Industry-leading cloud computing and business analytics solutions from IBM
August 2012
IBM System x Solutions for
Cloud Computing and
Analytics
Mark T. Chapman
IBM Systems and Technology Group
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Executive Overview
The economy appears to be growing at last, and an economic revival will create even more IT requirements than before. Despite static budgets, users want more efficient access to
information, greater self-sufficiency, and better decision-making capability. IT managers want to optimize systems by workload, reduce throughput bottlenecks, increase automation, and make better use of their infrastructures. And CIOs demand solutions that speed deployment, simplify complexity, and offer greater cost-efficiency. The key words in all of this are efficiency, simplicity, and savings. To satisfy everyone, a solution must address all of these concerns.
In addition, entire industry ecosystems are becoming instrumented and interconnected. And, with this the possibility arises to create entirely new operating models as intelligence is infused into products, processes, and systems. But more instrumentation means more data—a lot more—as
does the expected 35% increase in Internet users by 20151 and all the data their instruments—
PCs, smart phones, tablets, game consoles, and so on—will generate.
All this data needs to get to the right place, so you’ll need massive bandwidth to get it there, and the computational capability to analyze it—preferably in real time. The demands of more
instrumentation and greatly increased interconnections are changing the requirements for IT. IBM’s approach to these new challenges is what we call Smarter Computing. It’s delivered through a combination of designing for data, tuning to the task, and enabling cloud technologies. These are really the characteristics of a Smarter Computing infrastructure that enables a Smarter
Planet™. To seize the opportunities that are presented by a Smarter Planet, clients need to think
differently about their infrastructure.
IBM can help any enterprise proceed with a strategic, staged approach to smarter computing. Each step leads to an IT infrastructure that is integrated, automated and secured.
Two solutions that can start you on the road to smarter computing are analytics and cloud
computing, and IBM has industry-leading offerings that can give an organization the performance, efficiency and savings it needs. Today, IBM has new solutions that expand cloud and analytics
computing capabilities across its portfolioand help make smarter computing a reality for x86
clients. The new IBM offerings include a number of high-performance two-socket servers, system software, and networking capabilities, designed to optimize datacenter operations by increasing simplicity of deployment and reducing time to value:
The IBM Smart Analytics System incorporates IBM InfoSphere® Data Warehouse, DB2®, and
Cognos® business intelligence software to provide clients with a comprehensive data warehouse
and analytics solution alongside their analytics applications or tools. Adopting a Smart Analytics System as an “appliance” for software applications allows clients to quickly and cost-effectively capitalize on the rapidly growing market for real-time analytics solutions.
IBM SmartCloud Foundations is a set of technologies that serve as the underpinnings of cloud computing, whether for a public, private or hybrid cloud. SmartCloud Foundations can help you:
• Create new business value by empowering internal and external communities to define and
create new offerings and services
• Improve speed and dexterity by delivering new offerings and services more rapidly through
new models of self-service and deployment
• Deliver IT without boundaries by enabling new IT and business processes that break down
traditional silos and simplify access to information in order to deliver better business outcomes
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IBM BladeCenter Foundation for Cloud is an integrated, converged platform with servers, storage, networking and system management. It gives clients a fast, virtualized platform and
provides an excellent entry cloud platform when combined with IBM SmartCloud Entry for
System x.
These offerings can help clients deploy analytics and cloud solutions that align their businesses to handle unprecedented amounts of data, and to become much more efficient at turning that information into timely business insights. In support of these solutions, IBM announces the
following systems, all of them equipped with the new Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2600 family,
which supports up to 8 cores:
The new IBM® BladeCenter® HS23 server is a powerful next-generation blade server optimized
to handle virtualized and business-critical workloads. It offers:
• Up to 62%2 more compute performance than previous generation blades.
• With the new integrated IBM Virtual Fabric with integrated 10GbE connectivity, the HS23
delivers flexible high-speed multi-fabric networking, while lowering the acquisition costs of the
technology by up to 30%3. It supports up to four 10 GbE paths to each blade and up to 8
ports of total I/O per blade.
• The increased bandwidth, along with 256GB of memory capacity, allows the HS23 to support
the faster data transfers essential for cloud, and analytic workloads,
• Up to 20% more virtual machines (VMs), as well as larger VMs.
• IBM FastSetup uses a step-by-step setup wizard to simplify the deployment process by
allowing clients to easily define and automatically deploy a blade configuration. This provides clients with a faster time-to-value.
