IBM System i Quick Pricer 40808

IBM Internal and IBM Business Partner Use Only IBM 1997 2008 i

System i and iSeries

Quick Product Reference and Pricer

With Product Structure/Positioning Information

April 8, 2008

FINAL VERSION of the System i Specific Quick Pricer See IBM Power System Quick Pricer documents

for POWER6 and newer products

The only updates from the January 29, 2008 version are for product withdrawal dates, price changes, and minor corrections.

This document does NOT contain information on newly

announced Power System models or features.

IBM Internal and IBM Business Partner Use Only IBM 1997 2008 ii

Preface The prices in the IBM System i and iSeries Quick Pricer are to be used for quick evaluations only and not for a formal quote or proposal. The prices are not to be used in lieu of those in the Sales Manual, e-Configurator, INFOLink, or announcement letters. In order to produce a valid upgrade, system order, or proposal, a current version of the designated IBM configurator must be used. Commitments based on list price should not be made without verification that the most current list price file is being used. Prices shown are US list prices. Applicable freight charges or taxes are not shown. The prices do not reflect any applicable promotions, rebates or discounts and are subject to change without notice. Price protection rules are available from IBM upon request. When preparing an agreement, refer to the appropriate administrative procedure. Use of the Quick Pricer requires a general knowledge of IBM System i5, iSeries, and AS/400 models and features. This document does not contain all available features, especially in the area of peripheral devices (disk and tape subsystems, printers, etc). The products listed herein may not all be available through IBM Business Partners. This document is intended for IBM Employees and IBM System i5 Business Partner Use Only. In addition to pricing information, it contains information on product structure and provides sales suggestions and guidance. It is NOT a customer document and is NOT to be given to customers. It is copyrighted by IBM and posting of this document in locations where a non-IBM employee or non-IBM Business Partner could view it is considered a breach of this copyright. Terms and Conditions The terms and conditions outlined in the applicable IBM Customer Agreement and its attachments for license or purchase of IBM products should be referenced for specific details and information. Eighty-fifth/final edition April 8, 2008 This edition obsoletes the January 29, 2008 Quick Pricer. Changes may be periodically made to the information herein. Information for the System i and iSeries products and prices are believed to be current as of January 29, 2008. Such information and prices are subject to change without notice and should be verified prior to order. Prices of software ordered via Passport Advantage are current as of the "date last verified" -- which is shown for each product. If it has been some time since the price was verified, we suggest you check the price for current accuracy. Please report new or outdated information or other inaccuracies to Brian Podrow: [email protected] (714) 438-5057

IBM Internal and IBM Business Partner Use Only IBM 1997 2008 iii

Table of Contents Product Structure Section System i Model 515 and i525 Product Structure Information......................................................................................................................1 System i POWER6 570 Product Structure Information...............................................................................................................................7 i520/i550/i570/i595 Product Structure / Changes Information...................................................................................................................15 POWER6 BladeCenter Processors running i5/OSProduct Structure Information.....................................................................................19

New Placements System i models Power6 BladeCenter Processors running i5/OS Pricing/Configuration Informaiton ..............................................................................22 System i 9407 Model 515 Editions and Features......................................................................................................................................25 System i Model 520 Value and Express Editions......................................................................................................................................30 System i Model 520 Edition Structure .......................................................................................................................................................32 System i Model 520 Prices........................................................................................................................................................................33 System i Model 525 Editions.....................................................................................................................................................................35 System i Model 550 Features by edition ...................................................................................................................................................37 System i Model 550 Prices........................................................................................................................................................................38 System i Model 570/595 Features by edition ............................................................................................................................................40 System i Model 570 Prices........................................................................................................................................................................41 System i POWER6 570 (MMA) ................................................................................................................................................................43 System i Model 595 Prices........................................................................................................................................................................45

Upgrades into System i Models Model 870/80 Upgrades into System i Editions ......................................................................................................................................47 Upgrades within System i 520 Value and Express Editions ...................................................................................................................................................54 520 Enterprise/Standard Edition Upgrades .................................................................................................................................56 520 to 525 Upgrades ....................................................................................................................................................................58 550 Upgrades ...............................................................................................................................................................................59 570 Upgrades ...............................................................................................................................................................................61 595 Upgrades ...............................................................................................................................................................................68 System i CBU Edition Upgrade Pricing (also HA edition) ......................................................................................................................71

IP Telephony Express Editions, Software Features, and SW Maintenance Features/Charges.................................. 77

Features Pricing Section System i POWER6 570 (MMA) ................................................................................................................................................................80 System i and iSeries Memory Pricing .......................................................................................................................................................81 Towers and Expansion Features, Covers, Rack Mount Features, Rack Conversion Features ................................................................82 Power Features and Cords, Special Plant Set-Up features for i595 LPAR, External DVD & External Storage Device Enclosures/Supported Devices, CDs/DVDs/Internal Tape..................................................................................83 Native (aka Internal) Disk Related Features, Disk Mirroring Packages, Disk/Tape Controllers and Input/Output Adapters (IOAs), External Storage Systems............................................................................................................84 Extermanl (SAN) disk and Hardware Management Console (HMC) and Associated Features/Cables ...................................................86 Consoles Cables: Communications Cables, HSL & SPCN Cables, Misc. Other Cables, Input/Output Processors (IOPs), Communications/LAN Adapters, iSCSI, Other Features ...............................................................................87 Linux Direct Attach Features, AIX-Only Features, i5/OS on p5xx Hardware, AIX-Only I/O Devices........................................................89 Magnetic Tape Systems, Optical Disk/DVD .............................................................................................................................................90

iSeries 800/810/825/870/890 Models (Announced January 20, 2003) Activation features for 825/870/890 (New Placements w/d 10/01/05) ......................................................................................................91

Software Section Table of System i, iSeries, AS/400 Models by Software Group ................................................................................................................93 Software Maintenance for System i ..........................................................................................................................................................94 Version 6 Release 1 and Verstion 5 Software Prices ...............................................................................................................................96 iSeries / AS/400 Software Listing - PID by Release................................................................................................................................113

Historical/WITHDRAWN iSeries and AS/400 Information Section ........................................................................... 115 800/810/825/870/890 Purchase Prices ...................................................................................................................................................116 Model 810/825 Upgrades........................................................................................................................................................................122 810/825/870/890 Upgrades within models (upgrades into 810/825/870/890 models are withdrawn) ...................................................130 820/830/840/older 890 Purchase Prices .................................................................................................................................................133 820/830/840/older 890 Upgrades into i5 Enterprise Editions..................................................................................................................139 Earlier Domino (DSD) processor features to i5 Standard Edition ...........................................................................................................145 820/830/840/older 890 Upgrades into 810/825/870/890.........................................................................................................................146 270 Purchase Prices (including DSD).....................................................................................................................................................153 250 Info. including purchase price, upgrades, and features ...................................................................................................................154 Withdrawn iSeries and AS/400 Features ................................................................................................................................................155 7xx Purchase Prices ...............................................................................................................................................................................157

IBM Internal and IBM Business Partner Use Only IBM 1997 2008 iv

Primary Changes since the Previous Version

Blue italic text indicates a new or recently announced feature or price change; or an important point to consider when evaluating a specific scenario. Changes in this edition reflect price changes and product withdrawal announcements made between January 29 and April 8, 2008. The primary changes in this edition reflect: y This is the FINAL edition of the System i Quick Pricer document. This version merely contains updates to

pricing information and withdrawal dates for products announced prior to April 8, 2008. Products and changes announced on or after April 8, 2008 are contained in new Power Systems Quick Pricer documents. There are separate documents for Blade Center; 520/550 models; 570/595 models; and System i Software.

y Withdrawal dates for various models and features and UPGRADES into some of these models (i.e. 550 to MMA is withdrawn) most notably System i 520 models (superceded by 515/525 & M15/M25); 570 POWER5/5+models (superceded byPOWER6 MMA; the 9406-MMA (superceded by 9117-MMA); and 70 and 280 GB SCSI disk drives.

y Price changes to various features. See US announcement letters 308-768 (April 1, 2008) and 308-770 (April 8, 2008).

y Maintenance price changes to 7xx and other older systems and to older tape drives.

y Miscellaneous errors that have been reported have been corrected.

