IBM 88553RX, Installation Manual

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Chapter 2. Positioning
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Table 2-1 Operating system support at x455 launch
2.4 Server consolidation
With its scalability options, the x455 is ideally suited to server consolidation.
Enterprise applications such as those used for large databases, enterprise
resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and
messaging/collaboration have traditionally been distributed across several
servers. The x455 now allows you to consolidate these applications onto less
hardware.
Consolidation will allow business to centralize their business computing
workloads and reduce cost, complexity, network traffic volumes, and
management overhead. The x455 protects the investment you have already
made by allowing you to expand to two then four nodes. Resources such as
processors, memory, hard disks, network cards, monitors, and even CD-ROMs
are accessible to the operating system and applications from all the nodes.
Server consolidation has many interpretations and covers many areas. There is
no single strategy or methodology that can be applied that will yield an exact
outcome, as each environment is different. However, there are broad categories
that may have particular importance where benefits can be realized. Below is a
summary of some of the different types of server consolidation and the potential
benefits.
Operating system Support at x455 general availability:
4-way (1 node) 8-way (2 node) 16-way (4 node)
Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition Supported Supported No
1
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition Supported Supported Supported
Red Hat Linux AS 2.1 Supported No No
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0 Supported
2
Supported
2
No
SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 8.0 Supported Supported
2, 3
No
Notes:
1. Enterprise Edition supports a maximum of eight processors.
2. Support will be after the general availability (GA) of the x455. See:
http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/compat/nos/matrix.shtml
3. Support approximately 30 days after GA.