Contact:
Vineeta Durani
IBM Media Relations
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vdurani@us.ibm.com
IBM BladeCenter Systems Up To 30 Percent More Energy
Efficient Than Comparable HP Blades
IBM Unveils Next Generation of PowerExecutive Energy Management Technology to Extend Leadership
in Energy Efficient Computing
ARMONK, NY – November 16, 2006 – IBM announced today that its BladeCenter system uses up to 30
percent less energy than HP BladeSystem. As energy prices rise to nearly 15 cents per kilowatt hour in
New York City, 21 cents per kilowatt hour in Tokyo and up to 23 cents per kilowatt hour in London,
businesses can save hundreds, thousands or even millions of dollars in energy costs each year depending
on the size of their datacenter.
Based on internal IBM testing, IBM’s AMD Opteron-based BladeCenter (LS21) within the BladeCenter
system uses up to 30 percent less energy than the comparable HP AMD Opteron-based BladeSystem
(BL465c) in the HP cClass system when both systems are idle, and up to 18 percent less energy when
both systems are running at full load.[1]
IBM’s Intel Xeon-based BladeCenter (HS21) within the BladeCenter system uses up to 26 percent less
energy than the comparable HP Intel Xeon-based BladeSystem (BL460c) in the HP cClass system when
both systems are idle, and up to 13 percent less energy when both systems are running at full load.[2]
Comparisons are based on systems using the same dual-core Intel Xeon or AMD Opteron
microprocessors.
According to a 2006 report by the Robert Frances Group, across industry, the average utilization of most
processors in the data center is between 15-20 percent.[3] Therefore, managing a server at its least
productive state becomes critical to managing the issue of energy consumption in the datacenter.
Key IBM innovations that set the BladeCenter architecture apart include: a shared power infrastructure
with up to 90 percent energy efficient power supplies able to reach peak efficiency even under small load;
and IBM Calibrated Vector Cooling technology to allow dual paths of air to each component to improve
uptime and longevity while also reducing wasteful air movement.
IBM’s energy-smart BladeCenter design, pioneered by IBM Research, features energy efficient power
supplies (which are up to 90 percent efficient) saving as much as 28 percent in electrical usage over many
commonly available power supplies (which are often only 60 to 70 percent efficient). IBM’s shared
cooling approach that utilizes high-efficiency blowers, can consume up to 60 percent less power than the
newest design in the HP c-Class, based on internal IBM testing. These smarter power and cooling
architectures, combined with smart use of energy efficient components, such as low voltage processors,
allow IBM users to extract the most performance from every kilowatt.
“This is a big competitive advantage in a product segment where energy efficiency is perhaps the chief
consideration,” said Doug Balog, vice president and business line executive, IBM BladeCenter. “In an
environment where the cost of operating a system is approaching the cost of acquiring the hardware, HP
has delivered a new system that is much less efficient in its use of power."
Unlike the blade servers available for HP's cClass chassis, which are not backward compatible with HP's
older blade chassis, IBM’s high-density modular blade server is designed to support the entire family of
BladeCenter chassis. HP is on its third system redesign in five years,[4] while IBM BladeCenter is still
based on its original design and demonstrates better efficiency.
The Price of Power
IBM also introduced today the second generation of PowerExecutive, an industry-first energy
management technology, now enabling clients to cap the amount of power used by a single server or
groups of servers to optimize energy use and application performance. PowerExecutive, an extension to
IBM Director systems management software, allows clients to "meter" actual power usage and trend data
for any single physical system or group of systems.
Today, the label rating on the back of a server is the only guide that IT managers have when planning for
power and cooling capacity for their datacenter. IT managers are often forced to resort to an 80 percent
rule to safely estimate power consumption based on the label rating, which means they may over budget
energy requirements.
IBM PowerExecutive allows these IT managers to see the difference between their power budget and
actual power usage, enabling them to optimize power consumption and stretch their budgets over time.
Putting a cap on the systems power use, based on the workload and business trends over time, allows IT
managers to safely limit the amount of energy draw from the server, without sacrificing performance or
productivity, or adding servers to the existing infrastructure.
“Better systems and information leads to better decisions aimed at maximizing business performance.
Whether delivering superior design innovation or tools to more accurately plan, monitor, and control
power consumption to meet business expectations, IBM helps clients dramatically improve power
utilization and reduce energy costs for a significant competitive advantage,” said Balog.
About IBM BladeCenter
IBM has shipped over half a million BladeCenter systems since the product's inception in 2002.
According to data from industry analyst firm Gartner, IBM retained its lead as the number one blade
server vendor in the world garnering 42.8 percent revenue share in the second quarter 2006, 13 percent
better than its closest competitor. (Gartner, Servers Quarterly Statistics United States: Database, 22
August 2006.)
About IBM CoolBlue
IBM has developed some of the industry’s leading power and cooling technologies based on the skills and
experience of over 40 years of mainframe technology development. The CoolBlue portfolio of IBM
innovations includes comprehensive hardware and systems-management tools for computing
environments, enabling clients to better optimize the power consumption, management and cooling of
infrastructure at the system, rack and datacenter levels. The CoolBlue portfolio includes IBM
PowerConfigurator, PowerExecutive, and Rear Door Heat eXchanger.
For more information about IBM, go to: www.ibm.com
For more information about IBM BladeCenter, go to: www.ibm.com/bladecenter
For IBM BladeCenter press announcements, go to: www.ibm.com/press
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[1] -- Results of up to 29.9 percent when idle, up to 18.7 percent with full load.
Side-by-side tests performed using the following blade server configurations:
LS21: 2 x 2.4GHz AMD Opteron 2216HE CPUs, 8 x 2GB DIMMs, 1 x 36GB 10k rpm HDD, 0 x I/O
cards; IBM BladeCenter configuration for LS21: 2 power supplies, 2 blowers, 0 Switch Modules, 1
Management Module.
BL465c: 2 x 2.4GHz AMD Opteron 2216HE CPUs, 8 x 2GB DIMMs, 1 x 36GB 10k rpm HDD, 0 x I/O
cards; HP c7000 Enclosure configuration for BL465c test: 2 power supplies, 4 fans, 0 Switch Modules, 1
Management Module.
[2] -- Results of up to 25.9 percent when idle, up to 13.6 percent with full load.
Side-by-side tests performed using the following blade server configurations:
BL460c: 2 x 2.66GHx Intel Xeon 5150 CPUs, 8 x 2GB DIMMs, 1 x 36GB 10k rpm HDD, 0 x I/O cards;
HP c7000 Enclosure configuration for BL460c test: 2 power supplies, 4 fans, 0 Switch Modules, 1
Management Module.
HS21: 2 x 2.66GHz Intel Xeon 5150 CPUs, 8 x 2GB DIMMs, 1 x 36GB 10k rpm HDD, 0 x I/O cards;
IBM BladeCenter configuration for HS21: 2 power supplies, 2 blowers, 0 Switch Modules, 1
Management Module.
[3] -- “The Rise to Power of Power: Dealing with the New Data Center Constraint,” Jerald Murphy,
Robert Frances Group. (2006)
[4] -- HP BLe introduced January 2002.
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2002pmc/pr2002012801.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN
HP pClass introduced August 2002.
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2002/020826c.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN
HP cClass introduced June 2006.
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2006/060614xa.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN