Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

IBM Promoting POWER Systems

Posted by Hemos on from the looking-under-the-hood dept.

A reader writes:"IBM has launched a Open Power Project to increase awareness around its Open Power product line for Linux.. The site includes technical information, forums and provides the ability to tinker w/ Open Power platforms at the University of Augsburg and Peking University. Both Universities are hosting POWER5-based servers and are providing free SSH account access to the Open Source development community. There are rumors of additional Universities to come. They are also hosting special showings of the War of the Worlds in San Francisco and NYC. Looks like there are a couple of hundred pairs of free tickets to each showing on a first come first served basis to those that register."

6 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. REALLY?!? by Gherald · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Other suggested article titles:

    "Intel promoting Pentium Systems"
    "AMD Promoting Athlon Systems"
    "Microsoft promoting Windows"

    Now,

    "IBM Promoting POWER Systems" ... film at 11 !!

    --
    The unofficial /. digest
    1. Re:REALLY?!? by henrywood · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not quite that obvious. OpenPower refers to a line of servers specifically designed to run Linux (hence the "Open") part. This is a small, very small, part of the IBM lineup (which includes some serious heavy metal).

      A more accurate comparison would be:

      "AMD promoting Athlon64 Systems"

      Even that is not much of a comparison as the Athlon64 range is a much greater percentage of AMD's product than OpenPower servers are of IBM's.

      --
      Something is happening here but you don't know what it is, do you, Mr Jones.
  2. "Open" Power? by chathamhouse · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You can buy power from... IBM. And it's not cheap. And it doesn't run AIX, only Linux. Sort of. Many applications require some porting love, as per the bounties on http://www.linuxonpower.com/

    I generally like what IBM does, and use their x86 servers, storage, and software.

    But "Open" is pushing it here.

    I'd never be able to justify a recommendation to buy Open Power, that is, unless the sales guy left a flashy car in my parking spot...

    Jonathan Schwartz (Sun CTO) had it right when he noted that that was as silly as them shipping Open Sparc boxes. Mind you, there are Fujitsu SPARC64 chips, and OEM sparc-based system builders.

    Of course, IBM is just loving Solaris, particularly Solaris 10. Some assistance in your Solaris to Linux on Power migration? http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/librar y/l-pow-portsolaris/
    (Though it is a well written piece - good quick guide to Linux and Solaris system calls, signals.)

  3. Re:How slow will this be? by Chanc_Gorkon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Yes but were they Power 5's? I doubt it. The Power5 is VERY fast. We have 3 LPAR's on our system and many processors....one LPAR has 6 dedicated processors and one has 10 processors. Total ram for the system is 106 GB and we split that up between the LPARS.

    --

    Gorkman

  4. PowerPC to the people by rbanffy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Without entry-level, inexpensive and interesting (i.e. "Xenon-based" or dual-core FreeScale G4s), PPC Linux will starve to death.

    Nobody will pay more than what a entry-level x86 costs for an entry-level PPC system.

    IBM and FreeScale (the current most affected by Apple's switch) should think about getting simple Linux based PPC desktops at rock-bottom prices in the hands of developers, even if it means selling them at a loss.

    When developers lose interest in a platform, it is doomed.

    --
    http://www.dieblinkenlights.com
  5. I've got one here by IGnatius+T+Foobar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    We've got an OpenPOWER 720 in our data center as part of IBM's push to get everyone to try it out, and let me tell you, this architecture is fast. Blazingly fast. From the zippy CPU's to the efficient bus design, it just crunches through the most demanding data tasks effortlessly.

    There are some caveats, though. One is that it does run hot. I wouldn't recommend keeping this type of machine running anywhere other than an air conditioned data center. You can feel the hot air blasting out the front of the chassis. The other thing is that because it's designed for virtualization, getting it booted up can be somewhat cumbersome. It actually requires a separate computer (an ordinary PC, as shipped) to run the software that configures partitions and manages the boot process.

    Other than that, though, this is a great way to get a smaller version of what "big iron" can deliver, at a decent price.

    --
    Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!