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Power 9 May Dent X86 Servers: Alibaba, Google, Tencent Test IBM Systems

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Re: Power 9 May Dent X86 Servers: Alibaba, Google, Tencent Test IBM Systems

#2
That would be nice, but the problem with these systems historically is that they're ridiculously expensive compared to x64 servers for the end user. As a result end users and SMBs never get their hands on them and nobody develops anything for them or supports them.

Re: Power 9 May Dent X86 Servers: Alibaba, Google, Tencent Test IBM Systems

#4
post #2

That would be nice, but the problem with these systems historically is that they're ridiculously expensive compared to x64 servers for the end user. As a result end users and SMBs never get their hands on them and nobody develops anything for them or supports them.

which is why they're not being sold directly to enterprises but to Cloud Providers. I'm not a hardware engineer so not familiar with the fine print but what I've read so far seems to suggest that Power systems are more efficient at running Database-centric workloads and the power hypervisor is an order of magnitude more efficient than intel ones http://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/Intel-x86-and-IBM-POWE....

Disclosure: I work on IBM cloud, but only tangentially with the Power systems.

Re: Power 9 May Dent X86 Servers: Alibaba, Google, Tencent Test IBM Systems

#5
> Power 9 is IBM’s first to use standard DIMMs, opening a door to other standard components that are, overall, cutting system costs by 20% to 50%

Glad to see them throwing in the towel on a pricey and proprietary component. Competition is good.

Re: Power 9 May Dent X86 Servers: Alibaba, Google, Tencent Test IBM Systems

#7

> Power 9 is IBM’s first to use standard DIMMs, opening a door to other standard components that are, overall, cutting system costs by 20% to 50% Glad to see them throwing in the towel on a pricey and proprietary component. Competition is good.

Note that the other DIMMs aren't completely arbitrary, they are buffered and require Centaur controllers to allow for much greater capacity and bandwidth (at increased latency). But for scale out workloads the on chip DDR controllers are great for both lower cost and lower latency.

Re: Power 9 May Dent X86 Servers: Alibaba, Google, Tencent Test IBM Systems

#8
post #4
post #2

That would be nice, but the problem with these systems historically is that they're ridiculously expensive compared to x64 servers for the end user. As a result end users and SMBs never get their hands on them and nobody develops anything for them or supports them.

which is why they're not being sold directly to enterprises but to Cloud Providers. I'm not a hardware engineer so not familiar with the fine print but what I've read so far seems to suggest that Power systems are more efficient at running Database-centric workloads and the power hypervisor is an order of magnitude more efficient than intel ones http://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/Intel-x86-and-IBM-POWE... . Disclo…

Is there a cloud provider that allows a EU-based natural-person customer buy a little Power 9 time for testing?

Last I looked, Power cloud offerings required the customer to be a big company that buys a lot of compute.

Re: Power 9 May Dent X86 Servers: Alibaba, Google, Tencent Test IBM Systems

#9
post #6

Code running on Intel proc is much faster than anything else, I'm not sure how long it would take to catch up with the performance they provide.

Do you have actual benchmarks of x86 vs. Power 9 or are you just talking out your ass?

Re: Power 9 May Dent X86 Servers: Alibaba, Google, Tencent Test IBM Systems

#10
post #8
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

which is why they're not being sold directly to enterprises but to Cloud Providers. I'm not a hardware engineer so not familiar with the fine print but what I've read so far seems to suggest that Power systems are more efficient at running Database-centric workloads and the power hypervisor is an order of magnitude more efficient than intel ones http://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/Intel-x86-and-IBM-POWE... . Disclo…

Is there a cloud provider that allows a EU-based natural-person customer buy a little Power 9 time for testing? Last I looked, Power cloud offerings required the customer to be a big company that buys a lot of compute.

I think IBM Softlayer has been renting out small numbers of Power-based machines for a while now, enough to test with.
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