IBM Internal and IBM Business Partner Use Only IBM 1997 2008 v

PM (Performance Monitor) for System i is an i5/OS integrated function that automatically monitors and graphs system utilization and growth. Available to the customer in two options: 1) a no charge option providing summary information; and 2) a minimal charge option providing detailed graphs. It can be very useful to IBMers and Business Partners in helping identify upgrade candidates and in sizing the next required upgrade, application addition, server consolidation, etc. via the integration of the customer PM data with the IBM Systems Workload Estimator. IBMers and Business Partners authorized by the customer have access to the detailed graph information regardless of whether the customer is signed up for the no charge summary graph option or the minimal charge detailed graph option. Customers can learn more about their options and getting started at: http://www.ibm.com/systems/i/pmsystemi5 IBMers can learn more about the sales tools that provide access to the customer data, graphs and how to size upgrades by visiting: http://w3-1.ibm.com/sales/systems/portal/_s.155/254?navID=f220s380&geoID=All&prodID=System%20i&docID=pm400is Business Partners go to: https://www-1.ibm.com/partnerworld/sales/systems/portal/.scr/Login Search on PM400IS .

The Workload Estimator can help with sizing. Go to: http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/support/iseries/planning Go to the performance and capacity link (in a box near the top of the screen). The second item down is the workload estimator tool.

Information to help determine which System i to use (including information on cpw, number of disks that attach, PCI attachment capabilities, etc.) on a model by model basis is available at the "FACT" tool (Find and Compare Tools) site: http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/fact/

Information on withdrawal of hardware features and models is contained in the following announcement letters:

Withdrawal Date Announcement Letter Number Announcement Letter Date 4/08/08,7/08/08, 12/01/08, 2/01/09 908-063 04/08/08

1/31/08, 5/01/08, 7/01/08, 10/01/08, 12/01/08 HW 908-013, SW 908-014 01/29/08 10/09/07, 1/12/08, 4/01/08 907-203 10/09/07

12/01/07, 4/01/08 907-070 4/10/07 2/6/07, 5/8/07 907-021 2/06/07

8/8/06, 10/3/06, 12/1/06, 5/1/07 906-165 8/08/06 6/01/06 906-064 4/04/06

1/31/06, 5/02/06, 6/01/06 906-022 1/31/06 8/30/05, 12/01/05, 6/01/06 905-194 8/30/05

Historical Information on AS/400 models, products, and software that is no longer marketed is contained in the iSeries and AS/400 Quick Pricer Archive Documents -- the original dated 07/02/02, and a newer version with 7xx and withdrawn 8xx information (dated 04/12/05).

IBM Internal and IBM Business Partner Use Only IBM 1997 2008 1

System i Model 515 and 525 Product Structure Information This section discusses information pertinent to both the 515 and 525 models. See the 515 and 525 model sections for additional information specific to those models. What are the 515/525 models? The 515 and 525 models are new System i5 models that provide better performance, pricing, and price/performance than previous 520 editions. The full processor capabilities of 1 or 2 x 1.9 Ghz processors with L3 cache are available on either model. This is an advantage over many 520 processor features. CPW values are 3800 for the 1-way and 7100 when 2 processors are used. However, cpw should not be the metric used to "size" these systems. Restricted feature expansion on the 515 and user based pricing are the key sizing criteria. Both the 515 and 525 models allow full 5250 OLTP (interactive) capabilities. The "Standard Edition" vs. "Enterprise Edition" concern no longer exists for these models. Even with 2 processors, the 515 uses a P05 software tier and the 525 uses a P10 software tier. This can result in considerable savings compared to the P20 tier required by 520 Enterprise edition features that used one or two full processors. In the past, systems sold for small "traditional" applications did NOT have sufficient processing power to allow newer workloads (that are often compute-intensive) to be added. ISVs who had modernized their applications were sometimes forced to propose larger more expensive models. With the 515/525 models, these issues are resolved. New applications like DB2 Web Query and encryption capabilities for Version 6 of i5/OS can use this additional power. In order to better sell new placements to SMB customers, the 515/525 are designed to be sold the way small customers buy systems. This includes terms and conditions (such as User-Based pricing) that are common to other vendors selling in the SMB space. The price of the 515 has been further reduced by providing terms and conditions (T's & C's) that are similar to the "Intel" marketplace. These include 9 x 5 warranty and maintenance with next day delivery of parts that the customer installs themselves (upgradeable to 24 x 7 with CE replacement), and in the smallest Express Edition and the base offering, 90 days of SWMA (instead of 1 year -- upgrades to 1 and 3 years of SWMA are available). To accomplish the above T&C changes the machine type of the 515 has been changed to a 9407 designation. The 515 comes with user-enablements for 5 users, and additional "5-packs" of users can be purchased. In the Americas, one can now order "unlimited" users (up from a maximum or 40 users in the initial announcement). Unlimited users on the 515 uses a feature code announced on July 31. 2007. For systems that do not use unlimited users, "external" user entitlements can also be cost-effective -- more on this later). To improve simplicity in selling the 515, only selected features can be ordered. Most customers will buy the pre-packaged express configurations. The approach is similar to that used with the 520 express editions; but unlike the 520 express editions (which usually required an MES to get additional needed features), the 515 express editions allow full configuration flexibility with the initial order. To configure a system with the needed features, one can start with one of the "packaged" 515 express configurations and modify it by adding, removing (often with no price savings, but freeing up needed PCI slots), or converting features. This is almost always less expensive than creating a configuration from the base model with "only the needed features". How are the 515 and 525 models different from one another? Based on the description thus far, the 2 models are very similar in processing capacity; so what differentiates between them? The biggest differentiators are the limited memory (16 GB) and disk capacity (8 x 70 GB disks) of the 515; and the fact that the 515 does NOT support any HSL capabilities or external towers and is therefore limited to the PCI slots in the system unit. The original limitation on the number of users allowed with the 515 has been removed (discussed shortly) 515 The 515 is a 1-way or a 2-way machine, while the 525 is a 1/2-way model. This means that a CE-installed processor upgrade is required to activate the second processor on a 515. It also means that CoD capabilities are not available. Because most 515 customers will not be implementing LPAR, the virtualization capabilities that allow fractional partitioning and virtualized disk and Ethernet must be ordered if needed -- feature (#7966 - $0). It's required for LPARs (but not for iSCSI attachment of System x and Blade Servers). While 10 LPARs are supported on a 1-way or 20 on a 2-way; due to disk controller constraints, the 515 is limited to a maximum of 2 i5/OS partitions. Like competitive Intel-based products, there are no upgrades into the 515 or out of the 515 to larger models. Like the 520 value/express models, this can affect the System i's value proposition. Furthermore, care must be taken to ensure that the 515 has sufficient feature capacity to meet the customer's requirements. The differences and restrictions discussed above, as well as the lower software tier and the unique maintenance and SWMA T's & C's allow the 515 to be priced significantly less than the 520 value/express editions and the new 525.


