IBM Launches New Linux, Power8, OpenPower Systems (zdnet.com)

An anonymous reader writes:IBM on Thursday rolled out its latest Power8 processor, which is designed to move data faster, and new servers with OpenPower features. For IBM, the OpenPower Foundation community is critical for its Power8 processor. A bevy of companies are in OpenPower, a group that aims to be a counterweight to x86-based servers. With the new systems, IBM is hoping to target more artificial intelligence, analytics, and deep learning workloads. The systems will be lumped into the Power Systems LC family of Linux servers. Big Blue's Power S822LC for High Performance Computing server is the headliner of the group, with the Power8 processor with Nvidia's Tesla P100 Pascal GPUs. The system also has Nvidia's NVLink processor that allows for high-speed bidirectional interconnects. IBM said the combination of IBM and Nvidia technology allows data to flow five times faster than an x86-based system.

Comments

Price?

[MachineShedFred]

So that's great that data can flow 5x what an x86 server can do. Does it cost 10x as much? Because if it does, you're likely better off with x86.

Re:Price?

[Anonymous Coward]

So that's great that data can flow 5x what an x86 server can do. Does it cost 10x as much? Because if it does, you're likely better off with x86.

Because electricity and cooling are both free, right?

If the one bottleneck on your workload is GPU bandwidth, if it's 5x faster, but only 10x as expensive, it's probably a LOT cheaper to buy and run the one POWER than the five x86s over the lifetime of the servers, assuming the x86 boxes draw about same amount of power as one POWER server.

Re:Can Slashdot stop post IBM advertisements?

[blane.bramble]

Meanwhile, in the real world, most systems are not CPU bound but IO bound. If Power8 lives up to the hype, it's a very interesting prospect.

Summary: go back to Call of Duty.