IBM Throws An Opteron Party

IBM on Thursday unveiled its second Advanced Micro Devices Opteron-based server, which the company hopes is ready for when AMD releases its dual-core processors. Big Blue also introduced a line of pretested, preconfigured Opteron-based clustered solutions.

Tracy Barney, vice president of IBM business development at Computer Tech, a Houston-based solution provider, said she is glad to see IBM commit to the Opteron platform by extending its Opteron-based server offerings.

"We really, really liked the initial offering," Barney said. "As an Itanium alternative, it is a great server. Especially how IBM competitively priced it and positioned it as a low-end edge server. Put that together with all the issues with Itanium, and it [fills] the gap."

IBM's new eServer 326 is scheduled to replace the older e325 Opteron server and has been improved with support for dual-core Opteron processors. Industry reports say the processors are expected in mid-2005, said Alex Yost, director of product marketing for eServers at IBM, Armonk, N.Y.

Yost refused to discuss IBM support for dual-core Intel processors. "This is a day to celebrate a lot of great Opteron news," he said.The eServer 326 will also include support for up to 16 Gbytes of high-speed PC3200/2700 DDR1 memory, two 100MHz PCI-X slots, and up to two SCSI or Serial ATA hard drives, Yost said.

IBM's new pretested, preconfigured Model 1350 cluster solutions include a rack with servers, management console, cables and power supplies, allowing for immediate deployment by solution providers, Yost said.

The 1350 can be purchased as a set SKU or configured to specific customer requirements, he said.

Computer Tech's Barney said configuring a clustering solution is difficult for smaller customers, which makes a preconfigured clustering solution suitable for many of them. And while the solution may decrease traditional service opportunities, it also opens the door to new ones, she said.