It has been a little while since I shared some thoughts about moving from RISC due to a 3 month assignment managing the Nehalem-EX product line. One word describes that product, ‘wow’, and the change it will bring to the IT marketplace as we know it. But I’m not here to talk about that….

David Bowie was certainly introspective when he wrote his “Changes” song about his need to constantly look at oneself, previous decisions and the need for frequent reinvention and change. The sentiments reflected within “Changes” can be applied to all aspects of life both personal and business. Reflecting on previous business decisions and looking for newer and better ways to do things should not be seen as the previous decision being wrong, but rather should be rewarded as looking to change and do things better based upon the environment today.

Previous business decisions to deploy your IT solutions on RISC based architectures was most likely the right decision at the time based on the business need, the solutions availability and the architecture available to run that solution.  Some of these solutions are likely due for an upgrade due to changing business needs, a better version of the application now being available or have become to expensive to maintain and support on older server system. It is time to make a change and change is likely to include upgrading to next generation of software solution and choosing a new server system that will perform and work with the software solution.

With the rapid pace of technology innovation and evolution over the last number of years, the decision is not necessarily as clear cut as it may have been in the past.

What I wanted to share with you was some information around how Intel’s Xeon microprocessor has evolved and can now compete with the POWER architecture offered from IBM.  Some of you may say that this is not possible, but Xeon 5500 is getting some attention as shown with information posted on IBM website

Price/performance is a key consideration for database workloads and $ / tpmC is pretty widely accepted as a good rule of thumb. Its good to see that the IBM System x3950M2 (based on the Xeon 7400 processor) has a $1.99 $ / tpmC compared to IBM Power P570  $3.54 $ / tpmC;-)

Xeon 5500 has a performance per socket leadership against a similar class POWER 6 2S system. This can be seen by comparing results at www.spec.orgfor benchmarks such as SPECJbb2005, SPECint-rate 2006 etc. IBM makes reference to performance per core leadership over the Xeon 5500. A fair statement, but most customers look at overall system level performance to do the require task. I guess my key takeaway is that if you are looking for a solution to run infrastructure type workloads and get the best bang for your buck then the Xeon 5500 delivers best price/performance

There is also some interesting discussion around scalability of Xeon Vs POWER6. Xeon 5500 is used in 2 socket configurations, and not in scalable systems. So it seems to be a little like comparing apples to oranges!. Scalable Xeon platforms are available in the market today from both IBM and Unisys. There are also 15+ designs for scalable platforms from 8 OEMs coming with Intel’s next generation scalable Xeon product, Nehalem-EX.  Some good material was shared recently at Intel’s Developer Forum in San Francisco. Look for Mission Critical Server Deployment class at https://intel.wingateweb.com/us09/scheduler/catalog/catalog.jspThis material provides a good overview about how Nehalem-EX provides supportfor high-end computing with a scalable micro architecture, advanced RAS capabilities and how Redhat will support Nehalem-EX scalability. This presentation also shows an example of the innovation of NEC who are developing mission critical Linux solutions based on NEC’s Scalable architecture using Intel Xeon processors.

So is it the time for you to change?. Are existing options like the Xeon 5500 or the Xeon 7400 the right choice for you? Nehalem-EX is coming and I believe will bring a huge change to the marketplace as we know it today.

What do you think?

The webinar the Red Hat - Intel team delivered on Sep 23rd is now available for download for those who missed listening in real time.

96% of the webinar guests thought the content was good or better,

91% of the guests thought the content met expectation, and

in general, the audience has requested more of technical "how to's" of UNIX/ RISC to RHEL/ Intel migration.

Enjoy...

Here is another happy customer, YPF Gas, successfully reducing cost by migrating Oracle, SAP, and other workload from multiple proprietary UNIX environments to open, industry standard-based.  The choice was Red Hat Enterprise Linux with virtualization, running on Intel Xeon processor-based servers.  We can see from the number of times the word “cost” is used in also published press release, it is the major challenge for IT mangers and we have solution for it.  YPF Gas declares “now, more than 80 percent of (our) Oracle databases and 90 percent of (our) SAP applications run on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 with integrated virtualization on Intel Xeon processor-based servers…” 

Also, don’t forget to register and participate in the Red Hat-Intel joint webinar, How and When to Migrate to Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Intel Xeon processors, tomorrow at 2pm eastern. 

How do I migrate my solution from RISC to x86 architecture is one of the questions that I get asked a lot these days. It is a very fair question to ask as it is only human nature to want some level of comfort when planning a transition.

There are multiple different paths available to migrate solutions and there are numerous different variables which need to be considered. There is no 'one-size fits all' approach to migration. Factors such as operating system environment, type of workload, whether packaged application and the level of custom code in your solution all come into play when trying to plan out your migration.

