IBM Power Systems

Main articles:

• Servers (global market)
• Servers (Russian market)

Servers IBM The Power Systems families, equipped, processor Power8 appeared in a turning point for computing in 2014, so they took an extremely interesting position, serving as a kind of bridge between the past and the future. Their historical roots date back to the seventies of the 20th century, so they inherit much of what was invented over the previous decades within IBM. But in 2013, the OpenPOWER Foundation consortium was created, which involves integrating the intellectual property of participants in order to create an ecosystem consisting of hybrid systems where processors (CPU), graphics processors (GPUs) large specialized chips (ASICs), programmable arrays () FPGA and memory are combined by means of the Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface (CAPI).

History of Power Systems Line Development

In the 21st century, the computer world has radically changed, there is a need to support the tasks of a new class: clouds, cognitive computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, working with big data. Supercomputer computing occupies a special place. Modern servers must be adapted to work in giant and provider data centers, and in enterprise data centers, without losing the ability to run traditional applications. Therefore, when creating new computers, you have to meet several rather contradictory requirements, to look for a complex engineering compromise.

To meet diverse requirements, IBM engineers have developed Power Scale-out server counterparts and a three-member family of enterprise-class Power Enterprise Systems servers that retain the main features of Scale-up servers.

2021

IBM Power E1080 with IBM Power10 Processor

On September 8, 2021 the IBM company declared release of IBM Power E1080 - the first model of family of servers on base protsessoraIBM Power10 developed especially for hybrid cloud environments.

As reported, in 2021, companies continue to adapt to unpredictable changes in consumer behavior and needs and need a platform that will allow them to safely use applications and analytics where and when required. A survey of CEOs (CEO) conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value in 2021 showed that of the 3 thousand CEO surveyed, 56% felt the need for increased operational flexibility. They answered the question of the goal to which they planned to devote maximum efforts over the next two to three years.

Many believe that this need can be met with hybrid cloud-based computing, which combines local enterprise resources with cloud infrastructure and provides up to two and a half times more impact than a public cloud-only approach. However, not all hybrid cloud models are the same.

When designing the E1080, we had to take into account how the pandemic changes the behavior of not only consumers, but also our customers, as well as their needs for IT infrastructure. E1080 is a system in which everything from a chip is designed specifically for hybrid clouds. said Dylan Boday, IBM VP Product Management Responsible for AI and Hybrid Cloud

The IBM E1080 features several key features, including:

• Optimizations for the hybrid cloud, such as the industry's planned first minute-by-minute monitoring of the use of PORed Hat, including OpenShift and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, 4.1 times the bandwidth of application containers OpenShift compared to servers based on x86vi, and architecture integrity and cloud flexibility in a hybrid cloud to optimize versatility and reduce costs without refactoring applications.
• Hardware optimization provides up to 50% performance and scalability growth over the IBM Power E980 predecessor. They also reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint, allowing customers to do more with less. The IBM E1080 server also has four matrix algebra accelerators per core, which speeds up AI problems five times compared to E980.
• Security tools designed for hybrid cloud environments, including transparent memory encryption without additional management configuration, four times more encryption blocks per core, providing 2.5 times faster AES encryption compared to the IBM Power E980, and information security software for each layer of the system stack.
• An ecosystem of ISVs, business partners, and support to optimize IBM Power E1080 capabilities and build hybrid cloud environments for customers, including performance for SAP applications on an 8-socket system. IBM is also launching a tiered Power Expert Care service designed to protect systems from cyber threats, as well as ensure consistent operation of hardware and software.

We have been using IBM Power for a long time and want to be one of the first to test the E1080 based on the IBM Power10 with our critical applications. The server meets our needs for continuous, large-scale service delivery and fault tolerance requirements, including updated security levels and optimized energy efficiency. told Klaus from Finanz Informatik

When using an IBM Power10-based server such as the E1080 with the IBM Power Virtual Server in hybrid cloud format, the integrity of the architecture on resources implies that often highly specialized and business-critical applications, Usually stored in a local environment, you can move to the cloud according to workload and needs without the high financial and time costs associated with refactoring for another architecture.

