IBM Announces POWER5 Server Designed for Entry-Level Unix Segment

New Slim Form Factor, Priced Under $4,000, Delivers Greater Performance Than Sun and HP

Armonk, NY, 02/08/2005, IBM today announced it will offer the latest in a new series of aggressively priced IBM POWER5™ processor-based servers. The new IBM eServer™ p5 510 is designed to bring impressive POWER5 performance and advanced virtualization capabilities to an entry level UNIX® and Linux® server, making POWER5 affordable for every small and medium business.

The IBM eServer p5 510 delivers AIX 5L™ V5.3 functionality to a new level in the marketplace. Never before has IBM offered such an advanced eServer p5 system to the UNIX marketplace at a starting price under $4,000. The p5-510 is offered standard with a three-year warranty, further lowering the long-term cost of owning the widely-acclaimed p5 server.

Unlike IBM’s competitors, this low-end server is available with high-end feature options such as advanced virtualization. The compact p5-510 is capable of leveraging optional IBM Virtualization Engine technology and Micro-Partitioning™ capabilities to allow clients at the server market’s entry-point to support UNIX and Linux applications simultaneously -- with stunning performance characteristics across operating systems.

“With the introduction of the p5-510, IBM is taking advanced AIX 5L and POWER5 technology and making them available in an aggressively priced entry-level system,” said Karl Freund, vice president, IBM eServer pSeries®. “IBM’s commitment to capture the growing opportunity in high-volume and channel-based UNIX server sales takes a great leap forward with the introduction of this innovative server.”

The system’s slim form factor, innovative design features and system flexibility combine to provide a system unmatched by HP and Sun -- with superior performance to comparable offerings:

-- Performs 1.79X better than the Sun Fire V240 on integer(1)
-- Performs 1.46X better than the Sun Fire V240 on floating-point(1)
-- Performs 2.3X better than the Sun Fire V250 on NFS file serving(2)
-- Performs 1.1X better than the HP rx2600 in Java Virtual Machine serving(3)

The IBM eServer p5 510 is a one- to two-way rack-mount system that supports AIX 5L Versions 5.2 and 5.3 as well as Linux operating systems. Unique IBM technologies such as mainframe-inspired IBM Virtualization Engine™ and Micro-Partitioning capabilities offer scalability and applications management options for companies looking to run business-critical and replicated branch applications in retail, wholesale, distribution, financial services and healthcare organizations that support remote stores, branches, regional offices or kiosks.
IBM’s 64-bit POWER5 processor-based servers are increasingly becoming the system of choice across the industry -- for clients with multiple locations, clients and Independent Service Providers (ISVs) to business partners, value-added resellers (VARs) and distributors.

New Server Powers Core Banking Systems for TEMENOS Group AG

Founded in 1993, TEMENOS Group AG is a provider of integrated core banking systems software to over 300 financial institutions worldwide.

“The banking industry demands that their applications run with excellent performance in a highly secure environment,” said Mark Gunning, General Manager, Temenos North America. “With Temenos applications running on IBM’s POWER-based p5-510 systems, we’re offering customers, small and large, a robust 64-bit platform that will help to advance banking solutions substantially with new levels of speed, performance and functionality.”

Advanced Systems Group, IBM Premier Business Partner

Advanced Systems Group is an IBM Premier Business Partner in Southern California that offers a broad range of business solutions including enterprise application infrastructure, data archive/protection and e-business; all based on state-of-the-art IBM hardware and middleware backed by their own professional services.

“We’re looking forward to adding the p5-510 to our growing list of reliable, scalable and secure IBM eServer p5 servers that come in a variety of sizes to fit the needs of our varied customer base -- from small- and medium-sized businesses to large enterprises,” said David Browning, Executive VP of Advanced Systems Group. “This new entry-level 64-bit POWER5 system with virtualization options will allow us to offer our customers an attractively priced platform with greater performance and more capabilities in a smaller footprint then that of other UNIX competitors.”

Agilysys Inc., IBM Distributor

Agilysys Inc. is a leading distributor and one of the largest solution providers of enterprise computer products, computer system solutions and services.

“We’re excited to see IBM extend its flagship line of UNIX systems in a 1- to 2-way POWER5 server,” said Bruce Slaven, Director of Product Marketing, Agilysys Inc. “The form factor, power and precision of these low-cost, high-performance systems is attractive to our customer base and is sure to help us meet our high-volume sales objective.”

IBM eServer p5 510 Express

The new system will also be offered as a part of IBM’s Express program -- joining a rapidly expanding portfolio of Express server, storage and software solutions -- representing a comprehensive set of products for the specific needs of mid-sized clients. IBM Express solution offerings are powered by IBM systems with IBM TotalStorage, running IBM middleware and ISV applications, backed by the largest network of IBM Business Partners, IBM Global Financing and Global Services.

Pricing and Availability

IBM plans to make the IBM eServer p5 510 and the 1-way p5-510 Express available on February 18, 2005. The 2-way 1.5 GHz p5-510 Express is planned to be available in April 2005. The system will be available in a 1- to 2-way rack with maximum memory of 32GB. The p5-510 supports AIX 5L Version 5.2 and 5.3, Novell SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9 (SLES 9), and Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 3 (RHEL AS 3). The p5-510 will have a starting price of $3967 (excluding operating system) and includes a 1.5 GHz POWER5 processor, 512MB memory, 1 73.4GB 10K rpm disk drive, and three-year warranty.

About IBM

IBM is the world’s largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key IBM Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable clients, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com.

Statements of IBM’s future intent are subject to change without notice.

Prices based on U.S. list price. Reseller prices may vary.

Source: www.spec.org

All IBM SPEC results to be submitted on February 7, 2005. All competitive results current as of February 3, 2005.

1. Based on the 2-way 1.65 GHz IBM eServer p5 510 SPECint_rate2000 result of 33 vs. the 2-way 1.503 GHz Sun Fire V240 SPECint_rate2000 result of 18.4 and the 2-way 1.65 GHz IBM eServer p5 510 SPECfp_rate2000 result of 43.2 vs. the 2-way 1.503 GHz Sun Fire V240 SPECfp_rate2000 result of 29.4

2. Based on the 2-way 1.65 GHz IBM eServer p5 510 SPECsfs97_R1.v3 result of 42,033 operations per second vs. the 2-way 1.28 GHz Sun Fire V250 SPECsfs97_R1.v3 result of 17,613 operations per second

3. Based on the 2-way 1.5 GHz IBM eServer p5 510 SPECjbb2001 result of 68,029 operations per second vs. the 2-way 1.5 GHz HP rx2600 SPECjbb2001 result of 61,617 operations per second

SPECjbb®, SPECfp® and SPECsfs® are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC).

IBM, the IBM logo, eServer, AIX 5L, IBM Virtualization Engine, i5/OS, Micro-Partitioning, POWER5 and pSeries are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States or other countries or both. See www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries or both.

UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries.

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Kevin Acocella

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IBM Corporation

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