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iSeries Enters a New Age

With last year's announcement of OS/400* V4R5, IBM ushered in a new hardware line, the 270 and 8xx models. The unveiling of the 270, 820, 830 and 840, as well as the introduction of copper- and Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI)-based processors, stamped V4R5 as a release that was heavy on the hardware.

With the recent announcement of V5R1, you'll hear a lot about software, and understandably so, given IBM's unprecedented emphasis on the graphical interface, the logical partitioning (LPAR) enhancements and other new software features. But this should not diminish the new hardware function being brought to the iSeries platform with V5R1.

Led by new processor technology and processor features, V5R1 is another significant release on the hardware side. Other enhancements announced include high-speed link (HSL) OptiConnect, switchable disk, fibre channel, new memory and DVD-RAM.

The hardware content of V5R1, in fact, is substantial enough that IBM considered new model numbers for the updated server line, says Mark Olson, iSeries Brand Management, IBM. "We strongly considered renaming all the new models the 280, 920, 930, 940 or whatever. There is so much new function. We decided our customers investment is better served by keeping the model numbers the same."

New Processors

The 600 MHz processor technology debuts with some of the V5R1 hardware, offering a performance and functionality boost over the 540 MHz and 400 MHz processors. In total, 19 new processor feature points were added to the iSeries 8xx and 270 models.

For the Model 840, the new processors provide approximately 24 percent more CPW capacity. New processor feature codes provide additional granularity to the largest iSeries family member. The 840s maximum memory received a 33-percent boost because of the capability to use all 8 GB memory cards, up to 128 GB total.

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