The IBM Power E1080 also provides the ability to scale with the Power Private Cloud with Dynamic Capacity, so that users can release unused CPU performance if necessary and pay only for what they used. This avoids server sprawl and lengthy procurement processes by adapting the cloud payment model to meet data center needs and optimizing operational efficiency and flexibility.

With additional optimization of the cloud economy model for local hardware, the IBM Power E1080 will become a system that supports per-minute accounting for the use of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat OpenShift, which will expand the capabilities that are already available on the IBM Power Virtual Server.

With close synergy with Red Hat, the IBM Power E1080 provides 4.1 times the throughput of OpenShift application containers per core over x86-based servers, allowing more applications to be deployed on a single system at the same time.

The IBM Power E1080 is based on the IBM Power10 processor. This is a commercially available 7 nm processor from IBM. It is manufactured by Samsung using 7 nm technology based on the EUV process.

With the IBM Power10, the IBM Power E1080 server has higher (up to 30%) core performance and higher (more than 50%) socket and system performance than the previous generation IBM Power E980 server. IBM Power10-based systems use updated encryption capabilities in hybrid cloud environments. Power10 is scalable with transparent memory encryption. This is achieved due to the fact that the IBM Power10 has four times more encryption blocks per core compared to the IBM Power9, which in turn helps optimize the speed of AES encryption per core 2.5 times compared to the previous generation IBM Power servers. The built-in hypervisor in the E1080 is IBM PowerVM.

Four matrix algebra accelerators (MMAs) per core of the IBM Power10 processor contribute up to five times faster AI tasks than the IBM Power E980 server. The increased number of MMAs provides hardware optimization, while the IBM Power E1080 also supports the ability to use its own models using IBM Auto-AI and "without code" tools. Using an open software library for building deep learning neural networks (ONNX).

The IBM Power10 family of servers is supported by a variety of ISVs, IBM business partners, and other stakeholders.

IBM accepts orders for the IBM Power E1080, and deliveries should begin before the end of September 2021. IBM also introduces Power Expert Care with a tiered service approach, including Advanced and Premium Expert Care. Clear service levels and pricing allow you to provide the necessary support for the IBM Power E1080 server. And additional services, such as hardware and software health checks and regular security updates, protect systems from cyber threats, ensure consistency in operation and the next level of operational readiness.

As the development environment of the Garda DB agent solution for various versions of AIX

On August 19, 2021, the company Garda Techologies"" announced that it creates solutions for various security tasks that are implemented financial in sector companies industrial , enterprises, telecom operators and. state structures Russia countries CIS One of these solutions is. ""Garda DB

To implement the product, the company chose virtual servers IBM Power. More. here

IBM created the world's first 2 nm chip

On May 6, 2021, IBM announced the creation, according to the company, of the world's first chip built on a 2-nm process. According to the developers, this chip will form the basis of future IBM products, including IBM Power Systems and IBM Z platforms.

The American corporation hopes that 2-nm chips will help accelerate the development of innovations in areas such as artificial intelligence, 5G and 6G networks, quantum computers, astronautics and unmanned systems.

According to the publication SiliconANGLE, the most advanced computer processors by May 2021 are based on a 5-nm topology, and most chips use a 7-nm process. The term "nanometer" describes how many transistors can be placed on a single chip. The smaller the number, the higher the density of placement, which increases the speed and energy efficiency of chips. According to IBM, the company managed to place "50 billion transistors in a nail-sized chip."

We are talking about a crystal with an area of ​ ​ 150 mm ². In other words, the density of transistors in such a chip is impressive 333.3 million per square millimeter. For comparison, for current 7 nm TSMC products, this parameter is 91.2 million/mm ², and 10 nm Intel processors contain about 100.8 million transistors in a square millimeter.

IBM believes that the transition of mobile devices to 2-nm chips can lead to an increase in their battery life by up to four times, which will allow you to charge these gadgets much less often. Laptops and computers with new chips will work faster, and the use of 2-nm chips in unmanned vehicles will allow their systems to quickly recognize obstacles and respond to them.

By May 6, 2021, IBM does not name the timing of the release of 2 nm solutions to the commercial market.^[1]

2020

Accommodation at Moro Hub Data Center in Dubai

On December 18, 2020, it became known that Moro Hub will place IBM Power Systems in its secure data center in Dubai and offer it as a service with a subscription model. More details here.

