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IBM Touts Green IT,
Cloud Computing at Web 2.0 Expo
23 Apr 2008
 At Web 2.0 at San
Francisco, IBM touted its vision for "green" IT and cloud computing by
.has introducing an entirely new category of server uniquely designed to
address the technology needs of companies that use Web 2.0-style
computing to operate massive data centers with tens of thousands of
servers.
Companies that operate massive scale-out data centers spend 10 to 30
times more on energy costs per square foot than a typical office
building. The energy powers both hundreds of thousands of servers and
the air conditioning needed to cool them. The exponential growth of such
data centers will continue as streaming video, online gaming and social
networks spike Internet traffic, requiring companies to build ever
vaster pools of computers that devour energy resources to operate 24
hours a day, 7 days a week.
The IBM "iDataPlex"
system is new design that:
- More than doubles the
number of systems that can run in a single IBM rack,
- Uses 40 percent less power
while increasing the amount of computing that can be
done 5X
- Can be outfitted with a
liquid cooled wall on the back of the system that
enables it to run at "room temperature" -- no air
conditioning required,
- Uses all industry standard
components as well as open source software such as
Linux to help lower costs.
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IBM iDataPlex is a
new rack system featuring design innovations in cooling and efficiency
that can help replace the inefficient "white-box" servers commonly used
by Internet companies. As consumers demand richer content and more
immediate access to Web-based applications, iDataPlex can allow online
gaming, social network, Search and Internet companies to scale rapidly
to meet this need. The system will further IBM's ability to meet the
requirements of what WinterGreen Research calls a $10 billion market.
 Thermal
imaging shows how hot (red) a server rack can run compared to a
liquid-cooled (blue) iDataPlex server rack.
"Enterprise Web 2.0 and the emerging Cloud Computing sectors are among
the top high growth investment areas for Hummer Winblad," said Ann
Winblad, co-founder and a managing director of Hummer Winblad Venture
Partners, an investor in enterprise Web 2.0 and Cloud Computing startups
like Widgetbox, Sliderocket, Wavemaker, Elastra and Move Networks. "iDataPlex
will help to fuel this growth by erasing some of the inhibitors holding
Web 2.0 back -- namely the amount of space and energy required to serve
content to more and more end users."
Taking a page from the Internet's model, iDataPlex is built for
stateless computing that effectively turns many separate computers into
a pool of shared resources or "cloud."
"With iDataPlex, IBM is making Web 2.0-style computing more efficient
and commercializing it for Internet companies and other high performance
segments like financial services and research," said Bill Zeitler,
senior vice president of IBM Systems and Technology Group. "iDataPlex
can provide a foundation that companies can build on to provide improved
services to Web users around the world."
iDataplex will be an important element in helping clients develop a new
enterprise data center, which offers dramatic improvements in IT
efficiency and provides for rapid deployment of new IT services to
support future business growth. IBM is helping clients move to new
enterprise data centers by focusing on best practices around
virtualization, green IT, service management and cloud computing.
Each iDataPlex system can be made to order and arrive to the client
integrated and ready to run from the factory. This unique delivery model
also helps to keep the cost of iDataPlex well below that of a comparable
number of "white box" systems.
IBM will deliver the iDataPlex system to clients globally. Among early
clients who have adopted or are actively considering iDataPlex are Web
2.0 companies and other organizations from China, Germany, Japan, the
United Kingdom and the United States, including:
- "Yahoo! relies on
ingenuity and technology to reduce our dependence
upon energy. Many of our data centers utilize 'green
energy' such as passive cooling to reduce our
impact," said Laurie Mann, Senior Vice President of
Engineering and Operations, Yahoo!. "We continue to
look for ways to maximize our resources. Yahoo!
appreciates the direction IBM is moving in with
iDataPlex and its commitment to drive greater power
efficiency and density in the datacenter."
- Texas Tech University, a
major research university, law school and graduate
school with 28,200 students. "The Internet-style
computing model iDataPlex is based on is just as
attractive to the Texas Tech University High
Performance Computing Center because, like Web 2.0
companies, we need to scale rapidly to support an
ever increasing demand for high performance
computing," said Sam Segran, CIO, Texas Tech
University. "With iDataPlex, Texas Tech will be able
to operate more efficiently while meeting the needs
of our researchers."
