POWER5 i5 Systems from IBM Are Here IBM introduced the eServer i5 at COMMON on May 4th. The new i5 is the first system to be powered by IBM's new POWER5 microprocessors. Running i5/OS, the next generation of OS/400, the new eServer i5 systems provide businesses with unprecedented power, flexibility and cost benefits. Powered by POWER5 microprocessors, the 9th generation of 64-bit architecture used in the iSeries family, these are the most powerful 64-bit chips ever built by IBM. The IBM eServer i5 can integrate and run multiple operating systems simultaneously including i5/OS, Windows, Linux and AIX 5L. The eServer i5 has the ability to run AIX 5L alongside i5/OS to consolidate and manage UNIX solutions. The i5 and the soon to be announced pSeries POWER5 servers (look for them to be called p5) are the first iSeries and pSeries to be developed jointly. This brings together a 10 year investment in common platform development plans for the two servers. Look for joint announcements from the two server groups in the future. IBM's new Virtualization Engine technology embedded in the new eServer i5 systems, extend and enhance iSeries virtualization capabilities such as logical partitioning (LPAR). The IBM Virtualization Engine is a set of technologies and services that help customers simplify and optimize their IT infrastructure and improve the economics and operations of under-used servers. The Hardware Management Console, an idea borrowed from the pSeries, is a pre-installed Linux workstation that enables Web based local or remote system management. The HMC replaces the primary partition in a LPAR configuration, improving system resiliency. If for some reason the HMC goes down, the system stays up. This is a huge improvement over the original primary partition architecture. Businesses using the eServer i5 can average up to 40% improvement in system price/performance over previous iSeries systems with comparable prices to UNIX-based systems for memory, disk and server components. IBM is attempting to bring the pricing of the iSeries in line with competition. The eServer i5 model 520 is available in either a rack-mount version or a desk-side model. The eServer i5 520 is packaged in a new Express Edition starting at $9,995 for small and medium-sized enterprises. These prepackaged offerings are built on the eServer i5 520 Value Edition, which includes i5/OS. The 520 Value Edition, Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition provide additional flexible, scalable configurations to meet your needs. This is the iSeries first serious effort at edition packaging. If this is successful you can expect more edition offerings in the future. The strong low-end Express Edition is priced to attract new customers to the iSeries server. The eServer i5 570 system introduces unprecedented on-demand capabilities for mid-sized enterprises and is available starting at $85,200. An upgradeable, industry standard rack-optimized building block architecture helps support balanced growth from 1-way to 4-way servers. Extending the model 570 to a 16-way server is planned to be available in the second half of 2004. i5/OS V5R3 is the next generation of OS/400. It runs on IBM iSeries servers and AS/400 Models 7xx, 8xx, 170, 250, 270, and the IBM eServer i5 Models 520 and 570. WebSphere Application Server Express for iSeries is now integrated and shipped with all i5/OS. The IBM eServer i5 and i5/OS will be available on June 11, 2004.