IBM Archive

IBM, Linux and the Microsoft-Free PC

David Adams 2008-08-06 IBM 112 Comments

After 10 years of supporting Linux, IBM continues to challenge Microsoft on multiple fronts and aims to push Linux even further into the enterprise. While IBM has competed and partnered with Microsoft over the last two decades, the Microsoft-free PC effort is perhaps its most direct assault yet. "The idea of Microsoft-free personal computing has been in the air for a while," Inna Kuznetsova, director of Linux at IBM, told InternetNews.com. "We're just partnering with Linux distribution vendors and hardware vendors to make it happen."

IBM Tightens Stranglehold Over Mainframe Market

Submitted by WillM 2008-07-02 IBM 6 Comments

"IBM has just announced it is Platform Solutions, Inc. (PSI), its small but most significant competitor. PSI is/was a small mainframe manufacturer that had sued IBM over the same anticompetitive practices in Europe and New York. The Computer & Communications Industry Association sees this as a clear attempt by IBM to purchase a company solely to foreclose competition in the mainframe marketplace, protecting IBM's cash cow at the expense of consumers. This acquisition should be a cause of concern for competition authorities throughout the world." Update: more discussion on this story here

IBM May Open Source DB2

Submitted by Edisamy 2008-06-17 IBM 22 Comments

IBM is positive about the possibility of bringing out its DB2 under an open source license. While the computing giant has no immediate plans to open source DB2, market conditions may make it unavoidable, according to Chris Livesey, IBM's UK director of information management software. "We have a light version of the product offered for free, which is a step towards exposing our core (DB2) technology," said Livesey. "Looking at IBM's heritage in contributing to the open source market, we've been particularly keen to lead that market. Open source is an interesting space, as a whole. As the future unfolds, and the economics become clearer, there's going to be more commitment to open source by everybody. We've made good steps towards that."

IBM Smacks Rivals with 5.0GHz Power6 Beast

Thom Holwerda 2008-04-09 IBM 30 Comments

"The rest of the server world can play with their piddling 2-3GHz chips. IBM, meanwhile, is prepared to deal in the 5GHz realm. The hardware maker has unveiled a Power6-based version of its highest-end Unix server - the Power 595. The box runs on 32 dual-core 5GHz Power6 processors, making it a true performance beast. This big box completes a protracted roll out of the Power6 chip across IBM's Unix server line."

IBM Makes Server OS Name Change, Consolidates Platforms

David Adams 2008-04-08 IBM 8 Comments

IBM is discontinuing the System p and System i server brands and changing the name of the i5/OS operating system to "i" or "i for business." An IT Jungle article notes that "servers developed and manufactured by its newly christened Power Systems division with the name--drum roll please--"Power." As in Power 520, Power 550, Power 570, and Power 595, whether the machine is running AIX, Linux, or the operating system formerly known as i5/OS."

IBM’s 64-Processor Quad-Core Mainframe Unveiled

Submitted by Moulinneuf 2008-02-28 IBM 26 Comments

IBM has unveiled its latest mainframe, the System z10. The product is designed to improve performance and reduce power requirements and cooling costs. The new machine, based on quad-core technology, is equivalent, in terms of performance to nearly 1500 x86 servers, according to IBM. The z10 is designed to be up to 50% faster and offers up to 100% performance improvement for CPU-intensive jobs compared with its predecessor, the z9, with up to 70% more capacity, IBM said. IBM said the new mainframe would also consume 85% less energy and have a footprint that is up to 85% smaller.

IBM Explores 67.1m-Core Computer for Running Entire Internet

Submitted by ericvh 2008-02-07 IBM 6 Comments

"The Register has unearthed a research paper that shows IBM working on a computing system capable 'of hosting the entire internet as an application'. This mega system relies on a re-tooled version of IBM's Blue Gene supercomputers so loved by the high performance computing crowd. IBM's researchers have proposed tweaking the Blue Gene systems to run today's most popular web applications such as Linux, Apache, MySQL and Ruby on Rails."

IBM To Offer Office Software Free in Challenge to Microsoft’s Line

Submitted by jchildrose 2007-09-18 IBM 63 Comments

IBM plans to mount its most ambitious challenge in years to Microsoft's dominance of personal computer software, by offering free programs for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. Steven A. Mills, senior vice president of IBM's software group, said the programs promote an open-source document format. The company is announcing the desktop software, called IBM Lotus Symphony, at an event today in New York. The programs will be available as free downloads from the IBM Web site.

Simplified Kernel Extensions with AIX Version 6

Submitted by BlueVoodoo 2007-08-30 IBM No Comments

"Discover why you need to change your applications and build environments that supply 32-bit-only kernel extensions to accommodate IBM AIX Version 6. With AIX Version 6, the kernel environment is 64-bit kernel only. Previously, the AIX operating system provided both 32-bit and 64-bit kernels, requiring 32-bit and 64-bit kernel extensions. In this article, apply two easy solutions to help you make the transition and start reaping the benefits of the simplified kernel environment."

