A Publication of iSeries 400 Experts Total Information Service

The line sharpens between iSeries and pSeries platforms

      On October 15, 2004, IBM announced the p5 Models 590 and 595 — whereas the i5 Model 595 was the only Model 59x to be announced for the iSeries product line. Then, on November 8, 2004, Big Blue previewed that a p5 Model 575 will be announced in Q1 2005 (in addition to the existing p5 Model 570). Where these two platforms once mirrored each other, now disparity exists.

      In response to these announcements, iSeries customers began to wonder why the latest line of iSeries and pSeries models are not matching up as expected. Without an iSeries Model 590 or Model 575 in the works, the question remains: Why isn’t the iSeries i5 line of servers as vast as the pSeries p5 line of servers? Market analysts have varying opinions on this matter.

      “This is the big $64 million question. I think that IBM is handling this iSeries and pSeries issue wrong — what they are doing won’t help the iSeries long term. Both platforms sit on the same hardware platform, and the only difference is the software stacks. Because of these somewhat artificial distinctions between the platforms, we here at the Sageza Group believe that what IBM is doing will lead to questions like these,” says Joyce Becknell, research director, Sageza Group, Milan, Italy.

      She goes on to say that the questions left in customers’ minds will ultimately cause confusion over which platform to buy. “In reality, there are two very different things going on with these platforms. pSeries customers want to build their own server, and iSeries customers are worried about having an integrated, stable, solid environment. IBM has the software stacks to fulfill both of those needs; they just have to target the users who have those particular workloads,” says Becknell.

      Reaching users through powerful marketing is the answer, according to Becknell. “All of this does not mean that the iSeires is being ignored or is under-loved; it is purely a marketing strategy. IBM knows that these kinds of questions are being asked about the iSeries and pSeries, and their response is that it is part of the evolution of how they are packaging the Power 5 servers. IBM is working on how they are releasing this to the market, clearing the confusion, and how they are going to get the iSeries out of its marketing rut for 2005. The proof is Peter Bingaman [the newly appointed vice president of iSeries product marketing] and his team,” says Becknell.

Not enough market demand

      Transitioning from a marketing standpoint into more of a technical standpoint, another market analyst argues that the additional pSeries p5 models are the direct result of demand in the marketplace.

      “The p5 Model 575 is a symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) cluster node for high-performance Unix and Linux applications. It can be easily cut up into parallel tasks that can operate concurrently. The applications in that type of node/cluster are used in the scientific and/or research areas. There just isn’t a market for those clusters to be built around an i5/OS environment,” says Ian Brown, research director, Gartner Consulting Group, London, UK.

      When referring to the differences between the p5 Model 590 and the i5 Model 595, Brown believes that since IBM only sells a handful of the high-end iSeries boxes each year, and because the i5 Model 595 is extremely scalable, it was not worth constructing more than one product. “The iSeries platform took the middle ground. The i5 Model 595 begins with an 8-way and configures up from there. It is simply a matter of practicality — there was really only the need for one machine,” says Brown.

      Insider sources close to IBM contend that Big Blue announced a pSeries Model 590 and not the iSeries because the pSeries is using two different boxes (and model numbers) for the same amount of processors that one i5 Model 595 holds. For example, the pSeries Model 590 only spans up from an 8-way to a 32-way, whereas the pSeries Model 595 spans from a 16-way up to a 64-way.

Too much demand on production

      Another market analyst doesn’t see this disparity as much more than chip production constraints. “It is just a matter of how IBM is doing business with their product lines. Now that there are multiple product lines sharing the Power 5 chip, IBM is experiencing a heavy demand for the chip. There has to be enough chip volume to support their Power 5 servers, and there is just more demand from the pSeries, so IBM focused more heavily on those products,” says Steve Josselyn, research director, IDC, Framingham, MA.

      Whether due to marketing, market demand, or manufacturing constraints, the iSeries line is no longer a symmetrical match to the pSeries line. What does this mean? Only time will tell. For more information about the p5 Model 575, see IBM announcement letter #104-416, dated November 8, 2004. For more information about the p5 Model 590 and 595, see IBM announcement letter #104-418, dated November 9, 2004.