detailed technical specifications for its Power8 processors, inviting collaborators and competitors alike to innovate on the processor and server platform, providing a catalyst for new innovation.
Built on IBM’s POWER8 technology and designed for an era of big data, the new scale-out IBM Power Systems servers culminate a $2,4-billion investment, three-plus years of development and exploit the innovation of hundreds of IBM patents — underscoring IBM’s singular commitment to providing higher-value, open technologies to clients.
The systems are built from the ground up to harness big data with the new IBM Power8 processor, a sliver of silicon that measures just one square inch, which is embedded with more than 4-billion microscopic transistors and more than 11 miles of high-speed copper wiring.
“This is the first truly disruptive advancement in high-end server technology in decades, with radical technology changes and the full support of an open server ecosystem that will seamlessly lead our clients into this world of massive data volumes and complexity,” says Tom Rosamilia, senior vice-president, IBM Systems and Technology Group.
“There no longer is a one-size-fits-all approach to scale out a data centre. With our membership in the OpenPOWER Foundation, IBM’s POWER8 processor will become a catalyst for emerging applications and an open innovation platform.”
IBM’s POWER architecture is the cornerstone of innovation for the OpenPOWER Foundation, creating a computing platform available to all. The Foundation – representing 25 global technology providers and growing – was founded by IBM, Google, NVIDIA, Mellanox and Tyan.
The group announced today an innovation roadmap detailing planned contributions from several of its members, with IBM’s Power Systems as the first servers to exploit OpenPOWER technology.
The IBM Power Systems are designed for a new era of big data, helping technology leaders who are faced with managing new types of social and mobile computing and the explosion of data generated each day.
According to IBM test results, the IBM Power Systems are capable of analysing data 50 times faster than the latest x86-based systems. Certain companies have reported analytics queries running more than 1,000 times faster, reducing run times from several hours to just seconds.
IBM last year committed $1-billion in new Linux and other open source technologies for IBM’s Power Systems servers. Building upon that commitment, IBM yesterday unveiled two Linux developments that fortify rapid cloud innovation on POWER8 systems.
They are the availability of Ubuntu Server 14.04 LTS, Ubuntu OpenStack and Juju service orchestration tools, on POWER8 systems; and the introduction of PowerKVM, a Power Systems-compatible version of the popular Linux-based virtualisation platform KVM, on all POWER8 systems that run Linux exclusively.
IBM’s collaboration with Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu with more than 20 million users worldwide, provides easy migration for applications to Linux for cloud deployments to deliver big data and mobile software applications and to boost the performance of existing applications across cloud platforms.
IBM is offering the latest release of Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu OpenStack and Canonical’s Juju cloud orchestration tools on the new Power Systems announced today and all future Power8-based systems.
This complements the existing support by IBM for Red Hat and SUSE Linux operating system distributions on its complete line-up of Power Systems.
The first POWER8-based systems to debut are five Power Systems S-Class servers designed for large, scale-out computing environments. With industry-leading server quality and utilisation levels, the new line-up redefines today’s data centre economics – by helping to reduce floor space, power and cooling costs.
IBM has designed these systems to operate at industry-leading levels of efficiency, guaranteeing the system will perform as warranted while at a sustained 65% utilisation — a rate higher than common x86 utilisation levels. With twice the data throughput compared to an x86-based server, the new Power Systems can help cut data centre footprints in half.