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As part of IBM's
"Blue Cloud" initiative, iDataPlex helps companies respond quickly to
changes in workload demand, thus using energy more efficiently and
improving the use of resources like power.
iDataPlex provides an ideal foundation for both enterprise cloud
computing initiatives and clouds designed to host Web 2.0 applications.
Start-ups such as virtual-worlds company Forterra Systems are accessing
an iDataPlex system in the IBM High Performance On Demand Solutions (HiPODS)
lab in San Jose, California to test their applications in an IBM Cloud
Center running on iDataPlex.
"Like many start-ups, technology really is our core business in that
Forterra's applications and business model rely on our technology
infrastructure for success," said Dave Rolston, CEO, Forterra Systems. "iDataPlex
provides the flexibility we're looking for to run our OLIVE -- or
On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment -- platform together with
breakthrough power and cooling efficiencies that we can pass on to our
customers in the form of higher returns and faster payback."
IBM also plans to use iDataplex in its IBM Cloud Computing Centers in
other locations such as the IBM Cloud Computing Center at Dublin and at
the IBM Almaden Research Center.
iDataPlex is the latest element in IBM's portfolio of offerings for the
Web 2.0 data center market, including:
- Blue Cloud, an IBM
initiative for cloud research and collaboration,
pilots and solutions development with commercial and
government clients as well as Universities and high
performance computing institutions.
- XIV storage technology,
acquired by IBM to address emerging storage
opportunities like archiving digital media. The XIV
NEXTRA architecture is ideally suited to work with
iDataPlex because it allows rapid growth
environments to more easily manage assets while
being energy efficient.
- IBM Global Financing, the
lending and leasing business segment of IBM, will
provide a holistic solution to help Web 2.0
companies access the new iDataPlex servers. IBM
Global Financing will manage the removal and safe
disposal of customers' existing equipment and
provide attractive and competitive lease rates for
the new equipment.
- IBM services for
datacenter design. IBM uses thermal imaging and
analysis to pre-test different datacenter designs.
For example, IBM used thermal analysis to test and
create five different "green" configurations that
deliver optimal efficiency to clients deploying
iDataPlex in the datacenter.
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Similar to its
strategy to foster an ecosystem of third party technologies that work
with IBM BladeCenter, IBM will team with vendors including Avocent,
Blade Network Technology, Devon IT, Force 10 Networks, Intel, QLogic and
SMC Networks to drive a product ecosystem around iDataPlex. Blade
Network Technologies, for example, built its new RackSwitch G8000
Ethernet switch -- optimized for cost and efficient cooling --
specifically for iDataPlex.
"Web 2.0 companies will drive computing demand to a whole new level as
we move from the Web as we knew it to the Web of the future. That's why
Intel has been excited to be a part of the iDataPlex project from the
beginning," said Jason Waxman, general manager of high density computing
at Intel. "Collaborating with Intel, IBM took a different approach to
design iDataPlex from the ground up to meet the needs of this unique
market. iDataPlex is a tremendous step forward in delivering efficient,
dense technology to Web 2.0 companies." 
In addition, the Linux operating system from IBM distribution partners
Novell and Red Hat will be supported on iDataPlex as will the open
source, scale-out cluster management solution xCat. iDataPlex is the
latest IBM offering that embraces Linux, which is the preferred
operating system for many Web 2.0 environments, as well as companies
embracing Linux for business-critical workloads. It also addresses
customers concerns about energy consumption, which is a goal of IBM's
"Big Green Linux" initiative.
iDataPlex is a natural complement to IBM's software initiatives in
social networking, unified messaging and information integration,
allowing Web 2.0 companies to offer open, secure and standards-based
solutions to their customers. IBM is also applying the latest Web 2.0
technologies internally to improve its own enterprise productivity,
collaboration and innovation, and to drive measurable business results
globally.
iDataPlex will be available in the US and Canada in June and globally by
the end of the year. |
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