IBM Power E1080 Server: Energy Efficiency & Performance

IBM's Power E1080 Server: A Leap in Efficiency and Performance

The substantial electricity demands of large data centers and powerful servers are well-documented. Any innovation capable of reducing energy consumption is therefore highly desirable, particularly given the current climate challenges. IBM’s new Power E1080 server, built around the latest Power10 processors, addresses this need directly.

Significant Energy Savings and Performance Gains

IBM asserts that the E1080 can consolidate workloads from as many as 126 competitor servers into just two units, resulting in an estimated 80% reduction in energy costs. Furthermore, the company reports a new world record in a SAP benchmark, demonstrating superior performance for critical SAP applications.

Specifically, the server achieved results surpassing x86-based competitive servers by 40%, while utilizing only half the resources.

Industry Analyst Perspective

Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insight & Strategy, a firm specializing in the chip industry, believes IBM’s claims are plausible based on the server’s hardware architecture. He notes that the reported gains in SAP, Oracle, and OpenShift workloads are logical, requiring fewer sockets and processors to attain equivalent performance.

Moorhead’s assessment compared the E1080’s performance to Intel’s Cascade Lake processors, which are slated for replacement with Sapphire Rapids.

Designed for Speed, Efficiency, and Security

According to Steve Sibley, vice president and business line executive at IBM Power Systems, the new server and its underlying Power10 chip are engineered for customers prioritizing speed, power efficiency, and robust security.

“The scale and performance we deliver provide customers with increased agility to rapidly adapt to fluctuating demands,” Sibley stated.

Flexible Deployment Options

IBM offers multiple acquisition and deployment models for the E1080. Customers can purchase the servers directly for installation in their own data centers.

Alternatively, server access is available as a service through the IBM Cloud, and potentially other cloud providers. A rental option allows customers to host the servers in their facilities and pay on a per-minute basis, mitigating upfront costs.

While the initial acquisition cost may be higher, IBM’s as-a-service model with granular, per-minute billing provides cost flexibility.

Leveraging the Red Hat Acquisition

The E1080 is the first server to utilize the Power10 chip and is specifically designed to run Red Hat software, maximizing the value of IBM’s 2018 acquisition of Red Hat for $34 billion.

“Integrating Red Hat’s platform is crucial for modernizing applications, encompassing both the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system and OpenShift, our container platform,” explained Sibley.

“We are also leveraging Red Hat’s Ansible projects to enhance management and automation capabilities on our platform.”

Focus on Hybrid Computing

Since Arvind Krishna assumed the role of CEO at IBM in April 2020, the company has strategically shifted its focus towards hybrid computing – a model where some computing resources reside in the cloud and others on-premises.

IBM intends to utilize Red Hat as a central management layer for hybrid environments, alongside a comprehensive suite of hardware, software, and services.

Synergy Between IBM and Red Hat

Although Red Hat maintains operational independence within IBM and aims to remain vendor-neutral, IBM is actively seeking opportunities to integrate Red Hat’s offerings and leverage them within its own systems, with the E1080 serving as a key platform for this integration.