Chapter 1. Introduction - IBM System x3850 X5 Implementation Manual

Introduction
Chapter 1.
The IBM eX5 product portfolio represents the fifth generation of servers built upon Enterprise
X-Architecture. Enterprise X-Architecture is the culmination of bringing generations of IBM
technology and innovation derived from our experience in high-end enterprise servers. Now
with eX5, IBM scalable systems technology for Intel processor-based servers has also been
delivered to blades. These servers can be expanded on demand and configured by using a
building block approach that optimizes system design servers for your workload
requirements.
As a part of the IBM Smarter Planet™ initiative, our Dynamic Infrastructure® charter guides
us to provide servers that improve service, reduce cost, and manage risk. These servers
scale to more CPU cores, memory, and I/O than previous systems, enabling them to handle
greater workloads than the systems they supersede. Power efficiency and machine density
are optimized, making them affordable to own and operate.
The ability to increase the memory capacity independently of the processors means that
these systems can be highly utilized, yielding the best return from your application
investment. These systems allow your enterprise to grow in processing, I/O, and memory
dimensions, so that you can provision what you need now, and expand the system to meet
future requirements. System redundancy and availability technologies are more advanced
than the technologies that were previously available in the x86 systems.
This chapter contains the following topics:
1.1, "eX5 systems" on page 2
1.2, "Model summary" on page 3
1.3, "Positioning" on page 7
1.4, "Energy efficiency" on page 10
1.5, "Services offerings" on page 11
1.6, "What this book contains" on page 11
© Copyright IBM Corp. 2011. All rights reserved.
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