525 From a pricing perspective, the model 525 also uses user-based approaches. It does not have the limitations on memory, disk, HSL, LPAR or virtualization software (included with the 525) that affect the 515. There are upgrades into the 525 from 810 models (until December 1, 2007), and from 520 models. Upgrades from smaller 520 processor features can be VERY attractive. While upgrades from the 525 to larger systems do not presently exist, past history suggests that when future processors are announced, there could be upgrade paths made available. A CBU edition of the 525 is also available (discussed later). All 525 features (including 2-way capabilities) use the P10 software tier. The 525 also uses express packages. But unlike the 515, these packages do NOT include disks, memory, or other features. The differentiator between the various packages is based on the number of included users. Packages allow 30, 150, or unlimited users. What is a User? User: A user is a person who signs on or identifies themselves to the system or "authenticates" in other ways (fingerprint, badge, Kerberos, etc.). The "authenticates" term sometimes causes confusion. I've found it's sometimes simpler to think of it in terms of "does the user need any authority (security) to access the data that will be presented to them?" If they do, they must have authenticated in some way. If someone accesses the system in a manner that does not identify themselves in any way, they are not considered a user. For example, someone browsing a site that only presents information available to the general public, is not a user if they never identify themselves. However, the moment they identify themselves -- to do anything specific that should be secure (place an order, check account status, etc.) they become a user. Therefore, a user is a person that signs on and access the system in a manner that identifies them. In the following paragraphs, I use the unofficial term "regular" user to differentiate from "External" users. A "regular" user is an employee of the company or someone who "acts" as an employee -- they appear to the outside world to be an employee, but may actually paid by a different company who has contracted to provide the service. As an example: In IBM's case, we have employees, and also contract for some of our administrative, mail room, and other positions. These contracted people act as IBM employees. External Users: In addition to "regular" users, there are people in other organizations or relationships that need to access a company's system. For example, the company's Business Partners, Suppliers, and/or Customers may need to be able to access the system for specific information unique to their relationship. These people who are not employees (or similar) who identify themselves to the system and use it to access, enter or update information are called external users. The "external user" classification is important because an unlimited external user entitlement can be purchased for $3,995, but can only be used by "external" users. External users have nothing to do with where a person is physically located (thinking about external as a location is a common point of confusion, because in the past we have been used to thinking of people not on the physical premises as being "external"). External users are people who are not employees (or similar)! Consider a bank. If someone is an employee of that bank, it doesn't matter where they are located -- in the bank, or accessing it over the Internet -- they are an employee, and therefore a "regular" user. On the other hand, a customer of that bank is always a customer, and therefore qualifies as an external user. It doe not matter where they are located. They could be accessing their account from a terminal physically located within the bank itself. They are always an external user! Two final points on external users. y External users are a subset of all users. If a company has purchased unlimited user entitlements, they have

unlimited entitlements for both "regular" and external users. y While a company can purchase unlimited external users for either a 515 or a 525, it is not always the most cost-

effective approach. The important number to be aware of when counting external user entitlements is 15. If the customer never expects to have more than 15 external users on the system concurrently, the external users should be included in the "general" user count (or are included in an unlimited user entitlement feature, or the 525 configuration 3). If the customer is purchasing a specific number of user entitlements for their employees (and equivalent), but expects more than 15 "external users" to access the system concurrently, they should purchase an unlimited external user entitlement for $3,995 (15 users would cost $3,750).

On October 9, 2007 the unlimited collaboration users capability was announced (US letter 207-242). This reduced price license only allows users to access specific Lotus collaboration products: Domino, Sametime, Quickr, Quickplace, and IBM Websphere Portal. Therefore, a company could have a number of users who access ERP and other functions (and who have "regular" entitlements), but other users who might only do eMail, Sametime, or another collaborative function. These users would NOT need a full license, but if they already have a "regular" license, they would NOT need a collaboration license. This capability can be very cost-effective in a system purchased for only IP telephony and collaboration -- in the past, a customer might have needed unlimited "regular" users -- now collaboration user licensing is available for a fraction of the cost. For additional information see: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/i/os/i5os/licensinginformation/


When is someone accessing the system NOT considered a user? If a person doesn't uniquely identify themselves to the system -- for example, someone who comes to the system merely to browse a web site -- they are NOT considered a user (until they identify themselves). For example, consider going to an auction site or an e-commerce site. When you go to the site, you usually do a lot of "anonymous browsing". At that point, you are not uniquely identified, and are therefore not a user. IF you choose to place a bid, purchase something, or check the status of a previous order, you must identify yourself. At that point, you become a user. Counting Users While it is very easy to identify a user in the real world, it is much more difficult for the system to determine the number of unique users (and if so, if they are a "regular" user or an "external", and/or are the same user signed on multiple times, and/or potentially signed on to multiple LPARS). While the system does indeed store and do some very basic checking of the number of users; if a warning message is issued on the number of users being exceeded, the number is probably being significantly exceeded! While the system may not be sending messages that the number of users is being exceeded, it is very possible from a terms and conditions perspective to be out of compliance! And, IBM has the right to perform audits if there is reason to believe a customer is out of compliance. Furthermore, user measurement approaches within the system may change. For example, it is my understanding that there are APIs (application program interfaces) in the system that ISVs will be able to use to tell the system how many users the application recognizes. Therefore, a future change to the system software or application software could indeed cause the system to start issuing out of compliance messages more frequently. Due to a change from the original "registered" user definition to the "concurrent" user definition; from a user counting perspective, a uniquely identifiable person who accesses the system is a user only when they are signed on (or have authenticated in other ways). And, they are still only one user even if they sign on multiple times, and/or use multiple partitions within the same system. This is an advantage over the "server farm" approach often seen in the Intel/Microsoft environment -- where users would need to be licensed or entitled to every system to which they sign onto or identify themselves. Counting Concurrent Users on the 515/525 With the announcement of concurrent user licensing rather than named users, the number of user entitlements required may decrease for many customers. At the same time, the number of questions has increased. To help address those questions, there is a Q&A document on System Sales and PartnerWorld. Search the System i area for "FAQ" (frequently asked questions). One of the questions not fully covered in that document is "How do I count users?" There is a tool available: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/i/os/i5os/licensing.html for use on existing systems to determine the maximum number of concurrent "traditional application" users at various points in time. It can also be used on the 515/525 as one means of monitoring the number of users. To supplement that tool (and for new placements), one needs to understand the various "types" of users before they can properly determine the number of needed user entitlements. Before reading the following section, please become familiar with the user and external definitions discussed on the previous page. In this discussion, the user count will either need to include external users (if there will be 15 or less), or an unlimited external user enablement should be purchased. There are several areas to examine:

y First, determine the maximum number of people that regularly sign on to the same workstation every day and remain on that workstation throughout the day.

y Second, determine the number of "shared devices" where the same device is used by multiple people at various times throughout the day (or during multiple shifts). Determine the maximum number of these devices that will ever be used concurrently.

y Third, determine the number of people that use their own workstation, but only sign on for part of a day. Then determine what percentage of their time they are signed on, and the maximum number who are likely to be concurrently signed on -- and when. An example will probably help:

Consider a company with an field sales force of 20 employees. They are in the field 70% of the day and only occasionally access the system from customer sites. At the end of the day, they sign onto the system for about 2 hours. Some sign on toward the end of regular working hours, others later in the evening. Overall, they spend about 30% of their time accessing the system.

The easy -- but wrong -- answer to "how many salesperson users should we plan for?" is 6 (20 users times 30% of their time). The reason this is wrong is that more than 6 of these users are actually likely to be signing on at the same time. If 75% of them signed on between 3 and 5 PM, at that time, you would need 15 users. If they were in multiple time zones you would need to plan accordingly. If however, 75% of them signed on during "after hours", while 15 of them may be on concurrently, many of the "in-office" users will have probably signed off and gone home, and therefore the salespeople would not be adding to the maximum total concurrent users count.


y Fourth, consider the number of concurrent external users that could sign on. As mentioned earlier, the key here will be whether or not more than 15 external users will sign on concurrently. One should examine both including external users in the total user count, and/or purchasing an unlimited external user entitlement.

y After analyzing each of these environments, add the values from each of the above categories together -- then determine anticipated growth for some time period (say the next year) and round up to the 5 or 10 user level (5 for the 515, 10 for the 525). On the 515, if you anticipate exceeding 80 users (total -- including employees and "external" users) purchase an unlimited user entitlement. For a new purchase of a 525, if you anticipate needing more than 120 users, purchase the Express 2 (150 users included); or if you anticipate needing more than 220 users, purchase the Express 3 (unlimited users).

When upgrading an existing system to a 525, using the Express 2 or Express 3 packages can often be even more cost-effective (i.e. the upgrade price difference between a 30 user Express 1 and 150 user Express 2 package may be far less than the $20,000 price difference on a new purchase, likewise between the 150 user and unlimited user Express 2 and 3 editions).

