IBM BladeCenter PS703, Technical Overview And Introduction, Page: 15 / 198

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Chapter 1.
Introduction and general
description
This chapter introduces and provides a general description of the new IBM BladeCenter
POWER7 processor-based blade servers. These new blades offer processor scalability from
16 cores to 32 cores:
򐂰 IBM BladeCenter PS703: single-wide blade with two 8-core processors
򐂰 IBM BladeCenter PS704: double-wide blade with four 8-core processors
The new PS703 and PS704 blades are premier blades for 64-bit applications. They are
designed to minimize complexity, improve efficiency, automate processes, reduce energy
consumption, and scale easily.
The POWER7 processor-based PS703 and PS704 blades support AIX, IBM i, and Linux
operating systems. Their ability to coexist in the same chassis with other IBM BladeCenter
blade servers enhances the ability to deliver the rapid return on investment demanded by
clients and businesses.
This chapter covers the following topics:
򐂰 1.1, “Overview of PS703 and PS704 blade servers” on page 2
򐂰 1.2, “Comparison between the PS70x blade servers” on page 3
򐂰 1.3, “IBM BladeCenter chassis support” on page 4
򐂰 1.4, “Operating environment” on page 12
򐂰 1.5, “Physical package” on page 13
򐂰 1.6, “System features” on page 14
򐂰 1.7, “Supported BladeCenter I/O modules” on page 28
򐂰 1.8, “Building to order” on page 34
򐂰 1.9, “Model upgrades” on page 35
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