IBM Power10 Announcement - Flagship Server Processor

On August 17, 2020, IBM introduced the first processor in its range, manufactured according to a 7-nm process. We are talking about the Power10 chip, which the manufacturer calls a platform for the implementation of enterprise-level hybrid cloud systems in data centers. More details here.

2019: Power Architecture Discovery

On August 20, 2019, IBM announced the wide opening of the Power processor architecture, as a result of which customers and partners were able to create their own modifications of chips based on the Power command set without any licensing fees.

The new licensing agreement will allow chip developers to expand and customize a set of instructions for specific applications they want to run. In addition, IBM allowed the free use of all its patents related to Power, and also  transferred the management of the project to the community.

The OpenPOWER Foundation, which oversaw the development of Power processors, came under the aegis of the Linux Foundation, thanks to which an independent platform was created for the further joint development of architecture, without reference to a specific manufacturer. The OpenPOWER consortium by August 2019 includes  more than 350 companies. The community has more than 3 million lines of system firmware code, specifications and diagrams required to create Power-compatible chips.

By moving the Power command set architecture to an open model... and making it accessible to a growing community of technical specialists, we will allow innovations in the open hardware and software space to develop at an accelerated pace, "said Hugh Blemings, executive director of the OpenPOWER Foundation.

IBM provides a range of resources that help proponents of the Power project learn and develop their technologies faster. So, the company has released a reference guide for embedding a set of instructions into chips other than OpenPower, and implementing the OpenCAPI and Open Memory Interface protocols, which are used to connect the server's central processor to the built-in memory.^[2]

2017

First Power9-based server

In December 2017, IBM introduced the first new generation Power Systems server based on the Power9 processor. The company states that this processor is created specifically for working with intense computational loads of artificial intelligence technologies and is able to improve the training time of deep learning frameworks by almost four times. More details here.

Overview of Power8-based servers

Horizontal Scaling Servers

Scale-out servers are similar in that they have a close hardware device, but differ in supported OS and purpose:

• Power Scale-out Systems supporting AIX, IBM i and Linux
• Power Scale-out L-line supporting Linux only
• OpenPOWER Linux-only LCs

In the names, 8 means belonging to the Power8 family, and the last two digits show the number of socket seats and the height in U. Servers can run two or three listed OS, and if the symbol "L" is found, then this server works only with Linux. Servers without L 2U can work under AIX, Linux and IBM i.

The division of models according to supported OS is due to the fact that there are two approaches to placing numbers in memory. Suppose if you want to write the number 321, you can start with the most significant bit, and there will be 123 in the memory - this is what is done in all RISC architectures and is called big-endian. If you start with the younger one, then there will be 321 in the memory - this is accepted in the architecture x86 and is called low-endian. There are different versions of Linux that support a particular addressing option, so although processor PowerR8 is the only one that supports both modes, certain negotiation procedures are required. Hence the need to divide the servers into two subsets.^[3]

Servers for transactional loads

The main, more traditional group includes 4 models of the IBM Power System. The chronology of their birth is as follows: 2014 - S814 and S824, 2016 - S822 and 2017 - S812.

The Power S814 is available in both rack and tower versions. The Power S814 has one processor seat. There is a feature: 4-nuclear and 6-nuclear processors are equipped with both rack and tower configurations, and only rack ones are equipped with 8-nuclear.

In the Power S814, there can be a maximum of 8 DDR3 CDIMM slots from 16 to 128 GB, the total capacity reaches 1 TB. For memory expansion, IBM Active Memory Expansion can be used, using compression and decompression of memory content. The Power S824 is available only in rack version 4U, has two processor sockets and allows a maximum of 24 cores when using 12-core processors. With 16 memory slots, its size can be adjusted to 2 TB. It can also use Active Memory Expansion.

The following are integrated into the servers:

• Service Processor
• Energy-efficient technology EnergyScale
• Redundant Hot Swap Cooling System
• Two USB 2.0 ports
• Two HMC 1 Gb Ethernet RJ45 ports
• One system port with an RJ45 connector

The Power S814 with one processor has seven PCIe Gen3 slots, and the Power S824 has up to eleven hot-swap PCIe slots. Servers are equipped with several types of disk panels and additional devices that allow you to connect a variety of peripherals.

