I thought this was great. I found this little gem searching through the IBM daily news while at work. Unfortunately there is no external link available to this particular article, but there is an external link to all pertinant info here:
Link.
Here is the article:
Power penguin!
IBM launches less expensive, Linux-only Power servers
IBM is launching a new eServer brand with mainframe-inspired features targeting entry-level Linux computing.
The IBM eServer OpenPower server is the first to use 64-bit POWER5 processors specifically enhanced to run Linux, a move expected to greatly expand demand for Power processors.
The IBM eServer OpenPower servers are priced aggressively against lower-end servers such HP's Itanium and Opteron processor-based solutions, Sun's Opteron and UltraSPARC servers and Dell's Xeon and Itanium processor-based servers.
"They (IBM) have to get the Linux community excited about it," said Illuminata analyst Gordon Haff. "The broader ambition IBM has hinted at – that Linux on Power competes full-fledged with Linux on x86 – really requires a much broader set of developers and partners."
Cheaper Power smashes the competition
IBM OpenPower is 15-60 percent less expensive and more powerful than these competitive servers. In fact, the first OpenPower server to be released smashes both HP and Sun servers on critical industry benchmarks, enabling clients to gain business productivity while lowering costs.
Since the introduction of the IBM eServer p690 three years ago, the traditional UNIX market segment has been caught in a squeeze, with IBM eServer pSeries/p5 running IBM's own brand of UNIX – AIX – providing much of the pressure from the enterprise high-end. Meanwhile, x86-based machines running open source Linux have been taking share in the low-end UNIX market.
IBM announced Linux on Power in January, and in March, opened the Power architecture to the industry to increase innovation. OpenPower takes that innovation a step further by combining the only open microprocessor in the industry with the open operating system developed by the technology community.
'All about innovation:" Irving Wladawsky-Berger
"This is all about innovation," said Irving Wladawsky-Berger, vice president, technology and strategy, Systems and Technology Group. "But it's much bigger than just innovation at IBM. This is all about fostering innovation in the marketplace by enlisting the efforts and imagination and energies of the whole vast community of people we work with."
Since January more than 650 new Linux OS-based solutions have emerged from Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and IBM for just the eServer pSeries and iSeries servers, which use the POWER4+ and POWER5 processors. IBM hopes to continue that momentum by providing new programs and assistance for ISVs.
With the rapid acceptance of Linux and the introduction of the eServer OpenPower 720, which is priced for smaller and mid-sized businesses, IBM hopes to further accelerate growth.
The IBM eServer OpenPower joins IBM's family of servers, including the eServer xSeries, BladeCenter, i5/iSeries, p5/pSeries and the zSeries – all of which run the Linux OS, computing's fastest growing operating environment.