So, without writing 'war and peace' (an extremely long novel) I just wanted to share some perspectives and point to some resources in that jungle of resources that might help you navigate your way through a solution migration

Firstly, if your solution is an off the shelf application then moving it from one architecture type to another is a straight forward  porting and recompile process. Contrary to some popular beliefs there is not a whole separate set of application vendors and titles where the applications just run on Unix/RISC combination. Most application vendors have made their products available on multiple different operating systems that run on multiple different architectures. Unfortunately there is no master index or website out there that I have come across that would simplify the process of seeing who supports what application on what operating and what architecture. (let me know if there is something like this). Unfortunately it is a hard grind and requires a visit to each application vendors website to ensure that their application that is part of your solution is supported on your choice of operating system and your server platform of choice.

Luckily, it is not all doom and gloom and hard work. One very useful site around Solaris is the tool on SUN Microsystems website that allows you to check what applications  run on Solaris sparc or Solaris x86.http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/apps/

The last I checked over 80% of applications that run on SPARC also run on x86.

My suggestion if you draw blank here is to approach your application vendor and make business case on why they should support a Solaris x86 version. Likelihood is that the application vendor has a version running on Linux/x86 already, so getting a version to run on solaris/x86 is not a huge engineering effort. Mainly the application vendor will want to see some real demand so they can justify the support model.

There are also some useful guides out there developed by HP, Dell, Intel, SUN, IBM, Redhat, Microsoft and others that are technically focussed on the 'how to' migrate your solution.

Here is just a sample of some of the resources.

• HP www.hp.com/go/sun2hp. Not only does this site have material on SPARC, also contains material on AS400, POWER, Mainframe and other architectures. There is a wealth of information on all the HP options from Itanium to Xeon, Solaris, Linux, windows, HP-UX etc. Technical guides, TCO tools, migration resources etc
  another site that focus on providing migration assistance is www.hp.com/go/migration
• Dell http://www.dell.com/unixmigration. Don't get thrown by the title of the link. Some good content here on how to move an Oracle database and DNS server to Solaris or Linux on Dell system. Also content on why to move and how to get some support
• SUN http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/howtoguides/installationhowto.jsp How to install Solaris 10 on x86.
• Redhat http://www.redhat.com/intelligence/. This site has whitepapers, migration guides, webinars, how Linux compares to unix etc

Lastly migrating custom code is a more challenging project. There are many organizations with significant experience and expertise that offer services to assist in migration projects. Leverage these organizations to help. I know at first blush there may be concerns of the cost of paying for migration services, but look at the bigger picture. In a lot of cases the TCO benefits and improved performance will deliver business benefits that will outweigh the cost of migration in the long run.

Hopefully this is helpful. I would really like to hear what have your experiences have been with migration or what are the challenges that you face as you look forward towards migration?

Penguins are Fun … And Their New Servers Are Even Cooler!

Next week I will have the privilege of being a guest speaker at an online seminar hosted by Penguin Computing on how a Nehalem refresh can impact your HPC environment.  I will be joined by Matt Jacobs, VP of WorldWide Sales, Penguin Computing where we will cover the performance and economic benefits of upgrading to the latest Penguin systems powered by the Intel Xeon 5500 family of processors (Nehalem). With dramatic improvements in performance, efficiency and density, you may be able to own the latest systems for less than the cost of operating your current systems. Learn how and get more details on this exciting new platform from Penguin and Intel. 

Join Matt and I Live on May 20, 2009 11:00 am - 12:00 pm (Pacific Standard Time).  Register Todayhttp://www.penguincomputing.com/press/events/webinars/nehalem_and_penguin_computing

Chris

ð        Learn more about Penguin Computing here

ð        Learn more about the Intel Xeon Processor 5500 series in the Server Learning Center here

The HP team is fired up about our new line of Intel Xeon 5500 (Nehalem) -based servers – we call them HP ProLiant G6 – the sixth generation since we started counting back in 2001. We made a big investment to offer these new features across our entire line of rack, tower and blades – 11 new servers in all. Big breakthrough in thermals – and I’m not talking about long johns here – I mean the power draw is half of previous generation thanks to revamped server design including Sea of Sensors, Common Power Slots and the world’s only hardware implementation of Power Capping (great partnership with Intel on that one too).

In addition, we’ve built on our long history of server management leadership with a trio of new capabilities, ProLiant Onboard Administrator, Virtual Connect Flex-10 and Insight Dynamics. All together these allow you to squeeze every ounce of productivity out of your servers and your support staff.

The other major focus for this new server line was tying them directly to new offerings from services. Do you use Starbucks cards? Our Proactive Select debit card approach is similar – but instead of dispensing caramel macchiato we dispense 85 different mission-critical services such as health checks and SAN assessments.

Lastly, we know times our tough – and for customers wanting to conserve cash (that means you), our HP Financial Services team offers sale-lease back options that will give you a cash-infusion by taking your existing infrastructure off of your balance sheet. In this way, you can lean on HP to help you get the buying power to step up to a new generation of server capability.

Get a guided backstage tour of HP ProLiant G6 by the people who built it here

Read more about HP ProLiant G6 in our press release here.