Edit: Some links no longer work.
Originally posted June 24, 2014 on AIXchange
I love reading about new computing technologies, particularly the latest IBM Power Systems releases. It doesn’t hurt that, as a consultant, I have opportunities to work with the newest hardware, but even if that wasn’t the case, I’d still want to know everything about what’s coming out of IBM. I guess I’m like those folks who read automotive magazines, even though I don’t plan on buying a new Tesla anytime soon.
With this in mind, I’d like to point you to three new IBM documents — draft Redpapers — that cover the recently unveiled POWER8 models. All three publications are scheduled to be finalized by the end of this month.
As you might expect, given that the models have many of the same features, there’s some overlap in the information presented. For instance, this is the table of contents for all three publications:
Chapter 1. General description
Chapter 2. Architecture and technical overview
Chapter 3. Virtualization
Chapter 4. Continuous availability and manageability
So if you read these Redpapers back to back, you might have a case of déjà vu. Nonetheless, I believe the information is well worth your time.
Let’s start with redp5097, which covers the 4U models, the S814 and the S824. As a reminder, the S in the model number stands for scale out, the 8 stands for POWER8, the 1 or 2 stand for the number of sockets, and the 4 stands for 4U.
Redp5098 covers the S812L and the S822L. Again, as a reminder, S for scale out, 8 for POWER8, 1 or 2 for the number of sockets, and 2 for 2U. L designates that these are Linux-only servers. I wrote about my experiences with the S822L here.
Finally, there’s redp5102, which covers the S822. For completeness, the S is scale out, the 8 is POWER8, the 2 is 2 socket and the 2 is 2U.
At the bottom of the splash page for each publication there’s a link to a blog post that lists five things to know about the IBM POWER8 architecture. I suggest checking this out as well.
So what are your plans to run POWER8 in your shop?