IBM has termed the new POWER9 Single Chip Module (SCM) processor, the latest member of its Power System family, as the “best server for enterprise artificial intelligence (AI).”
The best server for enterprise #AI has arrived. Meet the new #POWER9-based IBM Power Systems: https://t.co/ly8gI0uwzJ pic.twitter.com/vdL15s77fi
— IBM (@IBM) December 5, 2017
The chip is capable of handling the demanding requirements of AI, deep learning and advanced analytics workloads, which will eventually raise IBM’s status as the infrastructure foundation provider for the cognitive era, says Stephanie Long, research analyst at TBR.
In line with this development, IBM also launched IBM Power System AC922, designed to accompany the increased compute capabilities of POWER9.
IBM Power System AC922 is likely to become the most powerful supercomputer in the world, according to IBM. Its potential could include a use case similar to CORAL (Collaboration of Oak Ridge, Argonne and Livermore) supercomputer, which the U.S. government uses for massive volumes of AI workloads.
The AC922 will feature two IBM POWER9 processors that offer high performance with 32 or 40 fully activated cores. Other key features include up to 1 TB of memory, four PCIe slots and three CAPI, two 2.5-inch SATA drives, and maximum of 4 TB hard disk drive (HDD) or 7.68 TB of solid-state drive (SDD) storage.
With these capabilities, the new computing system is expected to deliver enhanced capabilities compared to older versions, including up to five times more I/O bandwidth when compared to x86 servers.
The growth of artificial intelligence and the rising demands for high performance computing will give IBM an upper hand in the server space, according to the TBR analyst.
Rajani Baburajan
editor@infotechlead.com
