Enterprise IT vendor IBM released cheap Linux servers – targeting the data analytics market – taking on rival Intel.
IBM made two promises. First, its Linux servers perform data analytics workloads faster. Second, the Linux servers are cheaper than a comparable x86-based server.
CIOs, using the new Power Systems LC server, can complete an average of Apache Spark workloads including analyzing Twitter feeds, streaming web page views and other data-intensive analytics for less than half the cost of an Intel E5-2699 V3 processor-based server. Clients can achieve 2.3X better performance per dollar spent.
What IBM Linux servers promise
# perform data analytics workloads faster
# cheaper than comparable x86-based server
# less than half the cost of an Intel E5-2699 V3 processor-based server
# achieve 2.3X better performance per dollar spent
# allows for 94 percent more Spark social media workloads
# offering the Power Systems LC servers in 3 variations
Power Systems LC server allows for 94 percent more Spark social media workloads in the same rack space as a
comparable Intel-based server.
Doug Balog, general manager of IBM Power Systems, said: “Embracing an open model of innovation has enabled us to build systems that help translate mountains of data into actionable business insight.”
Allegiant Air, a low-cost American airline carrier, is running Linux on Power Systems to analyze data. The airline analyzes customer behavior on its website, looking for trends like price sensitivity in order to adjust quickly and provide on-the-spot promotional marketing offers to convert a potential customer’s online browse into a purchase.
Brian O’Neil, director of Data Architecture, Allegiant Travel, said: “Leveraging Linux on IBM Power Systems, we have been able to immediately glean valuable insights from a number of data sources, enabling us to take action quicker and more efficiently than ever before.”
IBM is offering the Power Systems LC servers in three different variations — Power Systems S812LC, S822LC for commercial computing and S822LC for high performance computing.
The S812LC features up to 10 cores, 1TB of memory, 115GB/sec memory bandwidth, and up to 14 disk drives — optimized for workloads that are memory and storage rich, such as Spark and Hadoop to provide immediate insights with incredible efficiency.
The S822LC targeted for commercial computing and high performance computing come with up to 20 cores, 1TB of memory and 230GB/sec memory bandwidth. The S822LC for high performance computing also comes with two integrated NVIDIA Tesla K80 GPU accelerators.
IBM said the two S822LC variants will offer over 2X performance per core, 40 percent better price performance and more than 2X memory bandwidth compared to similarly configured x86-based E5-2699 V3 machines.
Baburajan K
editor@infotechlead.com