The Power S822 is denser than its predecessors, the 2U package houses 2 processor connectors. Each processor has up to 512 GB of memory, 1 TB of capacity, and fewer PCI-Express 3.0 drives and slots respectively than the S824. The main advantage is in size, which is important for service providers.

The Power S812 is called the Mini, but not for size, but for modest capabilities. At 2U height, the server is built on a single-core Power8 processor with 64 GB of memory, it expands down the application area compared to the Power S822 and Power S824. The S812 is primarily designed to replace older platforms that support IBM i and AIX loads.

Linux Servers

The servers of Power Systems L are also called "Linux only Power Systems." They run Ubuntu, SUSE or Red Hat Linux, they are created to compete on this site with x86-based servers due to higher performance and more data.

virtualizations Either a proprietary IBM PowerVM tool or a c tool can be used for. open source KVM Using a hypervisor PowerKVM opens up opportunities to attract wide circles of developers ON in open codes. The initial version of Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) is a freely distributed enterprise-level hypervisor that provides the necessary performance, reliability and scale indicators to perform serious loads in the environment Windows and Linux.

These servers are built according to the same requirements, they use the same components as IBM Power Systems, so they provide equal reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS) characteristics. They can use the same administrative tools, such as Hardware Management Console (HMC), if PowerVM-based virtualization is installed. IBM Cloud PowerVC Manager or IBM Cloud Orchestrator is used to be included in the cloud environment. That is, these are complete analogues of Power Systems, but are able to support big-endian Linux.

An exception is the IBM Power System S824L server with Nvidia technology. This is a two-socket server with all the technical parameters of the S824, but still has one or two Nvidia GPUs.

LC OpenPOWER Servers

OpenPOWER LC servers are fundamentally different from Power Systems. In them, RAS indicators are not the main thing, their designs are aimed at obtaining maximum results and reducing cost due to the use of mass components from among the available on the market. In addition, individual models are specialized for a certain load (DIMM memory, cheap SATA drives).

They use popular tools such as Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) and KVM to manage. They include the latest technologies such as the Nvidia NVLink interface for GPUs, NVMe drives, 100 GBps (EDR) adapters. Use the Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface (CAPI) to connect specialized FPGAs. In OpenPOWER LC, only little endian versions of Linux with KVM are supported for running multiple virtual Linux VMs on a single system.

Power S822LC for Big Data was created in collaboration with several members of the OpenPOWER Foundation and is an infrastructure to support analytical applications such as Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark. It can have 1 or two server connectors and up to 96 TB of internal drives, these can be SSD or NVMe drives. Nvidia Tesla K80 or P100 accelerators are connected via PCIe or CAPI.

Power S822LC for High Performance Computing was designed by IBM with the participation of OpenPOWER Foundation partners - Nvidia, Mellanox and Wistron. It includes Nvidia NVLink technology. Up to four Nvidia Tesla P100 GPUs connected via Nvidia NVLink are supported, each node includes up to 1 TB of DDR4 memory connected via Mellanox 100 Gbps (EDR) InfiniBand. There are options with water cooling, more productive options for NVMe drives and Mellanox Connect X-4 adapters.

Power S822LC for Commercial Computing was designed by IBM with OpenPOWER Foundation partners to support cluster and cloud workloads. A single-processor or dual-processor system is characterized by high speed data exchange with memory - it reaches 230 GB/s, the presence of a parallel storage server Elastic Storage Server and up to two GPUs connected via CAPI.

Power Enterprise Systems Vertical Scaling Servers

Power Enterprise Systems servers belong to the category of computers called "big iron." Big iron includes large, expensive and very fast computers. In addition to supercomputers, mainframes and older models of Unix servers fall into it.

The emergence of new CAPI interfaces that extend the potential of horizontal scaling will not be able to cancel computers with significantly more expensive vertical scaling in the foreseeable future, since it involves the collaboration of several processors on shared memory. The Power8 processor is ready for vertical scaling - the cores are connected to memory using NUMA technology, which provides distributed access, including for several processors installed on a single board.

