IBM X3, 'Hurricane' Storm the Enterprise
Three years and one hundred-million dollars later, IBM has introduced its eServer X3 architecture servicing Intel Xeon processor-based servers with support for Intel's newest dual core 64-bit processor.
X3, with its "Hurricane" chip, is the third generation of Big Blue's Enterprise X-Architecture and increases four-way performance by 38 percent over the previous generation. The resulting xSeries servers are designed to support 64-bit and 32-bit applications simultaneously, letting enterprises gradually migrate to 64-bit on a need only basis.
Deciding to be somewhat less conventional in its design, IBM turned to its mainframe prowess. Hurricane -- more specifically known as the XA-64e chipset -- reduces memory latency, improves response time and overall system performance with an integrated processor and memory controller.
IBM's Virtual XceL4v Dynamic Server Cache has produces latency so low that L4 cache was not included in the design.
Other technical aspects of the chipset include: Embedded DRAM with an integrated snoop filter and remote directory; Active PCI-X 2.0 up to 266 MHz; DDR2-based memory support and three scalability ports connected to the I/O hub, each maxing out at 6.4 GB/s.
IBM also dropped in its Virtualization Engine technology to optimize server consolidation and provide better enterprise application performance. The company's claims of a 38 percent increase in performance were benchmarked using 64GB of memory and recorded using the TPC-C performance scale.
"The new xSeries product family based on X3 draws from our mainframe expertise and provides unprecedented benefits for customers seeking the most sophisticated capabilities and performance from their software applications," said Susan Whitney, general manager for eServer xSeries, IBM Systems and Technology Group.
A wide scale roll out of the IBM eServer xSeries 366 server will occur within the next 90 days, synchronized with the release of new 64-bit operating systems from Microsoft, Red Hat and Novell. Pricing for the x366 begins at $6,999 USD and is subject to the terms of IBM's pay–as-you-go server family "investment protection" model.