IBM has announced the first System i to get the screaming fast POWER6 processor, the System i 570, available September 14. In addition, the company made several other key announcements today, including a preview of i5/OS Version 6, MySQL for i5/OS, and DB2 Web Query for System i.

Here are the highlights:

POWER6 System i 570

The POWER6 System i 570 follows on the heels of the previously announced System p 570, which IBM announced in May. Although the System p version offers models with lower-speed processors, the System i 570 comes with the current maximum 4.7 GHz — the fastest processor ever built, IBM boasts. It can deliver up to twice the performance of the POWER5, but the capability can vary based on the workload. It comes in modular, 4-way nodes (1/4, 2/8, and 4/16-way) and can put out 76,900 CPW.

"The POWER6 is a fundamentally different processor type — it has a much higher gigahertz than the POWER5+ at 2.3 gigahertz, for example. Now we're at 4.7 gigahertz," notes Ian Jarman, IBM System i product manager. "That extra gigahertz actually favors more the compute-intensive workloads such as Java, SAP, and Domino — and I/O workloads get less of an improvement [when compared to a raw percentage performance gain]."

IBM says the POWER6 is much more energy efficient, too, It's 64 percent more efficient than the POWER5.

In addition to improving the hardware itself, IBM has simplified the entire 570 package.

"The structure of the system is fundamentally different," Jarman explains. "In the past we've offered Standard and Enterprise Editions, but now we just have one easy-to-understand i5/OS Edition, which can be customized in any configuration with 5250, with Web-based applications with AIX. Whatever you need, you can build it up from an easy-to-understand base. It's really what our large users have been looking for — to pay for what they use, not to have to buy software that's tied into hardware and so on."

Now larger enterprises can choose Enterprise Enablement (5250 capacity) on a per-processor basis. It used to be available only on Enterprise Edition System i machines.

"It's like starting with a Standard Edition concept, but you're able to add 5250," Jarman notes.

Also, the 1/4 way nodes give customers more granular growth (previous upgrades required jumps to larger n-way configurations). Value-added software is optional (instead of automatically built in). Plus, customers used to have multiple software tiers, but now there's only a single P30 tier.

The System i POWER6 570 also ushers in a new generation of I/O technologies, including 12X (similar to InfiniBand) I/O drawers that boast up to 50 percent more bandwidth than HSL-2 and new SAS disk drives that are 10-15 percent faster than SCSI drivers (the initial implementation on the POWER6 570 is six drives with mirror protection). For I/O adapters, the POWER6 570 has PCI-E slots, which is the latest industry standard.

Perhaps the best news, however, is the addition of multiple direct upgrade paths. Customers can move from POWER4-based 890s, 870s, and 825s or POWER5/5+ 570s or 550s into the new POWER6 570.

"We can upgrade from almost anything into this new system," Jarman says. "There's a very wide range of upgrade paths. The 825 upgrades are available until December, and the 870 and 890 upgrades are available until April of next year."

Jarman says IBM wanted to announce the POWER6 570 now to give customers more time to understand the new pricing models before they place their orders in August and get ready to accept their orders in September.

V6R1 Preview

V6R1 of i5/OS will sport new encryption capabilities in addition to intrusion prevention and system integrity enhancements. "Our customers will be able to encrypt data stored on disk as well as encrypt backups to tape — we'll be able to protect their data assets," says Craig Johnson, IBM System i product marketing manager.

In addition, look for easier-to-manage high-availability features like cross-site mirroring as well as advanced virtualization for hosting storage for i5/OS partitions with virtual I/O server client support.

Extended SAN integration will show off a new fibre adapter and tools that will enhance interoperability and performance.

IBM Systems Director will replace the current i5/OS Navigator product for Web-based multi-platform systems management.

V6R1 will also bring a boost to Java performance and simplified Web services features.

MySQL for i5/OS

MySQL for i5/OS was previously announced at COMMON Anaheim in the spring. MySQL is the most popular database used with PHP applications, which makes it the leading open-source database, used in more than 11 million installations. MySQL for i5/OS lets you deploy MySQL-based apps on i5/OS. It should be available from MySQL starting sometime this week, IBM says, but customers can order it from IBM as well.

Still on the drawing board, however, is IBM's effort to integrate MySQL with DB2 for i5/OS to use DB2 as a storage engine.

DB2 Web Query for System i

Also previously previewed, IBM has officially announced DB2 Web Query for System i, with availability starting September 14.

"It's gotten a ton of interest from our customers," Johnson notes. It's basically a new Web-based query and report-writing tool that's powered by Information Builders's WebFocus product. It's a no-charge upgrade from Query for iSeries and offers report and graphing assistants, spreadsheet integration, and lets you Web-enable Query/400 reports.