Edit: The links no longer work. I guess these days we would just try out workloads in the cloud.
Originally posted August 3, 2010 on AIXchange
Are you a current IBM customer who’s planning on upgrading to POWER6 or POWER7, but would like to try out the machines before buying them? Or maybe you use other operating systems, but want to evaluate IBM hardware running AIX? Or maybe you’ve been reading about the latest virtualization techniques, but don’t have current hardware to test them on?
If you face any of these scenarios, help may be available. Of course, your business partner may have access to machines that you could run some test workloads on. You may be able to work with an IBM Innovation Center to test the hardware.
Or, you could look into the POWER on Wheels program. From IBM:
“Power on Wheels is a revolutionary addition to the Power Loaner Program designed to help quickly determine if Power is right for your server consolidation efforts by providing your client with direct,
hands on access to the newest Power technology in a simple to use package that requires little to no previous AIX or Power skills. Power on Wheels is delivered to a client location in a self contained shipping box. When the box arrives, the client wheels it onto their floor, opens the doors, plugs the box into an electrical outlet and within minutes, the client starts stepping through the graphical user interface to power up and starts running the demo software application.”
Power on Wheels is a POWER7 technology-based server and software demo combination that can be used to demonstrate virtualization, CPU sharing, multiple operating system support, server consolidation Power savings and more. Participants receive a loaner plug and play shipping box, which IBM ships to the customer location for three weeks. The solution also features several pre-packaged software solution demos, but customers can add their own applications to test the hardware as well.
Once the shipping container arrives, you would need to provide power and (if desired) network connectivity. Once it’s plugged in on the raised floor, you’d fire up the physical machines and start running the LPARs, monitoring, applications, etc.
To get nominated for the program, contact your IBM Field Technical Sales Specialist (FTSS) or IBM Business Partner. Currently Power on Wheels is available only in North America, but availability is expected soon for European Union members, and a worldwide rollout is being planned.
Right now, IBM is building the fleet of machines that will serve this program. Currently, there are six shipping boxes, two POWER7 and four POWER6 systems. Another six systems are expected to be deployed, and IBM anticipates mid-August availability for the Power on Wheels V2 stack. And around that time, the POWER6 systems should be upgraded to POWER7.
For more on the Power on Wheels program, check out this text and these videos.