IBM Bolsters Security of Mainframe OS

Thom Holwerda 2007-08-18 IBM No Comments

IBM has introduced a release of its z/OS mainframe operating system with new features that increase the system's security for online commerce and business transactions. IBM officials said the new operating system release is in line with what the company has been calling the renaissance of the mainframe. And as mainframes run a vast portion of the world's financial services, retail and other large businesses, security was a major concern for this latest release, IBM officials said, in Armonk, N.Y.

The LXer Interview: Bob Sutor of IBM

Submitted by sharkscott 2007-08-17 IBM 11 Comments

An interview with IBM's Vice President of Open Source and Standards about their Open Source Strategy, the recent pledge of its patents for more than 150 open software standards, his take on the ODF vs. XML issue, and much more in The LXer Interview of Bob Sutor.

IBM To Implement Sun Solaris on x86-Based System x

Submitted by flanque 2007-08-16 IBM 22 Comments

"IBM and Sun Microsystems did indeed announce an agreement for deploying the Solaris operating system on IBM servers, but it wasn't the system we guessed: IBM will deploy Solaris for its Intel x86-based System x and BladeCenter servers. It's a significant move, as it validates the presence of Sun's operating system among a broad customer base that few can mistake as a "niche." As Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz told reporters today, IBM becomes the first Tier 1 reseller of Solaris products and services for x86 platforms." His blog is here.

IBM Launches 16-Core Processor Server

Submitted by Johnan 2007-07-27 IBM 5 Comments

IBM has announced a version of its System i business server range that uses the company's Power6 processor, which the tech giant claims is the fastest chip it has ever built. The System i 570 uses the 4.7GHz Power6, launched in May, with up to 16 cores, a processor that has come top in many industry benchmarks.

Optimizing AIX 5L Performance Through Disk I/O

Submitted by BlueVoodoo 2007-07-12 IBM 1 Comment

While disk tuning is arguably less exciting than CPU or memory tuning, it is a crucial component in optimizing server performance. Learn more about direct I/O, concurrent I/O, asynchronous I/O, and best practices for each method of I/O implementation.

AIX 6 Beta Program Opens

Submitted by BlueVoodoo 2007-07-11 IBM 17 Comments

IBM has opened the AIX 6 beta program. "AIX 6 Open Beta participants will be able to download the AIX 6 beta code, Mozilla Firefox, and updates to enable previously purchased IBM compilers to run on AIX 6."

Plan 9 Running on Blue Gene/L

Submitted by ericvh 2007-06-18 IBM 34 Comments

A team comprised of members from Bell-Labs, IBM Research, Sandia National Labs, and Vita Nuova has completed a port of Plan 9 to the Blue Gene supercomputer. Plan 9 kernels are running on both the compute nodes and the I/O nodes and the Ethernet, Torus, Collective Network, Barrier Network, and Management network are all supported. Screenshots are available on the development blog, and a live-demo will be attempted during the USENIX poster session.

Developing a File System for AIX

Submitted by BlueVoodoo 2007-05-31 IBM 24 Comments

"Learn the intricacies of the AIX file system framework. Every operating system provides a native kernel framework that kernel developers have to understand and adhere to when developing a piece of a kernel component for that operating system. This article sheds some light on the AIX file system framework. You need to understand the framework in order to develop a new file system, or to port an existing file system to the AIX operating system."

IBM Powers up Performance with Power6 Processor

Thom Holwerda 2007-05-22 IBM 69 Comments

IBM finally took the wraps off its much anticipated Power6 microprocessor, which company executives said will double the clock speed of its current Power5 chip, without stretching the power envelope. The Power6 processor, unveiled at an event on May 21 in London, is a dual-core chip with a top clock speed of 4.7GHz, double the 2.3GHz of the Power5+ processors. The new chip also includes 8MB of L2 cache - four times as large as the current Power5 offering - and an internal bandwidth of 300GB per second. Ars' John 'Hannibal' Stokes obviously also has his say.

IBM Preps Power6 by Putting AIX 5.3 on Life Support

Thom Holwerda 2007-05-14 IBM 22 Comments

IBM's Power6 push began this week with a tweak to AIX support. In a letter to customers, IBM vowed to support future updates to AIX 5.3 for an additional two years. This appears to be IBM's Power6 concession, since the vendor, according to our sources, will announce Power6 systems this month and ship them in the middle of the year but won't have AIX 5.4 available for months. Normally, IBM would like to have a new major release of AIX ready for its new processors and have customers upgrade accordingly. No such luck.

IBM Will Support x86 Linux Applications on System p Servers

Submitted by FreeRhino 2007-04-24 IBM 18 Comments

"Today, IBM announced a public beta trial of a virtual Linux environment that will let x86 applications run on its System p Unix servers without modification. The new IBM System p Application Virtual Environment technology will allow x86 binaries to run as well without modification, removing the biggest barrier against effective virtualization for some companies. As a result, customers will be able to consolidate dozens, if not hundreds, of servers into one virtual environment."