Overall Notes and for More Information on User-based Pricing: The provisions and definitions of user-based pricing are similar to those used in the Microsoft and Intel marketplaces. Therefore, while they may be "new to us", most of our customers will find them familiar. The provisions for "regular" and "external" user entitlements apply to companies using ASPs (application service providers) or Hosting services in the same manner as if the equipment was directly purchased by the company purchasing the ASP or Hosting services. IBM does NOT advantage ASPs or Hosting Services over our direct customers. This is discussed in the user entitlement contract. A User-based pricing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document is available as part of the 515/525 sales kit. IBMers can obtain it from System Sales; and Business Partners from PartnerWorld. Determining whether to use a 515 or 525, and Purchasing the correct number of users A model 515 comes with 5 users included. Additional user entitlements can be purchased in groups of 5 (for $1,250). In the Americas, we have removed the maximum of 40 users. An "unlimited" users feature is available (comparable to the price for 75 additional users (80 total including the 5 in the base). Unlimited "external" user entitlements (discussed earlier) are available for $3,995. If the workload is likely to exceed the available 8 disk drives or 16 GB of memory, the customer should consider a 525 -- there is no upgrade from a 515 to a 525. A model 525 comes in 3 user-based packages, one with 30 users included, one with 150 users, and the third with unlimited users. At the 30 and 150 user levels, additional "10-packs" of user entitlements can be purchased for $2,500 per 10 users. However, pricing of a 30 user system with 100 additional entitlements (130 total) equals that of a 150 user system; and a 150 user system with 80 additional entitlements (230 total) matches the price of an unlimited user system. Therefore, if a customer needs more than 120 users on a 30-user edition, or 220 users or less on a 150-user edition, they should buy the larger edition. The reason I mentioned "or less" for the unlimited edition is twofold. An upgrade from the 150 user edition to the unlimited user edition was added late in 2007. The $25,000 price (US $) of this upgrade it is half the price of the unlimited user feature (used from a 30 user edition) but $5,000 more than an inital purchase of the unlimited edition (even more compared to the unlimited purchase in some upgrade scenarios). Second, there is a subclass of users called "external users" (discussed earlier). If there is a large number of users who qualify as "external" users on an edition that does not have unlimited users, it may be cost effective to purchase unlimited external users ($3,995). However, on an unlimited user edition, unlimited access for external users is included. Therefore, if you have 204 or more "regular" users (and/or visions of user growth) and also need an external user license, an unlimited user edition will be more cost-effective. When upgrading into a 525, understanding the number of users included is very important. It is often MUCH less expensive to upgrade to an edition that includes "more users than you really need", than to purchase a smaller edition and then add users. As an extreme (but not the biggest) example, a 520 upgrade (3300 cpw with a 1.65 GHz processor) to the 525 model 150-user configuration is only about $600 more than the upgrade price to the 30-user configuration! Not only is it important for the customer to purchase the correct number of users, it is also in your best interest as a salesperson to sell them the correct number of users -- and receive the additional revenue. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, IBM reserves the right to audit systems for adherence to user-based licensing contracts. You do not want to put yourself in the middle of that! NOTE: There is special pricing for CBU edition users -- but only at the time of the initial purchase or CBU upgrade.


525 CBU Editions A 525 CBU edition has been announced. Unlike the 520 CBU, which can use an 810 as the "primary" system, a model 520 (enterprise, standard, or solution edition) or 525 is required as the primary. If an 810 is currently the primary for a 520 CBU, the 5250 CBU cannot be upgraded to a 525 CBU until the 810 is first upgraded. This provides an opportunity to upgrade BOTH systems. Also, unlike the 520 CBU (which supports upgrades from the 810), the only upgrade paths into the 525 CBU are from a 520 CBU edition (not from an 810 or a 520 standard or enterprise edition). A 525 CBU includes 1 i5/OS license and 30 user entitlements as part of the price. IF the primary system associated with a 525 CBU is a 520 or 550; additional user entitlements for the 525 CBU can be purchased (only at the time of the 525 purchase or upgrade into the CBU) at a reduced price of 10 users for $1,000 (normally $2,500) or unlimited users for $15,000 (normally $50,000). These prices were reduced to the amounts just shown via announcement letter 307-146 on September 18, 2007. The purchase of such entitlements is often needed if the primary system is a 520, but it may or may not be necessary if the primary system associated with a 525 CBU is itself a 525. This is because in the event of a role-swap, user entitlements (beyond a base of 30) from the "primary" 525 can be temporarily transferred to the CBU 525 (in the same way that i5/OS licenses temporarily transfer to a CBU). HOWEVER, if the primary system is a 520, there are no user entitlements available to be temporarily transferred, and therefore one should purchase the reduced-price entitlements available with the initial purchase/upgrade of the 525 CBU. If the customer currently owns a 520, or a 525, they can purchase a 525 CBU. The initial purchase price of the 525 CBU is $29,900 including 30 users ($5,000 less than a 525 express edition 1 which includes 30 users). This price is also $3,100 less than the cost of a 1200 cpw 520 CBU, but will require the purchase of additional users if the 520 remains the primary system and the customer has more than 30 users. The fact that user entitlements can temporarily transfer from a 525 primary to a 525 CBU provides a unique opportunity. If a customer currently owns a 520 CBU. Rather than simply purchasing a 525 CBU or upgrading an existing 520 CBU to a 525 CBU, consider also upgrading the primary system to a 525. This can be cost effective, because the "primary" 520 to 525 upgrade may include the needed user entitlements (that can be temporarily transferred), potentially making it unnecessary to purchase (as many) additional user entitlements for the 525 CBU. An pair of Examples will help further explain this: Example 1, New 525 CBU purchase: Assume a customer has a 1200 cpw 520 Enterprise Edition and will be purchasing

a 525 CBU. They have 120 users on the 520 (which doesn't matter on the 520, but is important to know).

The list price of the 525 CBU is $29,900. However, they also need to purchase an additional 90 users (in case a role-swap is needed). The cost of the additional 90 users would normally be $22,500, but if they are purchased as part of the 525 CBU, an unlimited user entitlement is available at a reduced price of $15,000. Therefore, the price for the 525 CBU is $44,900 (plus any additional features).

As an alternative, first upgrade the 1200 cpw 520 to a 525 with 150 users for a price of $12,400. Then purchase the 525 CBU. Because users beyond the base 30 users on the primary 525 system can be temporarily transferred to the 525 CBU in the event of a needed role swap, it may not be necessary to have purchased additional users on the 525 CBU. Therefore, the total cost could be as little as $12,400 + $29,900 = $42,300 (plus any additional features). The cost-effectiveness of the above approach can be used to justify an upgrade of the primary system as well as the CBU purchase! And, the customer was not even considering such a situation. This is especially valuable when one considers the additional speed of the 525 and therefore the ability to add new workloads.

Example 2, Upgrading a 520 CBU to a 525 CBU: Assume a customer has a 1200 cpw 520 Enterprise Edition and a 1200 cpw 520 CBU. They have 120 users on the 520. They would like to upgrade the 520 CBU to a 525 CBU.

The list price of this upgrade is $12,400. However, they also need to purchase an additional 90 users. The cost of the additional 90 users would normally be $22,500, but if they are purchased as part of the 520 CBU to 525 CBU upgrade, an unlimited user entitlement is available at a reduced price of $15,000. Therefore, the upgrade for the CBU is $27,400 (plus any additional features).

As an alternative, first upgrade the 1200 cpw 520 Enterprise Edition to a 525 with 150 users at a price of $12,400. Then, upgrade the 520 CBU to a 525 for $12,400. Because users beyond the base 30 users on the primary 525 system can be temporarily transferred to the 525 CBU in the event of a needed role swap, it may not be necessary to purchase additional users on the 525 CBU. Therefore, the total cost could be as little as $24,800 (plus any additional features).

The cost-effectiveness of the above approach can be used to justify a PAIR of 520 upgrades where the customer was not even considering such a situation. This is especially viable when one considers the additional speed of the 525 and therefore the ability to add new workloads. Depending on the specific "primary 520" processor feature being upgraded (not the case in this example) there could also be a potential reduction in SWMA costs.

Note: The above examples are real for all 1.9 GHz 520 Enterprise editions. 1.5 and 1.65 GHz processor features and other editions may not have the same advantages.


