IBM Debuts New xSeries Servers, Tweaks Summit Models

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

IBM has announced two new xSeries servers using "Prestonia" Pentium and 4 Xeon DP processors and has refreshed its existing "Summit" xSeries 360 server to include new "Foster" Pentium 4 Xeon MP processor points and other new features. The new machines are part of IBM's ongoing efforts to meet or beat rivals Dell and Hewlett-Packard in the entry Wintel and Lintel server market. These two vendors are the volume leaders in the two-way capable Intel server market, and IBM wants to steal some business.

The xSeries 235 server is a two-way server that offers Xeon DP processors running at 1.8 GHz, 2 GHz, 2.2 GHz, and 2.4 GHz. The machine uses 1 GB memory DIMMs and a total capacity of 6 GB, but within a few months IBM will start shipping 2 GB DIMMs and the maximum memory on the machines will double to 12 GB. The xSeries 235 is a 5U tower server that can optionally be configured for racks. It comes with 256 MB or 512 MB of base memory, and has room for a maximum of 660 GB of disk capacity. The machine has an integrated Ultra320 SCSI disk controller, two hot plug PCI-X slots, three 64-bit PCI slots, and one 32-bit PCI slot. A base xSeries 235 with a single 1.8 GHz Xeon DP processor with 512 KB of cache and 256 MB of main memory costs $2,849. A model using the fastest 2.4 GHz Xeon DP processor and 512 MB of main memory costs $3,849.

The xSeries 255 is an alternative to IBM's four-way Summit xSeries 360 and xSeries 440 machine, and uses ServerWorks' Grand Champion 4 HE chipset. (I suspect that the xSeries 235 uses a ServerWorks chipset as well, but IBM isn't saying.) The xSeries 255 offers from one-way to four-way symmetric multiprocessing using the Xeon MP processors, which are available in this box at 1.4 GHz, 1.5 GHz, and 1.6 GHz. A base machine comes with either 512 MB or 1 GB of ECC DDR memory and up to 12 GB of main memory. The xSeries 255 has a dual-channel Ultra160 disk controller and has room for up to 880 GB of disk storage in its 7U rack-mounted chassis. The machine has six PCI-X slots, and offers chipkill and hot spare memory, which is a feature of the Grand Champion chipset. The base xSeries 255 tower model with a 1.4 GHz Xeon MP with 512 KB of L3 cache and 512 MB of main memory sells for $7,199; a rack version of this machine sells for $7,549. An xSeries 255 with the 1.6 GHz Xeon MP processor with 1 MB of L3 cache and 1GB of main memory sells for $11,139; the rack version costs $11,369.

There are three new models of the xSeries 360 Summit server, which has been equipped with a new memory controller and system BIOS that IBM says boosts system performance compared to the prior xSeries 360s, which made their debut late last year. The new xSeries 360s support the Xeon MP processors running at 1.4 GHz, 1.5 GHz, and 1.6 GHz and from 1 GB or 2 GB (depending on the model) to a maximum of 8 GB of main memory. Six PCI-X slots, a 10/100 Mbit Ethernet link, and an Ultra160 SCSI disk controller are standard on the xSeries 360 motherboard. The 3U rack-mounted form factor of the xSeries 360 supports up to 220 GB of internal disk capacity. The base xSeries 360 with a single 1.4 GHz Xeon MP processor and 1 GB of main memory sells for $7,299. With two 1.5 GHz Xeon MPs and 2 GB of memory, the xSeries 360 costs $12,929. A machine with two 1.6 GHz Xeon MPs and 2 GB of main memory costs $18,309.

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