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The IBM eServer pSeries line of servers covers the range from entry servers all the way to high-end, data center-class systems previously associated only with mainframe computers. The line can be broken down into four basic categories:
Entry models
Midrange models
High-end models
Cluster 1600 configurations.
The smallest pSeries servers are designed primarily for small to medium-sized businesses. For example, the pSeries Model 610 is a one-way to two-way symmetric multiprocessing server based on the POWER4+ microprocessor. There are two models of the 615: the model 6C3 rack-drawer server and the model 6E3 tower configuration. Larger companies may select the p615 for situations where many small systems must be deployed in many separate locations, as in chains of retail stores. Figure 2.4 shows the packaging and summarizes the entry pSeries models.
Figure 2.4: IBM eServer pSeries entry models— a) Rack drawer package b) Deskside package.
Next are the middle tier of pSeries servers designed for things like transaction processing, Web serving, Java applications, etc. The pSeries Model 650 is a good example of a midrange system. The p650 is based on the POWER4+ microprocessor, which accounts for its performance advantage over other midrange pSeries systems with a similar number of processors. It is a rack-mounted system intended for Web hosting or for use as an application server. Dynamic LPAR support allows the p650 to help with testing and migration issues while also enabling small server consolidation projects. The p650 has done very well in benchmark tests against competitive products. See the More on the Web inset for details on p650 performance test results. Figure 2.5 shows a model 650 and summarizes the mid range pSeries models.
Figure 2.5: IBM eServer pSeries Model 650 and midrange summary table.
The most powerful pSeries servers are datacenter-class systems optimized for the most demanding environments such as large databases or complex high-performance computing environments. The most powerful server of all pSeries systems is the Model 690. The p690 has recently been enhanced to support up to 512 MB of memory, capacity upgrade on demand for processors and memory, and a new I/O subsystem that offers three to four times the I/O throughput. The POWER4+ processor is used in 8 to 32-way SMP configurations. Thus, the system as a whole is optimized and balanced. The p690 was the first pSeries system to implement dynamic LPAR and now supports up to 32 partitions. Figure 2.6 shows the model 690 and summarizes the high-end pSeries models.
Figure 2.6: IBM eServer pSeries Model 690.
The IBM eServer Cluster 1600 is not a product per se, but a name under which all of the AIX operating system-based clustering technologies (pSeries servers, interconnect options, and software products) may be ordered and managed. Cluster 1600 is the logical extension of the preceding RS/6000 SP technologies, which allowed hundreds of processors to be combined in massively parallel systems, such as Deep Blue (the system that defeated chess master Garry Kasparov in 1997) and ASCI White (the world's fastest supercomputer in 2000 at Lawrence Livermore National Lab). Initially, the servers in RS/6000 SP configurations were specially designed and packaged SP nodes based on the same PowerPC and POWER architectures as those used in RS/6000 servers. Over the past few years, support emerged for attaching pSeries and RS/6000 servers as "nodes" in an SP configuration. Now, Cluster 1600 allows users to integrate pSeries servers, existing SP nodes, and highspeed interconnect technologies in unified systems with a single point of control running either the Parallel System Support Programs (PSSP) or Cluster System Management (CSM) software.
Cluster 1600 Facts and Features
IBM Cluster 1600 Web pages
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