IBM Unleashes Its Hurricane

It has taken three years and $100 million, but IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) has finally unveiled its new X3 architecture, which it claims will boost performance on the companys Intel-based servers (see IBM Intros X3 Architecture).

The move is the latest stage in IBM’s strategy of deploying high-end, mainframe-style features on lower-end servers. Last year the hardware giant set about bulking up its xSeries server range with mainframe technologies and, more recently, followed this up with the launch of five new Intel-based servers (see IBM Transforms Intel-Server Market and IBM Unveils Intel-Based Servers).

At the core of X3 is the XA-64e chipset, originally code-named Hurricane, which contains an integrated processor and a memory controller. These work in conjunction with the Intel processors to boost performance, in particular reducing latency, according to IBM.

Another key element of the X3 architecture is its ability to support both 32-bit and 64-bit applications. Increasingly, users are looking to reap the performance benefits offered by 64-bit technology. Most server processors currently handle data in 32-bit chunks, but 64-bit processors from the likes of Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) mean that users can now potentially double their throughput.

But migrating from one technology to another can be a headache for data center managers, hence the support for both 32-bit and 64-bit in the X3 architecture.Another technology born in the mainframe arena is virtualization, which allows users to run a number of different servers per processor. Last year IBM unveiled its Virtualization Engine, which is designed to extend virtualization capabilities across the company’s servers and storage (see IBM Previews Virtualization Engine and IBM Revs Virtualization Engine).

The Virtualization Engine is now being offered as part of the X3 architecture, as IBM launches its latest salvo in the battle for server market share.

Recently, rival vendors such as Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) and Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq: DELL)have cut the prices on certain servers, in an attempt to steal a march on IBM (see Sun Stokes Server Price War and Dell Makes Price Cuts).

But, whereas Sun recently slashed the price of its AMD Opteron-based v40z server by up to 20 percent, IBM is hoping to catch the eye with new hardware. Sun’s v40z was up against the Xeon-processor-based xSeries 365 from IBM, although the Armonk, N.Y.-based firm today launched a successor machine, the xSeries 366, based on the X3 architecture.

— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-Gen Data Center Forum0