Enhancing Capabilities of the IBM eX5 Portfolio with the Latest Technologies

The IBM® eX5 product portfolio represents the fifth generation of servers built upon IBM Enterprise X-Architecture®. The servers in the eX5 product portfolio are based on Intel Xeon processor E7-8800/4800/2800 product families. These systems are the ideal choice for mission-critical environments supporting high performance databases, enterprise applications, and virtualized workloads.

The eX5 servers feature unique processor, memory, and I/O scaling capabilities, enabling them to handle the most resource demanding enterprise workloads. Built-in advanced reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) features allow IBM eX5 servers to run core mission-critical business services that require 24 hours per day, 7 days per week (24x7) availability.

In keeping with its leadership position of providing continuous technology improvement and innovation, IBM refreshes and enhances eX5 offerings by adding support for the most up-to-date technologies.

This IBM Redpaper™ publication describes enhancements in capabilities of the IBM eX5 portfolio with support for these latest hardware and software technologies.

This publication is intended for IT professionals who are involved in the planning and design of the x86-based virtualization, database, and enterprise application solutions.

* Executive summary
* IBM eX5 portfolio overview
* Latest benchmarks
* Microsoft Windows Server 2012
* VMware vSphere 5.1
* IBM eXFlash
* Workload optimized models
* 16 Gb Fibre Channel connectivity
* IBM flash storage offerings
* Conclusion

Related product families

Product families related to this document are the following:

• 4-Socket Rack Servers
• Mission Critical Servers