Large iron is intended for traditional heavy applications, but, as evidenced by Cloud's "C" index, IBM believes that the new NUMA systems Power E850C, Power E870C and Power E880C will be used to create private and hybrid clouds. All three gather from so-called boxes NUMA (NUMA boxes) of three types differing with number of processors - 4, 8 or 16.

• IBM Cloud PowerVC Private Cloud Support
• Manager, Cloud-based HMC Apps and Project Complexes free software OpenStack
• IBM Cloud Starter Pack Hybrid Cloud Management Tools
• Capacity on demand

As of 2017, RISC architecture is still the leader among high-performance systems for critical business applications. As you know, IBM Power Systems on Power8 delivers the best value for money with higher utilization, lower acquisition costs, faster performance for big data and analytics, and flexible on-demand computing capabilities. This is what a fair customer draws attention to, who considers TSO for 3-5 years, comparing solutions on a standard x86 architecture, "said Dryzhak Maxim, deputy director for vendor work at STEP LODZHIK (part of the GKS).

The expert gave examples of recent comparisons:

We will not argue with the fact that RISC-architecture servers are a specific thing created for special tasks, and if they are solved on standard architecture servers, the cost of the solution may be higher, and in the long term, it is overwhelming. If you do not forget about traditional customers in the form of the banking sector, government agencies and companies working with big data, analytics using ABS, SAP HANA and more - they were, are and will be the main consumers of RISC systems regardless of the depreciation of the ruble, the emergence of new, "political" installations, etc. I would like to note that the market for RISC systems for the first half of 2017 (according to IDC estimates) has decreased. Compared to similar indicators for 2016, there was a decline in the supply of such servers by 45.1% in pieces. However, not everything is so bad: with an almost half decrease in sales, the drop in supplies in "live" money amounted to only 5.2%, which suggests that partners understand that this can be earned. And taking into account the constant popularization of solutions based on IBM Power systems, which entered into a consortium with Open Power, the conclusion of an alliance with Nutanix to build hyperconvergent solutions - RISC architecture is not going to leave the market

2016: Power Systems LC Line Extension

On September 14, 2016 IBM declared start of a line of the servers on the Linux platform focused on work with cognitive calculations and increase in efficiency of the data-processing centers (DPC).

Linux-based servers are built using an innovative processor and combine the latest developments of the OpenPOWER community, as a result of which they show a high level of performance and computational efficiency, compared to systems on the x86 processor platform.

IBM Power System S822LC View, (2015)

Developed together with leading global technology companies, the IBM Power Systems server line is specifically designed to accelerate work with artificial intelligence, machine learning, high-performance computing and other data-centric workloads. According to IBM, with the help of these servers, cloud service providers will be able to reduce the cost of maintaining data centers.

Three systems have been developed jointly by IBM with partners in the OpenPOWER consortium. They were an addition to the IBM Linux server portfolio . These servers will complement the Power Systems LC line created to achieve system superiority on the x86 processor platform on a variety of data intensive workloads.

author = Doug Balog, Head of POWER, IBM Systems User insights and additional business opportunities available through smart analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence increasingly depend on performance. Accelerated computing, which can truly contribute to the development of big data workloads, will become a fundamental element in the era of the cognitive era. With the innovations of OpenPOWER partners such as NVIDIA, our new Linux-based servers, as well as POWER Accel, will become a new standard for similar workloads compared to x86-based servers.

The main achievement of cooperation is the IBM Power System S822LC platform for high-performance computing systems. The system on the upgraded IBM POWER8 processor with support for the NVIDIA NVLink interface is a product available on the open POWER architecture.

Direct communication of the system with the IBM POWER8 processor with support NVIDIA Tesla P100 Pascal GPU provides NVIDIA NVLink, a high-speed, energy-efficient internal connection. NVIDIA NVLink is built into the microchip and is included in the overall system design. The connectivity of technologies IBM NVIDIA and allows data to be exchanged five times faster than on, based on servers x86 processors.

The systems will serve ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) and LLNL (Lawrence Livymore National Laboratory) as a platform for developing and optimizing applications, which will effectively take advantage of the built-in NVIDIA NVLink interface. The systems will test applications with high requirements for Summit and Sierra supercomputers, which IBM expects to transfer to ORNL and LLNL in 2017.

