In a joint London/New York launch on Monday, IBM provided an insight into the future of the System i when it unveiled a new model of its sister server, the System p 570.

The new System p runs IBM’s POWER6 processors, which Big Blue says are the fastest microprocessors ever built and which will be incorporated into the next generation of System i models. At 4.7 GHz, the dual-core POWER6 processor doubles the speed of the previous generation POWER5 while only using around the same amount of electricity to run and cool it. This means customers can use the new processor to either increase their performance by 100 per cent or cut their power consumption virtually in half.

IBM now sees power consumption as an important area and System i users can expect to hear more on this subject when POWER6 processors are incorporated into the platform. From a UK perspective, with electricity costs becoming an increasingly contentious subject, one can see how cost savings can be a good selling point for IBM. However, even though we are told that our future power supply needs could be problematic, we do have an extremely robust electricity supply infrastructure.

This is not the case for many parts of the world. Even in the States, firms wishing to build large data centres are running into problems because local utility companies simply cannot supply the extra electricity needed for their extremely power hungry setups. And with energy efficiency now seen as an environmental issue, the case for POWER6-driven technology becomes even more compelling.

On the performance front, IBM claims that its new 2- to 16-core Unix server also offers three times the performance per core of the HP Superdome machine, based on the TPC-C benchmark. The processor speed of the POWER6 chip is nearly three times faster than the latest HP Itanium processor that runs HP’s server line. Another impressive claim is that the processor bandwidth of the POWER6 chip -- 300 gigabytes per second -- could download the entire iTunes catalogue in about 60 seconds -- 30 times faster than HP’s Itanium.

Big Blue was also touting the virtualisation capabilities of the System p which can been seen as being “borrowed” from the System i. It estimates that 30 SunFire v890s can be consolidated into a single rack of the System p 570, saving more than £50,000 per year on energy costs. On top of that, it says that the model 570 now holds the top position in the four main industry performance benchmarks for Unix servers which it says means that its new server is the first ever to hold all four top spots simultaneously.

“Like the victory of IBM’s Deep Blue chess-playing supercomputer 10 years ago this month, the debut of POWER6 processor-based systems proves that relentless innovation brings ‘impossible’ goals within reach,” commented Bill Zeitler, senior vice president, IBM Systems and Technology Group. “The POWER6 processor forges blazing performance and energy conservation technologies into a single piece of silicon, driving unprecedented business value for our customers.”

The first System p 570s are already rolling off the production line at Rochester. Although IBM won’t comment on precisely when we will see the first System i models that incorporate the new POWER6 processors, it is widely assumed that all will be revealed in early 2008.

Seamus Quinn, editor