New affordable—yet expandable—solutions for midsized organizations feature new IBM System
x® servers, including the x3650 M4, the x3550 M4, the x3500 M4, and the iDataPlex® dx360 M4.
The 2U System x3650 M4 offers up to 80%4 greater compute performance than the previous M3
generation with IBM Virtual Fabric and an optional integrated 10GbE
NIC. With 768GB of memory capacity and exclusive eXFlash storage
technology, the x3650 M4 is capable of handling all but the biggest virtualization and analytics needs. (And for those we offer the eX5
server line.) The new System x3550 M4 offers most of the same
capabilities, but in a slender 1U package.
The IBM System x3500 M4 is capable of delivering data center performance in a 5U tower package, with high-performance processors, plenty of memory, and up to
32TB of internal storage. Suitable for small to mid-sized businesses,
workgroups and remote locations, the x3500 M4 is designed with plenty of room for growth. Ideal for office environments, the system can fit easily under a desk or in a rack.
The IBM System x iDataPlex dx360 M4, offers expanded flexibility for datacenters that need maximum efficiency to meet the challenges of limited floor space, power, and cooling. The system is optimal for
high-performance computing and grid environments, offering up to 120%
greater performance than previous models5. In fact, according to one
analyst, for low-petaFLOP clusters the dx360 M4 offers as much as a
57% energy advantage over other x86 architectures, with even larger
2
Source: Intel Corp.
3
Compared with buying separate components.
4 Source: Intel Corp. 5 Source: Intel Corp.
“IBM iDataPlex dx360
M4 [is] the most
promising energy- and
cost-effective solution
for the Petascale
supercomputing needs
in the x86 cluster
systems market.” Srini
Chari, Cabot Partners.
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benefits as cluster sizes increase into exaFLOP range6. And, with optional server-level
warm-water-cooling technology, it provides up to an additional 40% efficiency advantage over air-cooled
dx360 M4 systems by eliminating 90% of the heat generated per server before it leaves the rack.
(That heated water can then be used for other purposes, such as building heating.) In addition, there are several technologies that further enhance these systems’ capabilities: New to the x3650 M4 is IBM’s exclusive high-performance solid-state drive technology, IBM
eXFlash. eXFlash addressesthe ever-growing demand for I/O. By combining solid-state drive technology with an SSD-optimized controller housed in a modular package, eXFlash offers significantly higher IOPS performance than enterprise HDDs for I/O-intensive applications like databases and business analytics. In fact, one x3650 M4, containing four eXFlash packs with 8
1.8” SSDs apiece, can replace up to 3,200 HDDs for equivalent IOPS performance7.
Consequently, the x3650 M4 with eXFlash technology can save you more than 99% on your
storage energy bill. (And that doesn’t even include the cost of 3,200 HDDs and the necessary RAID controllers, storage enclosures, racks, and floor space, service/administration time, RAID array setup time, extra datacenter cooling capacity, etc.) This technology was previously available only in the IBM eX5 portfolio.
IBM Virtual Fabric with integrated 10GbE connectivity delivers flexible high speed networking,
while lowering the acquisition costs of the technology by up to 30%. Virtual Fabric delivers
dedicated bandwidth for virtual machines for faster networking and supports the three most pervasive networking technologies: Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI. This support allows easy integration into existing datacenter networking with no rip-and-replace, and is available in all our M4 2-socket servers and HS23.
IBM Feature on Demand is available across the IBM System x and BladeCenter product lines. It allows clients to activate on-demand features included with the system: features like remote management, advanced RAID, FCoE, and iSCSI. Clients can grow their systems as they grow their businesses, without costly rip-and-replace. Feature on Demand enables ease of installation, reduced inventory, and faster fulfillment options. Activation can be at the time of the sale or later. It is a secure, customer-friendly process that can be used by clients or by IBM Business partners to upgrade client systems.
Enhancements to UEFI and our second-generation Integrated Management Module (IMM v2)
enable enhanced setup and configuration, improved remote presence, a new user interface, and
faster initialization than the previous generation (by up to 33%).
The optional IBM Rear Door Heat eXchanger V2 (for System x and BladeCenter) and
IBM Rear Door Heat eXchanger for iDataPlex deliver a chilled-water rack-level cooling system designed to increase equipment density in data centers and reduce the need for inefficient computer room air conditioning units. It offers industry-leading
efficiency of 100% heat removal at a 30 kW load, simplifying air flow planning and
potentially eliminating server room hot spots, which allows server racks to be placed closer together and more densely populated, saving you both money and floor space.
