The IBM System x3350 - Lean, Green and Mean - Winning over the Competition!

If you've been looking for that differentiator against our competition - the IBM System x3350 finally provides it and there is independent data to prove it. The IBM System x3350 delivers a purpose-optimized, cost-optimized single application server that is capable of replacing legacy 2-socket servers in stable workload environments. In several recent studies, the x3350 has been found to beat out HP and Dell in CPU power and power consumption.

The recent SpecPower benchmark
http://www.spec.org/power_ssj2008/results/power_ssj2008.html
of the x3350 found that it was...

13% higher than the score achieved by the Dell PowerEdge R300 with the
Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor L5410
28% higher than Dell PE 1950 and 37% higher than the HP DL360, the two
1U, 2s servers which are the target systems for winback opportunities
from Dell and HP.

Also, Network World just published an article
http://www.networkworld.com/research/2008/060908-green-windows-linux.html?page=1
in which they noted,
"We ran multiple power consumption tests using Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition, Red Hat's Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.1 and SUSE Enterprise Linux 10 SP1 on four, popular 1U server machines, one each from Dell and IBM and two from HP......"

"In our testing, we found that the CPU 'throttle-back' mechanism – the main technique for how an operating system can aid in reducing a server's energy draw -- requires new firmware and updated drivers that specifically support that feature. Only the IBM x3350 and the HP DL-360 G5 arrived ready for optimal power conservation. The HP DL-160 and Dell 1950 servers required several updates throughout our six-week test period to accommodate the CPU throttling features of Windows 2008 and Linux."

"With the IBM x3350, HP DL360G5, and Dell 1950 servers we performed our quiescent and active state tests twice: once with High Performance settings in place; and, the other with the Power Saver mode applied. For the HP
DL-160G5 server, we could only complete the tests without the maximum power saving setting applied as the server crashed each time we attempted to toggle between the power saving settings. HP says a fix for this issue should be available by the time this test publishes."

"IBM's x3350 was the leanest and greenest, both in terms of CPU 'horsepower' but also power consumed. In quiescent tests, there was less than a 2-watt difference among any of the three operating systems tested in either performance or savings mode. In the active tests, the power draws stayed within that 2-watt range with the exception of when Windows Server
2008 drew 87.8 watts, compared with SUSE's 79.6 watts and RHEL's 78.3 watts in our active test when the systems were tuned from performance."

Often we hear that sellers need that competitive advantage to make a difference in the market. Now you have it! Go Win!

For more information visit the x3350 Sales Kit, and the HP Dell Rack Attack Play or send an email to Amelia Frost (afrost@us.ibm.com).