The new IBM Power 780 server (9179-MHD) uses the latest POWER7+ processor and the next-generation I/O technology to deliver unprecedented performance, scalability, reliability, and manageability for demanding commercial workloads.
The innovative Power 780 model MHD server is a symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), rack-mounted server. This modular system uses one to four enclosures that are four EIA units tall and housed in a 19-inch rack. Each enclosure contains four powerful POWER7+ processors and high density memory DIMMs using 4Gb technology. IBM continues to use a high-performance PCIe Gen2, I/O backplane introduced with model MHC.
The new POWER7+ processors are designed as single chip modules (SCMs), each with 64-bit architecture. L3 cache on POWER7+ 780 processor chips has been increased 2.5X compared to previous POWER7® processor chips. Each POWER7+ SCM enables either four or eight active processor cores with up to 10 MB per core of L3 cache and 256 KB per core of L2 cache. Power 780 systems are available at frequencies of 3.72 GHz with 128 cores, or 4.42 GHz with 64 cores. This new model server is available with as few as four active cores and incrementing one core at a time through built-in Capacity on Demand (CoD) functions to the full capacity of the system.
New high-density memory DIMMs using 4 Gb technology are now available for the Power 780 model MHD. This includes new memory DIMMs for 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB DDR3 memory features. Existing memory features are supported for model upgrades.
The EXP30 Ultra SSD I/O Drawer (#EDR1) gives the Power 770+ and Power 780+ up to 30 solid state drives (SSDs) in just 1U of rack space without PCIe slots. The drawer provides up to 480,000 IOPS and up to 12.6 TB of capacity for AIX® or Linux™ clients. Up to 48 additional HDDs can be directly attached to the Ultra Drawer (still without using any PCIe slots), enabling up to 43.2 TB additional capacity in only 4U additional rack space for AIX clients. This ultradense SSD option is attached to the 770+ or 780+ using a new GX++ 2-port, PCIe2 x8 Adapter (#1914).
POWER7+ processor chips imbed new hardware accelerators for AIX memory expansion and AIX Encrypted File System and IPSec network security protocol. This can offload work from processor cores from doing these tasks and improve performance of those functions. Combined with the increased POWER7+ clock speeds this helps Power Systems be a continued workhorse for critical workloads. Applications may run faster and be more responsive, which may result in competitive advantages and higher customer satisfaction.
The POWER7+ hardware accelerator for Active Memory Expansion delivers 25% higher levels of memory expansion than available with POWER7 processor chips. While POWER7 systems offer up to 100% memory expansion which can effectively double the server's maximum memory, POWER7+ servers offer up to 125% memory expansion for AIX partitions. Thus, a system memory maximum of 4 TB could effectively become 9 TB effective memory capacity.
A new firmware feature called Dynamic Platform Optimizer is available on both Power 770 model MMD and Power 780 model MHD. This feature monitors processor and memory affinity and adjusts workload placement to optimize performance in a virtualized consolidated environment.
As part of the IBM commitment to delivering the most flexible and resilient Power high-end systems, all new Power 780 (9179-MHD) and 795 servers come standard with a specific number of Elastic On/Off CoD processor and memory days depending on the configuration of the system at initial ship or upgrade time. For every new Power 780 or 795, 15 Elastic CoD On/Off processor days and 240 GB memory days will be included at no charge for every processor core initially shipped with the system. These Elastic CoD On/Off processor and memory days must be used in accordance with the Temporary Capacity on Demand terms and conditions.
The new Power Systems Pools offering is a multisystem IBM Power 780 and 795 infrastructure offering designed to enable a highly resilient and flexible IT environment in support of large-scale server consolidation and your most demanding business application requirements. Power Systems Pools allows for the aggregation of On/Off and Elastic CoD compute resources, including processors and memory, across a number of Power 780 and 795 servers. It delivers greater flexibility to respond to critical application workload requirements as well as to enhance the availability of your applications.
As part of the offering, those Power 780 and 795 servers that participate in an IBM Power Systems Pools environment are provided with regularly planned maintenance events (up to eight in a calendar year) that enables you to turn on inactive processors and memory in another participating system in the pool in the event that a system may need to be brought down for some type of maintenance occurrence. In addition, all On/Off and Elastic CoD processor and memory days, including those that now come standard with all new Power 780 and 795 servers, can be accumulated and managed at a pool level to effectively and efficiently manage and balance application workload peak requirements. Power Systems Pools can consist of up to 10 Power 780 or Power 795 systems to support large-scale application, database, and infrastructure requirements.
New to both Power 780 model MHD and Power 795 model FHB are 90-day temporary On/Off CoD processor and memory enablement features. These features enable a system to temporarily activate all inactive processor and memory CoD resources for a maximum of 90 days before you must order another temporary On/Off enablement feature number. Also new for Power 780 model MHD are high-density memory DIMMs that use 4 Gb technology. These memory DIMMs are for 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB DDR3 memory features. This enables a new 256 GB DDR3 memory feature increase the model FHB maximum memory capacity from 8 TB to 16 TB. IBM continues to offer the 32 GB, 2 Gb memory feature.
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