IBM Launch IBM BladeCenter S Express

IBM BladeCenter delivers high performance and manageability thanks to an effectively managed infrastructure that helps maximise resource productivity and minimise IT and network administration costs. Flexible modular technology integrates Intel® Xeon® (link resides outside of ibm.com), IBM PowerPC processor-based blade servers into the BladeCenter architecture. Management tools integrated into BladeCenter help simplify administration to help lower costs and improve control of the data centre. BladeCenter supports many operating systems - allowing you to choose the one that best suits your business needs.

Notable features/capabilities:

• All in One - integrates servers, storage , networking and I/O into a single 7u chassis.
• Flexible Modular technology - incorporates upto 6 blade servers and upto 9TB of storage
• Easy to deploy, use and manage

The Bundle Offer of BladeCenter S and HS21

Bundle 1: BladeCenter S chassis + Disk Storage Module + HS21 quad core server + 0.5TB of storage + required connectivity options for just Rs.310,877/-*

BladeCenter E Bundle Offer

Bundle 2: IBM eServer BladeCenter(tm) Chassis with 2x2000W PSU + Server Connectivity Module for IBM BladeCenter + IBM eServer BladeCenter (TM) Acoustic Attenuation Module + DPI 32amp/250V Front-end PDU with IEC 309 2P+Gnd for just Rs. 178,600/-*

IBM and Nuance team up on speech technology

IBM and Nuance have signed a join licensing and technical services agreement to help enhance and expand speech technology.
As part of the partnership, specialists from both companies will work together to incorporate IBM technology into Nuance's speech software, with the first products expected to be available within two years.
Under the terms of the agreement, Nuance will buy speech-related patents from IBM, but the latter will continue to serve its own customers in this regard.
"IBM and Nuance share a vision to proliferate advanced speech capabilities across a broad range of devices and environments," said Dr John Kelly, senior vice president and director of IBM Research.
"We recognise that Nuance is a leader in the speech marketplace, and we believe this technology agreement will accelerate the delivery of speech innovations to the world's consumers."
Although speech recognition software has been around for many years, it has often been marginalised as inefficient, inaccurate and resource heavy.
However, in recent times the technology has improved to the point where it is increasingly accurate at recognising natural speech, making it a viable option for voice controlled devices, speech-to-text systems and biometric security.
"We are enthusiastic about this strategic relationship with IBM, building on its rich history of speech research to accelerate the creation and adoption of next-generation speech solutions," said Paul Ricci, chairman and chief technology officer at Nuance.
"Through this relationship, we expect to inspire a new level of technical advancement unprecedented in the speech industry, from which the customers and partners of both companies will benefit."
Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

IBM Power 570

The IBM eServer® p5 570 mid-range system implements outstanding price/performance, mainframe-inspired reliability and availability features, flexible capacity upgrades and innovative IBM Virtualization Engine systems technologies. Based on IBM POWER5 processors with simultaneous multi-threading and a unique scalable, building-block packaging, the p5-570 is well-suited for server consolidation projects, database and application serving, e-commerce and departmental or regional server deployments. The rack-mount p5-570 delivers power, flexibility, scalability and reliability features for commercial and high performance computing (HPC) applications.

Highlights

• For mid-to-large transaction processing such as ERP and CRM applications
• For mid-to-large database serving
• For server consolidation across UNIX®, IBM i (formerly known as i5/OS®) and Linux® workloads
• For a complete business system combining all aspects of a company's IT infrastructure

For mid-to-large transaction processing workloads, the IBM Power™ 570 server delivers outstanding performance, mainframe-inspired reliability, modular non-disruptive growth and innovative virtualization technologies. These features are integrated to enable the simplified management of growth, complexity and risk. Read More