Special reduced-price Disk package Features: Three reduced price disk packages (#5570/5571/5572) are available for the 515, 520 and/or 525 systems (5572 is only for the 515 express configuration 3). The 5570/5571 provide a 40-Megabyte write cache enablement feature that provides RAID capabilities and enhances the speed of the base disk controller in the CEC (and therefore the response times of the disk drives); and either 2 (#5570), 4 (#5572), or 6 (#5571) x 70 GB disk drives. These packages provide significant savings over the price of the separate components. While the 2 drive and cache enhancement feature appears logical, the 6 drive version may seem a little confusing when first examined. It was designed the way it is, because on a 515, an additional disk controller (for disks beyond the first 4) is already included with the needed disk expansion feature. Therefore, when the 6-drive feature is added to a 515, the first 2 disks of the package are controlled by the base system controller with the 40-MB cache; and the "last" 4 disks are controlled by a second controller (that came with the disk enclosure that houses these drives). When using these features with a 520 or 525, for performance reasons, we strongly recommend a second disk controller and disk enclosure #6594 (not #6574) be added to the configuration. This is NOT the configurator default. Comparing the 520 and the 515/525 Models/editions -- What's different? As a general rule, we would like to essentially replace sales of the 520 Models, including the 520 express editions, with 515 and 525 models. Unfortunately this is not always possible. This section points some differences you need to be aware of, that in some cases could make it necessary to continue selling 520 models/editions.

y The 515/525 require V5R4 (or future levels). This level of software has been available since April 2006. Customers and ISVs should have moved to V5R4 for functional benefits (IOPless, IP telephony, iSCSI, etc.). There is now a direct financial reason. If they are unable to move to V5R4, a model 520 may be the only alternative solution.

y 515 Express Editions compared to 520 Express Editions: y The obvious user-based pricing ramifications must be explored. In the Americas, there is an unlimited user

entitlements feature for the 515. Some ISVs could have different pricing models for user-based systems. y 515 Express Editions provide CONFIGURABILITY -- 520 editions often required a 2-step process with an MES. y 515 Express Edition 1 comes with only a 90-day SWMA (vs. 1 year on 520) -- an upgrade is available. y Like the "Intel world", maintenance is 9 x 5, next day service with customer replaceable parts delivered to the

customer. This can be upgraded to 24 x 7 with CE-installed parts. y 515 Expandability is limited by the 8 disks, 16 GB, and inability to attach towers (no HSL). y LPARs require the virtualization feature ($590). The maximum number of i5/OS LPARs is 2 (until i5/OS Ver. 6). y While the 515 express editions do NOT automatically include WebSphere Development Studio (WDS) which is

part of most 520 editions. It is available as a low cost option (P05 tier). y 515/525 Express Editions compared to 520 Enterprise Editions y There is slightly less software content included with the 525 (performance tools for example). y The 515/525 models include iSeries Access Family (5722-XW1) at no additional charge. y The software tier may be lower (P10) -- especially if you had a full processor requirement on a 520 (P20). y Activating a Second processor on a 525 and activating i5/OS is MUCH less expensive ($8,900 vs. $25,000 for

i5/OS). Depending on the cpw of the 520, adding a processor could involve CE installation and downtime. y Upgrade paths from 810 models to 520/525 models were withdrawn from marketing effective December 1, 2007. y Model 520 upgrades to the 150-user 525 express edition can often be less expensive than upgrading to a 30-

user edition and adding users. y 525 Upgrades from existing 520 editions can be very cost-effective -- especially when from 1.9 GHz procs. y Upgrading a 520 to a 525 (at the 150-user level or greater) and purchasing a CBU edition can be less

expensive than purchasing a 525 CBU and continuing to use a 520 as the primary system. y Other 520 Editions (Standard, Collaboration, Solution, etc.) y If a customer can meet the constraints of a 515, it will always be less expensive than a similarly sized 520

"Special" edition. y Depending on the number of users required and whether or not a 2-way processor will be needed, a Standard

Edition 520 may sometimes still be viable y The Oct. 2007 (anno. 207-242) feature that provides the 515/525 with unlimited Collaboration users essentially

replaces the need for a 520 collaboration edition. y SAP and Oracle solution editions for the 515 essentially replace the equivalent 520 editions. Be sure to take

advantage disk package features used with these editions.


System i POWER6 570 (MMA) Product Structure Information What is the System i POWER6 570 (MMA)? The System i POWER6 570 is the latest addition to the System i family. It uses 4.7 GHz POWER6 processors (6th Generation of POWER processors, 12th generation of IBM 64-bit RISC processors) which provide increases in both per processor and overall system processing power. Different benchmarks show different relative levels of processor performance increases. This document uses "cpw" (commercial performance workload -- a disk-intensive environment) for comparisons, but even greater performance differences can be seen in compute-intensive workloads. The physical structure of the POWER6 570 is similar to previous 570 models. It consists of 1 to 4 processor "drawers" each containing 4 processor features (2 processors on each of 2 processor cards), memory features, PCI slots, etc. While the POWER5+ generation of 570 models were classified as 2/4-way, 4/8-way, and 8/16-way processor features, the POWER6 models are 1/4-way, 2/8-way, and 4/16-way. An October 2007 announcement allows a 1/4-way or 2/8-way feature to be upgraded to the equivalent of a 3/12-way system by adding #5801 Processor Enclosure drawers. The new structure allows a customer to purchase a 16 processor system, but activate as few as 4 processors. This allows non-interrupted growth as up to 12 additional processors are activated. Of course, larger models cost more initially and for maintenance than smaller models; and the 2/8-way and 4/16-way require physical memory features on EVERY processor card in the system -- whether or not it has processors activated (Capacity Upgrade on Demand (CUoD) capabilities allow them to be dynamically on/off activated at any time). Specific features are required in each processor expansion "drawer" (sometimes also called "nodes"). While it may appear less expensive to purchase a smaller model and add one or more processor expansion drawers, in reality, when all costs are accounted for, it is less expensive to purchase larger systems initially rather than "two-stepping" to a larger configuration. From an "editions" standpoint, there are no longer Standard or Enterprise editions. Both are replaced by the i5/OS edition. The i5/OS edition can provide Enterprise Enablement (5250 OLTP aka "interactive") via a $50,000 feature, which provides one processor's worth of enablement. Additional enterprise processor-based enablements ($50,000) or an unlimited enablement for all processors ($200,000) can be purchased. When upgrading from an older Enterprise edition to an i5/OS edition, one enterprise enablement license is included. If there were additional licenses on the previous machine, these are transferred. When upgrading from a Standard edition, an enterprise enablement is NOT included, but can be purchased ($50,000) -- thus providing a relatively low-cost movement from a Standard edition to a machine with 5250 OLTP capabilities. In addition to the i5/OS edition, there is also a CBU edition. It provides functionality similar to the older CBU and HA editions. There are however a few changes to CBU requirements. In the past, you could upgrade an 870/890 Standard or Enterprise edition into a 570 CBU edition. Now, the ONLY upgrade into the POWER6 570 CBU edition is from an existing CBU edition. When purchasing a CBU edition to be paired with an Enterprise edition or POWER6 570 with Enterprise enablement, a minimum of one enterprise enablement must be purchased for the CBU edition -- additional enablements can then temporarily transfer. Pairing rules for "allowable primary" systems have been enhanced since the POWER6 570 announcement. Additional information on the CBU edition is included in the upgrade tables section of the paper. With the new edition structure, on new purchases, the extensive list of software shipped with the Enterprise edition is no longer included. These software features can now be purchased separately via "value packs" that provide about a 25% savings versus purchasing the products individually (see Software section of this paper). The use of "value packs" allowed a reduction in price for the i5/OS edition; and provides additional value to customers who either were not using the software or already had copies. Additionally, System i Access Family is now included with both new purchases and upgrades (a savings of $41,250 at the P30 tier used on the POWER6 570). Likewise, "Optimum care" is now included with both new purchases and upgrades. It includes education and services vouchers, and with the 4/16-way, an On-site Availability assessment. What's different? There are many differences between features and requirements supported and/or used in configurations on POWER5/5+ 570s and the POWER6 570 models. Because of this, careful PRE-ORDER planning is required. In fact, best practices indicate that as much as possible, changes should be made on an existing 870/890, or 550 or 570 system PRIOR to performing the upgrade to the POWER6 570. There are many differences both in the 570 system itself and in the configuration rules. This document briefly covers some of them. There are training teleconferences that cover the differences and planning considerations in far greater detail -- see the System Sales or PartnerWorld sites for information on those teleconferences/rebroadcasts/downloads. This paper first discusses differences in the system unit and new attachment features. This is followed by "new rules" for configurations. As the material is covered, the need for careful planning should become self-evident. Improper planning can result in "failed upgrades" -- I think you'll see why!


