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

Posted by msmash on from the big-data-workloads dept.

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.

9 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Can Slashdot stop post IBM advertisements? by Narcocide · · Score: 2

    This is gonna change some shit man. The success of the Raspberry Pi has proven that CPU performance is not everything.

  2. Price? by MachineShedFred · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

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    1. Re:Price? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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.

    2. Re:Price? by rijrunner · · Score: 2

      My experience is that 10x as much is a very generous estimate. It is often worse.

    3. Re:Price? by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 2

      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.

      unless space and power consumption are a factor... like in a datacenter.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  3. Re:POWER9 must be far away by rijrunner · · Score: 2

    This is fairly standard. They usually hit their + or express version at the midpoint between major updates. The timeline for this looks to be very much in line with their previous releases. Three calendar years between major releases with a + version about halfway between.

  4. Re:More details? by TheSunborn · · Score: 2

    They are talking about the flow of data, between the PowerPC cpu and the nVidia graphics card. It's fast because they are using a special nVidia link, but I don't really think this matters a lot in most use cases.

    Btw: The cheepest version comes with 2 cpus each with 8 cores, and cost over 9000$.

  5. Re:Can Slashdot stop post IBM advertisements? by blane.bramble · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  6. Re: Not again! by hackwrench · · Score: 2

    People like to talk in absolutes, though. Central planning is always bad or always good. Capitalism is always bad or always good. Vaccines are always good or they cause autism and you won't like hugs. Instead we should be looking out for appropriate use cases and look for potential problems and where they crop up with everything.