IBM IntelliStation Power 285 Express

Business use
The IntelliStation® 285 is an outstanding choice for high-end Mechanical Computer Aided Design (MCAD), Computer Aided Engineering (CAE), graphic processing and other floating-point-intensive business and technical applications. Or using 2D graphics accelerators, it can be used for less demanding applications such as software development.
Processor (Max)
One or two 1.9 or 2.1 GHz POWER5+™ processors
Memory (Min/Max)
1 GB to 32 GB of DDR2 SDRAM; ECC Chipkill™
Internal storage (Max)
Up to 1.2 TB
Overview
The IBM IntelliStation Power 185 and IBM IntelliStation Power 285 have been announced as a hardware withdrawal from marketing with an effective date of January 2, 2009. On or after the effective date of withdrawal, you can no longer order these products directly from IBM. You may obtain the products on an as-available basis through IBM Business Partners.
Highlights

• Exceptional performance for high-end design and analysis applications
• Quiet operation allows users to focus on their work in comfort
• Designed for 64-bit CATIA V5 to solve complex engineering problems
• Variety of memory and storage options for demanding engineering environments

The IBM IntelliStation™ POWER™ 285 Express workstation combines excellent performance and capacity features in a flexible, affordable deskside package. It is an outstanding choice for high-end Mechanical Computer Aided Design (MCAD), Computer Aided Engineering (CAE), graphic processing and other floating-point-intensive business and technical applications. Or using 2D graphics accelerators, it can be used for less demanding applications such as software development.

With leading-edge IBM POWER5+™ processor technology, the affordable 64-bit symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) POWER 285 Express workstation offers significant price/performance benefits. It is the first UNIX® engineering design workstation available supporting 64-bit CATIA V5 for large engineering assemblies. For CATIA MCAD workloads, the POWER 285 Express provides much higher performance than its predecessor ¹ , the IBM IntelliStation POWER 275, while generating much less noise. By extending performance of high-end design and analysis, the POWER 285 Express raises the bar for single-seat MCAD design and analysis solutions.

The POWER 285 Express supports the latest evolution of IBM 3D graphics technology: the POWER GXT4500P and GXT6500P Graphics Accelerators. These high-performance graphics accelerators operate even faster on the POWER 285 Express because of the low latency PCI Double Data Rate (DDR) slot included as standard on this workstation.

The POWER 285 Express workstation supports a full range of graphics input/output devices including the new USB SpaceBall Plus 3D, USB SpaceMouse Plus 3D and USB SpacePilot input devices, the T120 20-inch TFT flat panel monitor, and other keyboard and mouse devices.

Common features · Deskside workstation packaging · 2-core SMP design · 64-bit POWER5+ technology · Mainframe-inspired RAS features · Choice of 2D graphics adapter or 3D graphics accelerators · Supported by AIX 5L™ V5.2 and V5.3

Hardware summary · Deskside packaging · One or two 64-bit 1.9 or 2.1 GHz POWER5+ processors · 1.9MB L2 and 36MB L3 cache · 1GB to 32GB of DDR2 SDRAM running at 528 MHz · Six PCI-X adapter slots (2 - 66 MHz; 3 - 133 MHz; 1 - 266 MHz (DDR)) · Four hot-swappable SCSI disk bays for up to 1.2TB of internal storage · Dual channel Ultra320 SCSI controller (internal only; RAID optional) · Dual-ported Ethernet 10/100/1000 Mbps controller · Two USB, two HMC, two system ports · Two slimline and one half-high media bays · 3D graphics choices from GXT4500P and GXT6500P · 3D graphics input devices—SpaceBall, SpaceMouse and SpacePilot · 2D graphics using GXT135P

IntelliStation Power 185 Express

Business use

The IntelliStation® POWER 185 can be used for high-end Mechanical Computer Aided Design (MCAD), Computer Aided Engineering (CAE), 3D graphic processing and other business and technical applications. With 2D graphics accelerators, it is an excellent workstation for software development and support.




Processor (Max)
One or two 2.5 GHz PowerPC® 970 processors with AltiVec™ vector extensions

Memory (Min/Max)

512 MB to 8 GB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM; ECC

Internal storage (Max)

Up to 0.9 TB Ultra320 SCSI

OverView
The IBM IntelliStation Power 185 and IBM IntelliStation Power 285 have been announced as a hardware withdrawal from marketing with an effective date of January 2, 2009. On or after the effective date of withdrawal, you can no longer order these products directly from IBM. You may obtain the products on an as-available basis through IBM Business Partners.

