IBM launches Turbo server

IBM unveiled its Turbo server that features faster chips, increased memory support and better systems management capabilities.

The 24-processor pSeries 680 server, codenamed Turbo, is scheduled to ship in mid-November with technologies migrated from IBM's S/390 mainframe line.

IBM said the p680 server includes a 600Mhz chip featuring IBM's Silicon-on-Insulator technology, up from the 450Mhz processors used in IBM's current 580 servers. A mainframe-like capacity upgrade-on-demand feature that allows users to quickly activate additional processors and a built-in service processor for monitoring and managing system performance are also included.

Built on IBM's RS/6000, the p680 delivers increased memory capacity to 96Gb that allows faster performance and increased scalability. The system will target primarily larger accounts looking to host web-based applications for ecommerce, and also other mission-critical applications such as enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management.

Scott Firth, director of IBM's eServer products, said: "We think this is the fastest server available, but more importantly we are doing it with fewer processors."

The server, which has fewer processors than Sun Microsystems and Hewlett Packard (HP) systems, also has the largest number of simultaneous connections, Java operations per second, SAP assembly orders per hour to date and a lower cost, according to IBM.

Brad Day, an analyst with market research firm Giga Information Group, said it is the first such server to process more than 200,000 transactions per minute, a key industry benchmark.

The server is setting new standards not just with specialised applications, Day said, and that indicates how balanced the architecture is, making it attractive to a wide host of heavy-duty applications.

"It really puts additional pressures on both Sun and HP," said Day. He explained that the comparable Sun server is not due out until the third quarter of 2001 and HP's new Superdome server industry benchmark tests have not yet been published.