IBM Power Systems


Power Systems is a family of server computers from IBM that are based on its POWER processors. These accelerated computing servers are built for modern analytics, high-performance computing HPC, and Artificial intelligence. The versions of System Software that are compatible with various Power Systems processors are at this link.

History

IBM had two distinct POWER- and PowerPC-based hardware lines since the early 1990s:
They merged to use essentially the same hardware platform in 2001/2002 with the introduction of the POWER4 processor. After that, there was little difference between both the "p" and the "i" hardware; the only differences were in the software and services offerings. With the introduction of the POWER5 processor in 2004, even the product numbering was synchronized. The System i5 570 was virtually identical to the System p5 570.
In April 2008, IBM officially merged the two lines of servers and workstations under the same name, Power Systems, with identical hardware and a choice of operating systems, software, and service contracts.
In February 2010, IBM announced new models with the new POWER7 microprocessor.

Systems

IBM Power Systems models:
IBM PowerVM provides the virtualisation solution for Power Systems servers.