IBM iDataPlex Uses 40 Percent Less Power

IBM iDataPlex is a new rack system featuring design innovations in cooling and efficiency that will help Internet companies.

IBM Corp. has introduced on Wednesday an entirely new category of server uniquely designed to address the technology needs of companies that operate massive data centers with tens of thousands of servers, like online gaming, social networks and Search and Internet companies.

The IBM "iDataPlex" system leverages IBM's blade server heritage to build a completely new design point that more than doubles the number of systems that can run in a single rack, uses 40 percent less power while increasing the amount of computing by five times, can be outfitted with a liquid cooling wall on the back of the system that enables it to run at room temperature without additional cooling costs and uses all industry standard components as well as open source software such as Linux to lower costs.

Companies that operate massive scale-out data centers spend 10 to 30 times more on energy costs per square foot than a typical office building. The energy used powers both hundreds of thousands of servers and the air conditioning needed to cool them. The exponential growth of such data centers will continue as streaming video, online gaming and social networks spike Internet traffic, requiring companies to build ever vaster pools of computers that devour energy resources to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

IBM iDataPlex is a new rack system featuring design innovations in cooling and efficiency that will help it replace the inefficient "white-box" servers commonly used by such Internet companies. As consumers demand richer content and more immediate access to Web-based applications, iDataPlex will allow Web-focused companies and service providers to scale rapidly to meet this need.

IBM will deliver the iDataPlex system to clients globally. Among early clients who have already adopted or are actively considering iDataPlex are online gaming, social networking and Internet companies, as well as other organizations from China, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, including Yahoo! Inc., the leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide, and Texas Tech University, a major research university, law school and graduate school with 28,200 students.

iDataPlex will be available in the U.S. and Canada in June and globally by the end of the year.