A Publication of iSeries 400 Experts Total Information Service
An iSeries
Blade server?
By Heather Ellwood
Monday November 21, 2005
There
is a bustle in the iSeries community
about an iSeries Blade server. This
is not a new topic of discussion
for iSeries followers, but in recent
months, those talking about it are
becoming more vocal than before,
and they’re hoping
that IBM is paying attention.
“IBM
is listening. At this point, IBM
is probably actively trying to sort
out just how important this kind
of a solution would be for the market.
iSeries shops that want an ‘i-Blade’ solution
should be getting feedback to IBM
at this point, to help IBM understand
the customer demand,” says
Joyce Becknell, research director,
Sageza Group, Milan, Italy.
A
recent Blade announcement from IBM
made Becknell question IBM’s
intent to produce a Blade server
that could incorporate iSeries functionality
and run i5/OS. “Last week,
IBM made a Blade announcement for
the financial and banking industries — there
are lots of banks running iSeries,
so I thought, isn’t this proof
that the industry needs an iSeries
Blade? IBM didn’t give me any
definitive answer as to whether they’re
working on it or not, but I think
that IBM is currently looking to
find out how important a solution
like this would be for the market,” says
Becknell.
She
continues, “Companies are trying
to create virtual PCs (desktops)
so that when software is changed
on the server, it is distributed
out to all PCs. It would be great
to be able to do that on an iSeries,
and an iSeries Blade would give shops
the benefits of the iSeries and the
Blade in one solution.”
Others
in the iSeries community see V5R4
as a possible precursor to this type
of technology. “V5R3 M5, with
remote boot support, would help IBM
to run i5/OS on a Blade server, and
some of the new enhancements coming
in V5R4 are precursors for running
an iSeries Blade. The problem, though,
is Power 5 (at 85 watts) is too hot
for a Blade server (it would melt
it) so IBM has to work on getting
the cooling ready,” says Jim
Oberholtzer, senior technical consultant,
CompuTech Resources Inc., Green Bay,
WI
(IW 8/1/05, 8/29/05, 10/10/05, and 10/24/05).
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