Two additional LC servers - IBM Power System S821LC and IBM Power System S822LC for Big Data - can use GPU accelerators to improve system performance with various intensive computing applications. Customers can connect the NVIDIA Tesla K80 GPU accelerator using the PCIe bus.

In addition, customers can connect to the POWERccel Coherent Acceleration Processor Interface (CAPI), which is available on the S821LC and S822LC servers for Big Data models designed for high-speed connections using FPGA accelerators.

IBM Power LC servers are fully compatible with Linux cloud environments, optimized for applications that process large amounts of data, and provide maximum data center efficiency. Compared to x86-based systems, Power LC servers can be purchased at a lower price, providing 80% higher performance per unit cost. This efficiency allows companies and cloud service providers to reduce costs and prevent uncontrolled data center growth.

Online store prices start at $5,999. As of September 14, 2016, all servers of the lineup are available, excluding the IBM Power System S822LC for high-performance computing, the shipment of which is scheduled for September 26, 2016.

2015: IBM released PowerSystems LC line servers

On October 9, 2015, IBM Corporation (NYSE: IBM) announced the release of Linux servers that cope with workloads and data processing faster and cheaper than systems on the x86 processor platform.

The new PowerSystems LC servers were developed on a platform of technologies and high performance standards obtained through collaboration with OpenPOWER Foundation partners, including NVIDIA, Mellanox, Canonical, Tyan and Wistron.

Together with LC servers, the Linux development community will gain access to high-performance POWER processors and will be able to use them for data analysis, cloud and high-performance computing.

According to internal testing results, IBM the Power Systems LC server, which costs twice as much as its processor-based counterpart, Intel will fully cope with the average Spark workload Apache , including analysis of the news feed in, Twitter processing views of the streaming video page and other types of information-intensive objects, at the same time, its performance will be 2.3 times higher for each spent. dollar The cost-effective design of the Power Systems LC server allows you to increase the amount of Spark load associated with social networks by 94% per rack compared to a processor-based server. Intel

The company offers three Linux server options as part of the Power Systems LC line:

• Power Systems S812LC,
• Power Systems S822LC for Commercial Computing
• Power Systems S822LC for HPC.

S812LC - a single-slot server in a 2U enclosure, supports up to 10 cores, has 1 TB of memory, 115 GB/s memory bandwidth, and can support up to 14 disk drivers. S812LC is a Linux solution for large-storage workloads like Spark and Hadoop, and is designed to deliver high-performance analytics.

The 2U dual-socket Power Systems S822LC is available for commercial and high-performance computing. The server has a similar configuration and supports up to 20 cores, 1 TB of memory and 230 GB/s memory bandwidth. The S822LC for HPC comes with two built-in components. processorsNVIDIA Tesla K80 GPU Two versions of the S822LC have twice the performance per core, a price-performance ratio of 40% more profitable and memory throughput twice as fast as similar E5-2699 v3 servers on the x86 processor platform.

Digital interface for server procurement

Along the way, IBM announced the launch of a digital interface for purchasing to customers on mobile devices or in a browser. It is intended both for developers and representatives of small businesses, and for organizations of all sizes. The interface is easy to use and transparent when purchasing Power Systems. Already in 2015, the Buy button will appear in it, it will allow customers to purchase such systems online using a credit card.

2013: $1 billion investment plan in technology for Power Systems servers

On September 18, 2013, during the LinuxCon 2013 conference, IBM announced plans to invest $1 billion in new Linux-based solutions, as well as open source technologies for IBM Power Systems servers. With this initiative, customers can reduce big data and cloud computing costs with today's next-generation applications.

IBM also announced the opening of a new Linux client center in Europe. The new Linux Innovation Center on Power Systems will open in Montpellier, France, and will be the fourth representative of a growing network. The first such center was opened in Beijing in May 2013. The same centers are located in New York and Austin, Texas. Linux Innovation Centers help developers create and deploy new solutions for big data, cloud and mobile computing, and social business with open Linux-based technologies and the latest POWER7 + processor technologies.

