Power 7: Lots of Cores, Lots of Threads
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

With the global economy still faltering and its biggest i, AIX, and Linux shops putting the brakes on spending not only just because the economy is bad but also because they are starting to think about the future Power7 chips and what they may have to offer, IBM has to do something if it wants to keep Power Systems sales from crashing. In fact, it needs to do two things, and now the company has done both of them. READ MORE >

VMControl: Big Blue Wants to Control All Your VMs and LPARs
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Server virtualization might solve a whole bunch of issues, but it creates a whole bunch of others. Seeing that its systems customers are struggling with multiple and incompatible server virtualization hypervisors and management tools for making use of them, even on IBM's own Power Systems, System z, and System x product lines, Big Blue has decided that it has the answer to making all of these virtual machines and logical partitions behave themselves, which, not coincidentally, is giving it some leverage in the server market and some cash for its coffers, too. READ MORE >

IBM Does More Deals to Move Power Systems Iron
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

IBM's deals to try to stimulate business for its Power Systems product line, and the System p and System i products that preceded them, are a bit like the weather. There is a pattern to them, but it is not quite as predictable as you might like. Just before The Four Hundred took a week of summer vacation at the end of July, Big Blue rolled out a bunch of deals to help resellers and its direct sales force grease the wheels of commerce a bit. READ MORE >

Mad Dog 21/21: Aiming for the Clouds
by Hesh Wiener

Penelope realized it was the long absent Odysseus when the grizzled stranger shot an arrow through a dozen ax handles. The legendary William Tell split the apple on his son's noggin with a crossbow bolt. American Revolutionary Daniel Morgan trained and led the riflemen that beat the Brits at Saratoga and Cowpen. And now Erich Clementi and his boss, Sam Palmisano, are taking belated aim at cloud computing, with particular focus on a market long in the sights of GoDaddy's maniac-in-chief Bob Parsons. IBM is battling in the boardroom with buzzwords. Parsons is nabbing the NOCs with knockers. What a contest! READ MORE >