IBM's New Power Systems Servers Takes Advantage of OpenPOWER Technology to Tackle Big Data Challenges

IBM (News - Alert) has been helping clients harness Big Data and analytics with its wide portfolio of Big Data and analytics technologies and solutions. The company recently unveiled its new Power Systems servers that are designed for big data with innovation that optimizes analytics performance.

Power Systems can deliver the freedom and flexibility of choice to respond to the unique business needs. Built on IBM's POWER8 technology and designed for an era of Big Data, the new IBM Power Systems servers is the cornerstone of innovation for the OpenPOWER Foundation, which currently represents 25 global technology providers.

IBM claims that its new generation of Power systems with the open innovation of the POWER8 processor and architecture can handle bigger data demands in the cloud, deliver faster insights, and offers an expanded Linux-based open server ecosystem.

"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," Tom Rosamilia, senior vice president, IBM Systems and Technology Group said in a statement.

"There no longer is a one-size-fits-all approach to scale out a data center. With our membership in the OpenPOWER Foundation, IBM's POWER8 processor will become a catalyst for emerging applications and an open innovation platform," added Rosamilia.

IBM announced three new Power Systems solutions optimized for the unique requirements of Big Data and analytics solutions. The new technologies, IBM Solution for BLU Acceleration, IBM Solution for Analytics and IBM Solution for Hadoop, are optimized for IBM's new Power Systems to deliver quick insights on both structured and unstructured data.

According to IBM test results, the IBM Power Systems are capable of analyzing data 50 times faster than the latest x86-based systems.2 

IBM had earlier committed $1 billion in Linux and other open source technologies for IBM's Power Systems servers. Building upon that commitment, IBM recently unveiled two Linux developments that fortify rapid cloud innovation on POWER8 systems.

The first POWER8-based systems to debut are five Power Systems S-Class servers designed for large, scale-out computing environments. Available from June 10, the new scale-out S Class servers include two systems that run Linux exclusively – the Power Systems S812L and S822L servers. Additionally, the three additional offerings, the Power Systems S814, S822 and S824 servers, provide clients the choice of running multiple operating systems including Linux, AIX and IBM i.