Highlights

• Support for both 32-bit and 64-bit MCAD 3D graphics applications
• Quiet operation in a deskside package
• Easy application install
• Designed for software development and software support environments

The new IBM IntelliStation® POWER™ 185 Express workstation combines an affordable and small deskside package with design features for excellent performance and a quiet user experience. Use it for high-end Mechanical Computer Aided Design (MCAD), Computer Aided Engineering (CAE), 3D graphic processing and other business and technical applications. With 2D graphics accelerators, it is an excellent workstation for software development and support

With leading-edge IBM PowerPC® 970 processor technology and the AltiVec™, the very affordable 64-bit symmetric multiprocessing IntelliStation POWER 185 Express workstation offers significant price/performance benefits. It is the perfect complement to the IBM IntelliStation POWER 285 Express—offering a choice of performance and price. And running either the AIX 5L™ or Linux® operating system (OS), it’s an easy install!

IntelliStation POWER workstations are the first engineering design workstations supporting 64-bit CATIA V5 for large engineering assemblies. For CATIA MCAD workloads, the POWER 185 Express provides higher performance than its predecessor ¹ , the IBM IntelliStation POWER 275 1.0 GHz, while generating even less noise. By reducing the entry price, the POWER 185 Express lowers the hurdle to upgrade old, slower MCAD design and analysis workstations.

Common features

·	Deskside workstation packaging
·	1- or 2-core SMP design
·	64-bit PowerPC technology with AltiVec™ extensions
·	Choice of 2D graphics adapter or 3D graphics accelerators
·	Supported by AIX 5L™ (V5.2 or V5.3) and Linux distributions from Red Hat (RHEL AS 4) and SUSE Linux (SLES 9)

Hardware summary
·	Deskside packaging
·	One or two 64-bit 2.5 GHz PowerPC 970 processors
·	1MB L2 cache per processor
·	512MB to 8GB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM
·	Four PCI-X adapter slots (2—66 MHz (64-bit); 2—133 MHz (64-bit)); One PCI slot (33 MHz (32-bit))
·	Three SCSI disk bays for up to 0.9TB of internal storage
·	Dual channel Ultra320 SCSI controller (internal and external)
·	Dual ported Ethernet 10/100/1000 Mbps controller
·	Four USB, two serial ports
·	Two half-high media bays
·	3D graphics choices from GXT4500P and GXT6500P
·	3D graphics input devices—SpaceBall® and SpaceMouse®
·	2D graphics using GXT135P

IBM Introduces Low Cost Mainframes

Now anyone can get an IBM z9 mainframe for a mere $100,000

There are servers, and then there are what IT folks call mainframes. Generally speaking, most companies don't have a real need for mainframes because up front costs are usually in the six and seven digit range. Most companies tend to buy as their needs increase and would rather not spend up front for the future. Small servers, either ones that are made out of typical desktop computers, or those that are slightly larger and fit into rack mounts, offer considerable cost advantages, and for a company that's starting out or growing, makes much more sense than a larger than life mainframe system.

But for the medium and large businesses that have invested a large amount in many small servers but are looking for a way to reduce environmental costs and consolidate, IBM is announcing a new series in its z9 mainframe family that is priced affordably. Called the z9 BC or Business Class family, IBM has made mainframe performance and expandability for small to medium enterprises. Starting at $100,000, the new z9 family raises the bar in terms of bringing large enterprise performance down to scale. IBM's regular z9 family can exceed $1 million per mainframe and for most companies, is out of reach. IBM's press release claims:

The IBM System z9 Business Class (z9 BC) advances the innovation of the System z9 platform and brings value to a wider audience, both midrange and small enterprise businesses. The z9 BC offers a low cost of entry, granular growth, flexible configurations, subcapacity pricing and On/Off Capacity on Demand to meet growing and changing demands for traditional and new workloads.

Recently, condensed servers such as blades have gained popularity due to the compact size and low power. All tier one manufacturers are offering blade solutions, even IBM. However, IBM claims that there are considerable margins in mainframes, and being a prolific advocator of Big Iron, the company is trying to maintain mainframe popularity. Bringing prices down is definitely one way to do it.