To help developers, partners, and customers interested in using Linux on Power, IBM will improve the cloud-based application development system on Power Systems. The free cloud service will provide enterprises with the infrastructure for prototyping, developing and testing Linux applications on Power, as well as software solutions for AIX and IBM i.

These initiatives continue IBM's strategy to develop the Linux ecosystem on Power Systems, which supports thousands of open source applications and independent developer programs around the world.

2011: High Performance Server Line

Initially, as part of hardware solutions combined under the general name IBM Power Systems, the line of high-performance servers:

• IBM Power Blade Servers
• IBM Power 710 Express
• IBM Power 720 Express
• IBM Power 730 Express
• IBM Power 740 Express
• IBM Power 750 Express
• IBM Power 770
• IBM Power 780
• IBM Power 795
• IBM Power System S822LC
• IBM Power System S821LC

Prerequisites

The prerequisites for the emergence of Power processors were made as part of the 801 project. Subsequently, all generations of IBM RISC processors grew out of it . Since 1990 on Power the RS/6000 servers later renamed into System p, c of 2000 - eServer iSeries on AS/400 base renamed in 2006 into System i were under construction. In 2008 IBM System i and System p were integrated under the general IBM Power Systems brand with support of three IBM i, AIX and Linux OS operating systems. Since then, IBM Power Systems has maintained this three-way beginning, which is related to the mandatory support of the existing installation base.

• In 1999, IBM was the first major vendor to include Linux in its production program.
• The AS/400 system was successful in business applications, worked and works in hundreds of thousands of companies in many countries, with the exception of Russia. (https://www.helpsystems.com/resources/guides/2017-ibm-i-marketplace-survey-results#demographics).
• AIX, one of the most popular versions of Unix, which has existed since the late eighties, is also alive and developing, so continuity will last indefinitely.

Scope of application

Use for global weather forecasting

June 21, 2017 it became known about IBM plans to use its supercomputer capabilities to create complex weather forecasting models. Moreover, the company wants to provide meteorological reports around the world.

The Weather Company, part of IBM, has entered into agreements with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to create computational weather forecasting technologies using Systems and IBM OpenPOWER servers. New developments will be optimized to run on systems built on IBM Power9 processors.

The Weather Company will use supercomputers to adapt the NCAR weather prediction model on a global scale and refine weather data for weeks and months ahead..

Weather forecasting is one of the most difficult tasks in modern computer architecture. Thanks to the use of advanced physical models and interdependencies, meteorologists and computer weather simulators can use all the computing power that is, "said Mary Glackin, head of meteorology and operations at The Weather Company, to ZDNet.

According to her, better weather forecasting will allow people, as well as enterprises whose activities depend on weather conditions (for example, in agriculture), to make more effective decisions. Since IBM uses data from IoT sensors and various devices, simple weather monitoring will become high-tech. Even cars with access to the Internet will ultimately provide information on precipitation, road situations depending on weather conditions and other useful data, Glakin added.^[4]

Use in Converged Systems

In May 2017, it became known about the launch IBM of processors for servers used in converged infrastructure. The company can compete with dignity. Intel

IBM partner in the new project was Nutanix, just specializing in the production of converged systems - software and hardware complexes that combine computing resources, data warehouses and virtualization systems in one block.

Such Nutanix systems will use IBM Power Systems servers running their own IBM Power processors. Servers not on Intel chips, Nutanix began promoting for the first time. The vendor portfolio includes hardware consisting of Dell, Supermicro, Lenovo, and Cisco servers based on Intel processors.

Converged solutions on the IBM Power System differ from Intel systems and are addressed primarily to customers actively working with machine learning technologies, said IBM Power Systems Vice President Stefanie Chiras. According to her, such equipment can be used in financial organizations to implement fraud detection systems, retailers to improve sales technologies and hospitals for medical imaging. All these companies need impressive computing capabilities that can quickly process data, search for the right information and deliver the right result.

According to Fortune, by May 2017, Intel processors remain the most popular when it comes to personal computers and servers. Collaboration with Nutanix suggests that IBM is challenging Intel in the server segment. IBM promotes its processors here together with other members of the Power Open Foundation organization, namely, Nvidia, Red Hat, etc.^[5]

Notes