IBM cancels more POWER9 servers, this time at the low end
- Reference: 1631691853
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/09/15/power_lc921_lc922_withdrawal/
- Source link:
A [1]hardware withdrawal dated September 14 announced the immediate cessation of direct sales by Big Blue for the Power System LC921 and LC922.
"On or after the effective dates of withdrawal, you can no longer order these products directly from IBM," the announcement reads. "You can obtain the products on an as-available basis through IBM Business Partners," the document adds, before mentioning that IBM may have stock of certified second-hand kit.
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The two aforementioned servers and the POWER9 architecture debuted in 2018. A recent IBM Power Systems [3]brochure lists eleven models, and after reviewing IBM documentation for them all The Register believes just three remain on sale.
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Another half-dozen POWER9 servers were withdrawn in January 2021, meaning the demise of the C921 means IBM no longer has a 1U model or a single-socket machine on sale.
The three remaining models are either very high end – the E950 and E980 – or the AC922 machine aimed at artificial intelligence and machine learning. Options suggested for general purpose computing or SAP are off the market.
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And so are plenty of accessories like network cards: the withdrawal announcement for the LC921 and 922 mentions dozens more discontinued products, some of which have also popped up on data sheets for other models.
[7]IBM's former Chinese Power Systems partner sues for theft of customer data
[8]Big iron is out of fashion as server market shifts to low-end single-socket machines
[9]Big Blue's quantum rainmaker jumps to room-temp diamond quantum accelerator company
Big Blue shrinking its universe of possible POWER9 servers just three-and-a-half years after launch should not be overly concerning, because buyers that choose this sort of platform go into their purchases knowing that a platform tied to a single supplier limits their options from day one. IBM also offers POWER-powered cloud servers and will probably keep them running for as long as customers want – or until the company decides it wants them to migrate to POWER10.
Speaking of which, that new architecture [10]debuted just last week , albeit with just one server on sale. For now. ®
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[1] https://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_ca/6/872/ENUSWG21-0026/index.html&lang=en&request_locale=en
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/servers&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YUHEYSLQ5ELAQ1IgWB4lywAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/KDQRVQRR
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/servers&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YUHEYSLQ5ELAQ1IgWB4lywAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/servers&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YUHEYSLQ5ELAQ1IgWB4lywAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/servers&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YUHEYSLQ5ELAQ1IgWB4lywAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/13/neu_cloud_vs_ibm/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/10/worldwide_quarterly_server_tracker_q2_2021/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/10/ibms_quantum_rainmaker_jumps_to_quantum_diamond_outfit/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/08/ibm_7nm_power10
[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Becoming clear that IBM doesn't want to be in the general hardware business
I understand the market that IBM is aiming for, but I work at an organization which uses Power systems, and the loss of the smaller systems is a big deal.
Whilst there is a proposal to replace the larger systems here with either E950s or E980s (the 950 is a little too small, and the 980 is very expensive), we also have a number of smaller systems sitting in secure environments, where physical separation is mandated by the security rules. This means that we could not put in a larger system, and partition it up if the partitions spanned security boundaries.
If we were to try to replace these smaller systems with new ones capable of running AIX, there are no no Power 9 models we could use, as even the lowest spec E950 is way to large, especially as the resilience rules require two separate hardware servers to allow concurrent maintenance.
I guess that what we can hope for is that the Power10 systems as they are announced will include replacements for these smaller systems.But the architectural changes for Power 10 really would not benefit these systems, so Power 9 (or probably earlier) would still be suitable, if IBM were prepared to sell and maintain the older systems.
Oh well. 6 years until retirement.
Re: Becoming clear that IBM doesn't want to be in the general hardware business
Luckily, the article is incorrect - S914 / S922 / S924 are there for you to look at and are designed to deliver exactly what you say you want if you need to move ahead before any Power 10 scale out replacements are launched.
So no need for hope, just ask your IBM contact or BP to design to meet your physical separation requirements with the smaller boxes that are available - and you can enjoy your 6 yrs until retirement (especially as you'd likely get maintenance on a Power 9 S9xx box until then anyway).
@SimonSharwood
I know there are bug bounties for spotting errors in code, but what about bounties when articles are incorrect (or perhaps we could have a correction Simon)?
good story, pity the premise of "only high end / AI boxes left" is wildly incorrect
The POWER 9 servers that aren't "very high end" that you've forgotten are the S914, S922, S924 and H922 (there may be others - I'm not a Power 9 expert, but I appear to be better informed than the author of the article or at least better able to google "IBM Offering Information".
If you'd like to buy any of the boxes that aren't "very high end", just ask IBM and they'll be happy to sell you as many as you'd like of each via a business partner.
I'm sure you can get a good deal in the run up to IBM year end, but as there isn't a withdrawal date you don't necessarily need to rush.....
...with just one server on sale
Coming at the end of that article, I'm now genuinely not sure whether you meant one model, or there's just a single unit on the shelf forlornly awaiting a buyer. Last chance to see...