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IBM Unveils Upgrades to Flagship Mainframe
 05/06/2002 IBM has announced the first significant enhancement to its flagship z900 mainframe server line in 18 months. The company said it is offering a 25 percent increase in price/performance improvements with new processors while at the same time lowering prices. The new IBM eServer zSeries models will be available May 15th, IBM spokesperson Nina Velasquez told NewsFactor. The z900 is part of the server line that enabled IBM to catch up in the server market after lagging behind Sun Microsystems at the top end and Dell and Compaq at the lower end. No Direct Competitors IBM now has no significant rivals in the mainframe business and can maintain its lead by adding enhancements to its products when business slows, according to analysts. The company reported that mainframe revenue declined in the first quarter for the first time since the company launched the zSeries in October 2000. "They don't have any direct competition, Gartner analyst Mike Chuba told NewsFactor, "but IBM still has to battle for 'mindshare' against the big UNIX server folks. If they look like this is a product they are managing as an 'end-of-life' cash cow, then they'd certainly have a problem. They want to keep it on the front page and position it as cost-competitive for the big, mission-critical applications." IBM stock dropped 10 percent last week after the company announced that its first-quarter results would fall short of Wall Street expectations. Extra Oomph IBM said the z900's new Integrated Facility for Linux (IFL) delivers up to 20 percent greater performance, even though the list price is 10 percent lower. IFLs are often used by businesses to consolidate Sun, Hewlett-Packard and Intel-based servers on the mainframe. Improving the IBM mainframe's multi-chip module will enable better e-business functions, such as processing secure Web transactions, allowing more than 4,300 secure socket layer (SSL) transactions per second, the company said. Enhanced Networking IBM added that enhanced networking technology in the new product lets users who are consolidating UNIX and Intel (Nasdaq: INTC - news) servers experience up to a fivefold increase in throughput between application and database servers. The company claimed the new technology reduces server and network equipment costs as well. IBM also introduced a service called "Customer Initiated Upgrade," which lets businesses access additional processor capacity and memory more quickly and without service interruption. That feature initially will be available only in the United States, Canada and Europe, the company said. Pay for Use At the same time, IBM announced more software pricing options, which the company said will provide users with more flexibility. For example, the company is offering a pricing model based on actual use instead of predefined capacity. Additional upgrades for the zSeries include Linux support for IBM's cryptographic coprocessor hardware. Customers using business applications on Linux for the zSeries now can use the mainframe's cryptographic coprocessor. In addition, networking enhancements to Linux on the mainframe allow for the large number of network addresses required for the coming explosion of new Internet devices and connections. "These enhancements also permit the sharing of a physical network and are designed to maintain secure separation of unrelated users," IBM said. News Archive | |
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