There are differences in the POWER6 system unit (CEC): y The number and "type" of PCI slots differs. Each drawer of the POWER6 570 system unit provides 6 PCI

slots, but if you have 2 HSL or 12X loops active, only 5 of them will be usable. Of those slots, 4 of them are PCIe slots for use with new PCIe features. The system unit does NOT support IOP-controlled PCI I/O Adapters.

Planning Ramifications for upgrades: Existing PCI IOAs/IOPs cannot simply be moved from the existing system unit to the new system unit -- a new PCI enclosure will often be required to house older features. In some cases (Ethernet cards) a feature may be able to be eliminated and replaced with a new integrated feature.

y The disks in the System unit are SAS (Serial Attach SCSI) drives. These are different features, using different mounting hardware and interfaces than disks on existing systems. Also, the ONLY disk controller available for the 6 allowable disks in each processor drawer does NOT support write cache or RAID capabilities. The disks on this controller MUST be used in a mirrored environment and should be mirrored to another controller elsewhere in the system. Because there is no write cache, performance (and the number of disk accesses per second that each drive can perform) will be far less than what's available on disks attached to cache-enabled controllers. Therefore, one should "think twice" before configuring disks in the system unit. NOTE: SAS drive capacities are slightly smaller than tower or EXP24 drive capacities. However, they can be mirrored to "similar size" disks in the EXP24 or a 5x9x tower (for example, a 69.7 GB SAS drive can mirror to 70.56 GB drive in an EXP24 or tower). Planning Ramifications for upgrades: Because the disks in each drawer of the system unit are different from those in current system units, unless a customer wants to do an "unload/reload" when moving to the POWER6 570, they will need to relocate the disks in the current system unit into another disk enclosure (and will probably want to keep any RAID arrays intact). This will often mean that a new disk enclosure and/or disk controller(s) will need to be purchased (usually recommend an EXP24, but in some cases a #0595 enclosure may be viable). Furthermore, the disks in the system unit (CEC) usually contain the load/source disk. Because of the above, the load/source should usually be moved out of the CEC. On the POWER6 570, a Hardware Management Console (HMC) is always required. Among other things, it will be used to "point" to the (new) location of the load/source. The HMC requires a minimum of Version 7 Release 3.1.0 of the HMC licensed machine code (required by POWER6, but usable on POWER5 & POWER5+).

y The POWER6 570 uses DDR-2 Buffered memory that is faster/differs from POWER5 and POWER5+ memory. Per GB prices are generally similar to POWER5+ memory prices. Specifics on configuration approaches differ. There are 50% more memory slots than on the POWER5/5+ 570s. Customers upgrading from POWER5+ 570 DDR-2 memory will receive partial memory credits when upgrading IBM memory features. See the memory section for additional detail.

Planning Ramifications for upgrades: One needs to determine the amount of memory desired, the capacity of the desired memory features, and how they will be placed on the various processor feature cards.

y Previous 570 models included an HSL-2 loop in each processor drawer for attachment of external PCI towers and enclosures. There was an option for a second HSL loop in each drawer. The POWER6 570 allows the choice of using HSL-2 and/or 12X loops to attach towers/PCI enclosures. Each feature is optional, with up to 2 features per drawer (the second feature makes one of the available PCI slots unusable). Each feature provides a pair of ports (for one loop). The price of the HSL loop feature is about half that of the 12X feature. An HSL-2 loop can support 6 towers/PCI enclosures. A 12X loop provides about 50% more bandwidth, but only supports a maximum of 4 #5796 PCI enclosures (which can in turn support EXP24 disk enclosures). Both the HSL-2-oriented #5790 and the 12X oriented #5796 support 6 PCI features, and have a base $5,000 price. The #5796 makes better use of the available slots, because IOPs are not needed/allowed (which also restricts the use of some PCI cards). When planning between using an HSL-2 loop with #5790 enclosures versus a 12X loop with #5796 enclosures, be sure to determine if IOP-based features are needed. Also be aware that loop attachment features are included in the #5790 price, but are additional cost (up to $2,500) on the #5796. Finally, the #5796 uses a different, slightly more expensive (less than $100 difference) feature to mount in the rack .

Planning Ramifications for upgrades: Because the System unit of the POWER6 570 uses a different type of PCI feature (PCIe) it is likely that a #5790 or 5796 will need to be added (to house PCI cards previously in the CEC). The #5790 and #5796 are the ONLY PCI enclosures (other than the "footprint ugly" 5096/5296 towers) that can be purchased for a POWER6 570 (more on this later), but if doing an interim upgrade prior upgrading to a POWER6 570, the #5094/5294 towers can be purchased for the existing system and will be usable on the POWER6 570; thus providing additional options. A #0595 Disk/PCI enclosure can also be purchased and used on the POWER6 570.


y For each POWER6 570 processor drawer, a 2 or 4 port Integrated Virtual Ethernet Adapter is required. This feature goes in a special slot (does not take up PCI slots) and can provide Ethernet support to MULTIPLE LPARS. The 2-port version sells for $399, the 4-port version for $699. Planning Ramifications for upgrades: With proper planning, you may be able to reduce the number of Ethernet ports (and therefore PCI enclosures) on the system by using these features to support multiple LPARS.

Other Enhancements to consider using y Various new PCI features are announced. These features go in either the System Unit (CEC) using PCIe

capabilities or in PCI enclosures. They do not use (or need) an IOP. See the features section for details.

y New 280+ GB 15k rpm disk drives are announced -- one is used in the CEC (SAS attachment), the other is used in an EXP24 enclosure. These drives CANNOT be used in #5094/5095/5294 towers. They require V5R4M5 microcode and can then be used with POWER5/5+ models, but NOT with 8xx models.

When using these drives, there is a lot of data under a single disk arm. If too few disks are used, performance problems could result. IF the customer is currently running a RAID-5 environment using 140 GB drives and is not having performance bottlenecks, then they will be able to use the same number of 280 GB drives in a mirrored environment. Other than that type of approach, these drives might be appropriate for archival purposes, low use historical data, "virtual tape", and/or image storage. In most cases when used in those environments, they should be placed in a separate Auxiliary Storage Pool (ASP).

y A new capability provides the ability to implement "Hot Spare" functionality on most RAID-capable disk controllers. This function can be used with 800/825/870/890 and POWER5, 5+, and 6 5xx models when running i5/OS V5R4M5. When using Hot Spare(s), if a disk drive fails in a RAID set, it is automatically (electronically) "replaced" and added into the RAID array, utilizing an "extra" disk (hot spare) attached to the same disk controller. The failed drive can then be replaced at a later time, and become a new "hot spare". The additional cost is one (or more) extra "unused" disk(s) per RAID controller. Multiple Hot Spares can be supported by a single controller -- providing even more resiliency. A Hot Spare, RAID-5 can provide almost the same level of protection as RAID-6, but without the additional ongoing overhead imposed by RAID-6. A single hot spare can support multiple RAID arrays on the same controller. EXP24 enclosures where up to 36 disks can be supported on a single disk controller (recommendation is usually 24 disks per controller) provide the most efficient hot spare environment. NOTE: Hot Spare(s) can be used with RAID-5 and RAID-6 arrays, but not (currently) in a mirrored environment (the hot spare capability is a function of the disk controller -- in System i mirrored environments, the system, not the controller provides the mirroring function -- this allows the controllers themselves to be mirrored).

Differences in features that can be ordered/attached to the POWER6 system unit (CEC): y In February 2007, IBM announced that various features would not be supported on future systems -- i.e. the

POWER6 570! Among these features are #5074/5079 towers, 10k rpm disk drives smaller than 35 GB, and a number of older disk controllers and other features. Many tape drives that attach via the withdrawn/slow #2749 HVD SCSI adapter are also not supported. A list containing this information can be found at: http://www.ibm.com/systems/support/i/planning/upgrade/index.html Click on the V5R4 and Future SW/HW tabs. (you may also want to browse some of the other tabs/links).

Planning Ramifications for upgrades: If any of these features still exist on a system being upgraded to a POWER6 570, they need to be replaced. It will often be easier to do this on the existing hardware, PRIOR to upgrading to the POWER6 570.

y The intent of the POWER6 570 and other future System i products is to move away from PCI/disk towers and into rack-mounted PCI and disk enclosures. Because of this, while #5094 and 5094 towers continue to be supported on the POWER6 570, they CANNOT be able to be ordered for that model.