Both iDataPlex and BladeCenter servers offer new graphics processing unit (GPU)
capabilities that provide supercomputing-class graphics processing. The dx360 M4 supports up to four GPUs per 2U chassis, while the BladeCenter GPU Expansion Blade II (BGE) provides the ability to add four BGE expansion blades to a single HS23 server.
6
“The IBM System x iDataPlex dx360 M4: Superior Energy Efficiency and Total Cost of Ownership for Petascale Technical Computing,”,Srini Chari, Cabot Partners, March 2012.
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For improved efficiency, the new generation of System x servers include 80 PLUS®
Platinum-rated power supplies, with up to 94% energy efficiency. This means more energy is available for workloads and less is lost converting AC wall current into DC power (and generating waste heat).
The IBM System Networking Distributed Virtual Switch 5000V is an advanced, feature-rich distributed virtual switch for VMware environments with policy-based virtual machine connectivity. It provides a consistent networking environment across virtual and physical environments, so that virtual and physical servers can use the same configurations, policies and management tools. Network policies automatedly migrate with mobile virtual machines to keep security, performance, and access intact as VMs move from server to server.
Despite this paper’s emphasis on analytics and cloud computing, those aren’t the only workloads these new servers are ideal for. For example:
• The high-performance processors and large memory capacity make the x3650 M4, x3550
M4, x3500 M4, and dx360 M4 perfect for midsized in-memory databases. x3650 M4 also
achieved the #1 benchmark for SAP SD Two-Tier8.
• The ability to support four industry-leading GPUs makes the HS23 and dx360 M4 great
choices for HPC computing.
• The high-IOPS eXFlash SSD storage of the x3650 M4 makes it perfect as a web server.
And so on. All but the highest-end workloads can find a home on these new systems. Add in 80 Plus Platinum power supplies, 1.35V DIMMs, and warm-water server-level or chilled-water rack-level cooling, and all of these systems can make your data center far more energy-efficient than ever before.
With all the new and increased demands placed upon the datacenter, it’s essential to find a trusted IT partner that can provide the innovative technologies, services, and solutions you need to ease your move into cloud computing or to expand your virtualization and analytics efforts. Considering IBM Smart Analytics System, SmartCloud Foundations, BladeCenter Foundation for Cloud, all the hardware technologies mentioned above, and industry-leading customer
satisfaction9, IBM is that partner.
8 7,855 benchmark users: http://www.sap.com/solutions/benchmark/sd2tier.epx.
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For More Information
IBM System x Servers http://ibm.com/systems/x
IBM BladeCenter Server and options http://ibm.com/systems/bladecenter IBM Systems Director Service and Support Manager http://ibm.com/support/electronic
IBM System x and BladeCenter Power Configurator http://ibm.com/systems/bladecenter/resources/powerconfig.html
IBM Standalone Solutions Configuration Tool http://ibm.com/systems/x/hardware/configtools.html IBM Configuration and Options Guide http://ibm.com/systems/x/hardware/configtools.html IBM ServerProven Program http://ibm.com/systems/info/x86servers/serverproven/compat/us
Technical Support http://ibm.com/server/support
Other Technical Support Resources
http://ibm.com/systems/support
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© IBM Corporation 2012
IBM Systems and Technology Group Dept. U2SA
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August 2012
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MB, GB and TB = 1,000,000, 1,000,000,000 and 1,000,000,000,000 bytes, respectively, when referring to storage capacity. Accessible capacity is less; up to 3GB is used in service partition. Actual storage capacity will vary based upon many factors and may be less than stated. Performance is in Internal Throughput Rate (ITR) ratio based on measurements and projections using standard IBM benchmarks in a controlled environment. The actual throughput that any user will experience will depend on considerations such as the amount of multiprogramming in the user’s job stream, the I/O configuration, the storage
configuration and the workload processed. Therefore, no assurance can be given that an individual user will achieve throughput improvements equivalent to the performance ratios stated here.
Maximum internal hard disk and memory capacities may require the replacement of any standard hard drives and/or memory and the population of all hard disk bays and memory slots with the largest currently supported drives available. When referring to variable speed CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs and DVDs, actual playback speed will vary and is often less than the maximum possible.