Planning Ramifications for upgrades: If you intend to replace older towers with newer towers and/or add 5094/5294 towers to a system, it MUST be done PRIOR to upgrading to the POWER6 570. However, we recommend moving to #5790/5796 PCI enclosures and EXP24 disk enclosures (rather than towers).

y Many customers, especially those using external disk subsystems, still use older #5088/0588 PCI enclosures (that have been discontinued from marketing). These enclosures support a large number of PCI adapters on a single HSL loop address. However, they only support a single disk controller that is used with disks in the EXP24. Having been discontinued, the #5088/0588 features cannot be ordered for the POWER6 570. These enclosures are supported providing they have been upgraded to support HSL-2 high-speed capabilities via RPQ #847204 and accompanying feature #6417 (HSL-2/RIO-G bus adapter -- $800). Planning Ramifications for upgrades: MAKE SURE that the RPQ is installed on EVERY #5088/0588 PRIOR to upgrading to the POWER6 570. If you do not, you could have a failed upgrade! This is critical.


While the POWER5/5+ could "negotiate" down to a slower HSL loop speed if there was a #5088/0588 (or other older/slower tower) on the system running at the slower speed; the POWER6 cannot. It wants to run at the higher speed . Even higher bandwidth (and potentially speed) is available if using 12X loops! The original intent on the POWER6 570 was NOT to support PCI enclosures of the #5088/0588 vintage -- however, we felt it was critical to retain the ability to attach these enclosures and were willing to "limit" them to running them at "full HSL-2 loop speed". NOTEs: 1) This author believes that checking for the higher speed capability on a #5088/0588 is NOT done by eConfig -- it is an RPQ, not a "normal feature" and eConfig does not normally support RPQs. Use the CL command dsphdwrsc *ahw -- FC/CCIN # 2887 means the RPQ is needed. 2) Adding a high speed HSL-2 #6417 adapter to a #5088/0588 feature is a customer setup function. If it is done as part of an IBM-installed upgrade, the technician will normally also install the #6417, but if they are called out to provide only this customer-installable feature (easy to do -- good documentation exists), it is billable. 3) There is no official conversion to move a #5088 from atop a #5074 to atop a #5094 rack, but some technicians may be able to do so on a time and material basis. And, there is NO conversion (or work-around) from a #5088 to an #0588. IF the #5088 is mounted on a #5074 tower (which is NOT supported on a POWER6 570), as a temporary workaround, it should be possible (based on informal discussions) to plug in the #5074 tower, but ONLY cable the HSL-2 connection from the #5088 to the system (NOT the #5074 itself). This is of course not the most efficient thing to do, and you would have expensive problems if the #5074 itself were not on maintenance and a power supply needed replacing, but "in a pinch" it should work. The right thing to do is to replace the #5088.

y IF the customer is moving to V6R1 of i5/OS (on POWER6 hardware only) and are using an IBM DS8x00 Storage Subsystem, they should consider purchasing new fibre controllers to replace the older controllers. These controllers are VERY PCO slot efficient and provide significantly more throughput and performance than older fibre controllers. For maximum speed, they should be used in 12X enclosures (#5796).

Differences in the POWER6 system "rules" for configuration: NOTE: Similar rules and upgrade considerations apply to other POWER6 products announced 4/2/08 & 4/8/08. y To provide higher resiliency and reduce situations where a system (or at least LPAR) reload is required, the

POWER6 570 REQUIRES that ALL DISK CONTROLLERS (with write cache capability -- which means all the high performance controllers) MUST BE either MIRRORED or, IF providing RAID support, MUST HAVE AUXILIARY WRITE CACHE CAPABILITIES. While this level of protection has been available -- and strongly suggested -- for some time, many customers have not yet implemented it. IT IS NOW A REQUIREMENT! Presentations on the importance of controller level mirroring and auxiliary write cache have been available for some time. Conversion from RAID without Auxiliary Write Cache to using Auxiliary write cache or controller level mirroring REQUIRES PLANNING, and usually additional features, which may lead to additional costs -- which of course needs to be presented to the customer as a positive statement of providing additional resiliency. It is suggested that when possible, these conversions are done on the existing system; PRIOR to the upgrade to the POWER6. A Red paper is available to help with the planning issues: http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/redp4003.html Planning Ramifications for upgrades: It should be obvious that all #2757 and #2780 controllers used in a RAID environment are going to need to be upgraded to their auxiliary write cache counterparts (#5591/5590 -- these features replace the #5581/5580 at the same price, but are better positioned for future controller upgrades) or to newer controllers. There are also some "less obvious" considerations that come about because of this requirement:

y Many systems were ordered with #5555/5556 mirroring features, that consist of a number of disks and a disk controller. To be able to order these, one had to specify to eConfig that the system was mirrored to the disk controller level. Unfortunately, many of these features are now actually being used in a RAID environment -- without auxiliary write cache. What's worse, eConfig "thinks" the system is mirror-protected, so will NOT properly configure the needed upgrades for auxiliary write cache protection in a RAID environment -- because it doesn't know they are RAIDed! Be sure to examine "input configurations" for these features and properly address them if they are actually being used in a RAID environment.

y Older (pre-#2757) disk controllers do not support Auxiliary Write Cache and need to be replaced. y Some current, smaller disk controllers like the #5737/5776 (with 90 MB of write cache) cannot be

upgraded to auxiliary write cache capability and therefore need to either be replaced with auxiliary write-cache-capable controllers or used in a mirrored environment (which is likely to add costs for additional disk drives, controllers, and potentially disk and PCI enclosures).


y The planning process for adding auxiliary write cache to disk controllers that support the capability can have some "unexpected ramifications" -- if you do not plan for them in advance. These could result in additional costs and/or services requirements. A few examples are shown below:

y Consider a #5074 with 3 x #2780 disk controllers and a "bunch of other PCI cards" installed. The #2780s are going to need to be upgraded to #5590s. y The #5074 is not even supported. Therefore, it will need to be replaced with a #5094

tower OR (suggested) with EXP24 disk enclosures and PCI enclosures -- which in turn will require different disk controller(s). NOTE: If replacing with a #5094 tower, this must be ordered against the CURRENT system -- a #5094 CANNOT be ordered against a POWER6 570 system (see earlier discussion).

y See the considerations for the #5094 tower (below) that also apply. y Assume the same scenario with a #5094 with the with 3 x #2780 disk controllers and a "bunch

of other PCI cards" installed. The following is a "near worst case" scenario -- to make a point.... To make it truly worst case, we would need to add LPAR placement requirements... y To upgrade the 3 x #2780 features to #5590 features, 4 additional PCI card slots must be

available -- 3 for the additional auxiliary write cache features that must be added, and one for an additional IOP that will probably need to be added.

y However, there are a "bunch of other PCI cards" installed. Depending on what these features are, and/or LPAR requirements, there may not be enough room (or the specific PCI slot locations may not be available) to support 4 additional PCI cards...

y If there is not room to support additional PCI cards in the existing #5094, an additional enclosure may need to be added -- and some NON-disk controller features will need to move to that new enclosure (probably a #5790). This could result in the need for not only an additional enclosure, but also 1 or more additional #2844 IOPs (if not using IOPless IOAs). Complexity increases if this is an LPAR environment.

y Now, WHERE are you going to place the new PCI enclosure? If you have room in an existing rack, there may be no problem; but what if there is no room in an existing rack? An additional rack could be needed -- which results in more cost, floor space, electrical requirements, etc. (I said this was going to be "near worst case").

y Furthermore, the additional PCI enclosure is going to drive some additional requirements. At least one additional HSL loop cable may be required -- and depending on the physical location, longer HSL cables could be needed. The additional enclosure is also going to use an address on an HSL loop. This is probably not a problem unless there are already 6 PCI enclosures on the loop -- in which case an additional HSL loop may be needed. This could in turn drive a requirement for an additional HSL adapter on the System Unit or in the very worst case, a larger system unit to allow more loops to be supported!

y Assume the #5094 tower just discussed did NOT have a problem with the number of PCI slots (or it has already been solved). As before, there are 3 x #2780 disk controllers supporting 45 disk drives. Unfortunately, there are "too many" #5094s still installed where they were physically cabled in a "non-optimal manner" and have not yet been corrected. y Ideally, with 45 disks and 3 controllers, one would like to have 15 disks per controller.

However, in "too many" situations, the first and second controllers are supporting 20 disk drives and the third controller only 5!

y A #2780 can indeed support 20 disk drives. A #5590 (or similar) that has auxiliary write cache, can only support 15 disks.

y To make matters worse, the 20 disks on a single disk controller are RAIDed. In order to remove 5 disks from the RAID arrays and place them on a different disk controller, the RAID array will need to be stopped. After the RAID array is stopped, the 5 disks will need to be "moved" to a different disk controller by moving a SCSI cable (that goes to a 5-disk enclosure) from one controller to a different controller. After that, the RAID array(s) can be re-created (which takes time). During this time, the disks on the system have not been RAID-protected. In most instances, the customer is going to want to contract for services in order to make the above changes.

Please realize the above "near worst case" scenarios were presented to make the point that PLANNING IS ESSENTIAL ! Furthermore, for each of the above "auxiliary write cache scenarios", the planning and implementation can usually be done on the existing system -- PRIOR to upgrading to the POWER6. Doing as much of this work as possible in advance will help ensure successful POWER6 upgrades and minimal downtime.


Can a customer even use a POWER6 570 (MMA) or should the customer consider a POWER5+ system -- potentially with special bid pricing? Until a customer can run ALL their partitions (LPARs) on V5R4 (using V5R4M5 microcode), they will NOT be able to run on a POWER6 570. Also, IF a customer is using non-IBM external disk storage, they could be constrained by the storage vendor from moving to Power6 hardware, V6R1, or new fibre adapters -- until that vendor has tested THEIR equipment with the new hardware, software, or features. Once a non-IBM external disk subsystem vendor "certifies" the upgrade; recognize that it is that vendor's, not IBM's, claim of compatibility. Before considering a move to non-integrated disks or non-IBM external disk subsystems, one should recognize that delays between IBM hardware/software availability; and a third-party certifying their ability to work with the new hardware/software, may lead to a customer being unable to rapidly implement new announcements. The result could be a delay/loss of anticipated future savings and/or benefits. Customers not already familiar with Hardware Management Console (HMC) operations will need to learn to use one and/or have someone perform some pre-configuration functions using the HMC. (See above discussions for additional detail). The HMC will require a minimum of Version 7 Release 3.1.0 (or higher) of the HMC licensed machine code (required by POWER6, but usable on POWER5 & POWER5+). "Rules" when Upgrading to the POWER6 570 As in the past, upgrades from older models into the POWER6 570 models use a "base # of processors" to "base # of processors" approach. By this we mean that upgrade prices are based on going from the number of "base" processors in the existing system to the number of "base" processors in the new system. As before, additional purchased processor activations convert to processors on the new system using a "conversion price". i5/OS licenses and additional purchased enterprise enablements are moved with the upgrade. As long as the software tier does not increase, there are no additional upgrade charges in this area. In addition to the above "business as usual" approaches, there is one new approach used during an upgrade. It is described in the following example, which will hopefully also clarify the above statements:

Assume a customer owns a 4/8-way Enterprise edition POWER5+ 570 that has 5 processors activated -- the 4 in the "base" and 1 additional processor activation that was purchased (total of about 20,400 cpw). They have 5 licenses of i5/OS, and 1 additional processor's worth of 5250 enterprise enablement. They want to upgrade to a 2/8-way POWER6 570 with "about the same cpw". When they upgrade, the 4 "base" processors are converted to a POWER6 570 2/8-way (which has 2 "base" processors) at an upgrade price of $81,000 (versus the normal selling price of the 2/8-way of $220,000). Because this is an upgrade from an Enterprise edition, a $50,000 POWER6 570 Enterprise enablement is included at no additional charge as part of the upgrade; and the additional enterprise enablement capability they had previously purchased is converted at no charge to a POWER6 570 enterprise enablement (and in the process gets more cpw value). The additional processor activation they had purchased (that has a price of $10,500 on the POWER5+ 570) is converted to a $17,700 POWER6 activation at a conversion price of $7,200 (the net difference). The resulting system with 3 processor activations has about 15,900 cpw. Based on the description in the first paragraph of this example, the customer wanted "about the same cpw", so they will need to purchase an additional processor to get them to about 21,600 cpw. In the past, this would have cost them the price of an additional processor enablement ($17,700). HOWEVER, and this is a new approach, because the previous "from" machine had 4 processors in the base, and the new machine has only 2 processors in the base, the customer can convert the "extra" 2 base processors of the "from" machine to processors in the upgraded machine for a "conversion price" that in this case is $7,200 per processor! This can ONLY be done at the time of the initial upgrade. Therefore, the customer can elect to spend $7,200 to convert 1 processor (and get a total of 4 active processors on the new machine -- with about 21,600 cpw) or spend $14,400 and convert 2 processors (resulting in a machine with 5 active processors and about 26,700 cpw). Since they had 5 i5/OS licenses initially, they should not need to purchase any additional licenses; and if they selected the upgrade approach that resulted in 4 processor activations, they would have one i5/OS license "on the shelf" for future use. However, if they had selected the 5 processor activation, the additional processor would have been made available for about 41% of it's normal price, and they would be using all the i5/OS licenses they had previously purchased. Note: With 5 processors active, there is a slight increase in the maintenance cost. Finally, if this example had instead been an upgrade from a 1/4-way 550 with additional activated processors, to a 1/4-way 570 with an additional activated processor; the same approaches would have applied. However, the price differences for the additional activated processor conversion would have been greater.


POWER6 570 CBU Editions In addition to the i5/OS edition, there is also a CBU edition, which provides functionality similar to the older CBU and HA editions. There are however a few changes. In the past, you could upgrade an 870/890 Standard or Enterprise edition into a 570 CBU edition. Now, the ONLY upgrade into the CBU edition is from an existing CBU edition. Additional information on the CBU edition is included in the upgrade tables section of the paper. Product Positioning vs. POWER5+ Most customers who are able to run V5R4 of i5/OS who would be considering a 570 class machine will want to purchase a POWER6 570 model. By doing so, they usually will pay a lower price, get the latest technology, and have lower maintenance prices as well as potentially a lower software tier (same P30 tier as POWER5+ 2/4-way, lower than P40 tier of 4/8-way or 8/16-way). Customers considering Standard Edition purchases may still find POWER5+ models to be attractively priced. Also, customers who are upgrading from 825/870/890 models may still have attractive offerings in moving to POWER5+ technology in some cases. This is because the value of the 8xx model has decreased in the 18 months since upgrade prices were set for the POWER5+ product line. The upgrade prices to the POWER6 570 reflect more realistic values for the older systems that are being upgraded. Even with the above caveats, customers performing upgrades will probably want the POWER6 product line and find it more cost effective. If they were to 2-step from an 8xx or POWER5 550 or 570 into the POWER5+ interim to the POWER6 product line, they will need to repurchase memory twice. By going directly to the POWER6 product line, they will only need to have one memory change. Customers currently on POWER5+ models will probably find it attractive to move to the POWER6 570 rather than upgrading within the product line. Even though they will need to repurchase memory when moving to the POWER6 (a partial memory credit is available), the overall cost (including maintenance and SW licensing) will usually be less than upgrading within the POWER5+ 570 features. When analyzing price differences between POWER5+ and POWER6 570 systems, it is important to consider the cost of features/planning/services that require upgrades/replacement when moving to a POWER6 model, but that can continue to be used on the POWER5+ model. Most of these (older) features should probably also be upgraded/replaced on the POWER5+ machine, but it is not mandatory. The pricing of a POWER6 570 is so good, that it should be the obvious choice for new placements in the 570 space. In fact, unless the customer does not see needed growth beyond 14,000 cpw, it is very cost-effective compared to a 550 (even with the Nov. 2007 price 550 price reduction of $60,000). This is shown in the following table. However, the real reason for the table is because it highlights some differences between the costs of various features/upgrades. POWER5+ 550 compared to POWER6 570 showing how good POWER6 pricing can be

Feature/Capability

POWER5+ 550 Enterprise Edition 3800-14000 cpw

P20 SW Tier

POWER6 570 1/4-way

5500-21200 cpw P30 SW Tier

CPW with 1 proc on both ma