This report deals with this cost/benefit equation. Specifically, it compares the IBM i 7.1 operating system deployed on Power Systems with two alternatives: use of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008, and use of x86 Linux with Oracle Database 11g, both deployed on Intel-based servers.
IBM i for Midsize Businesses Minimizing Costs and Risks for Midsize Businesses
1. October
2012
MANAGEMENT
BRIEF
IBM i for Midsize Businesses
Minimizing Costs and Risks
for Midsize Businesses
International Technology Group
609 Pacific Avenue, Suite 102
Santa Cruz, California 95060-4406
Telephone: + 831-427-9260
Email: Contact@ITGforInfo.com
Website: ITGforInfo.com
3. International Technology Group i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1
Challenges and Solutions 1
IT Costs 1
Risk Exposure 4
Costs of Downtime 4
Security and Malware Protection 5
Architecture and Technology 6
Conclusions 6
RISK TRENDS 8
Overview 8
Availability and Recovery 8
Security and Malware 13
Threat Matrix 13
Data Breaches 13
PLATFORM DIFFERENTIATORS 14
Overview 14
IBM i 7.1 14
Power Systems 18
Overview 18
Virtualization 18
Comparing with x86 21
Availability Optimization 22
Power Systems 22
Software Solutions 23
Energy Efficiency 24
DETAILED DATA 25
Installations 25
IT Cost Calculations 26
Costs of Downtime 27
List of Figures
1. Overall Three-year Costs by Platform – Averages for All Installations 2
2. Three-year Acquisition and Ongoing Costs by Platform – Averages for All Installations 2
3. Power Systems and x86 Server Configurations – Example 3
4. Three-year Costs of Downtime – Averages for All Installations 4
5. Comparative Vulnerability Data: January 2008 Through June 2012 5
6. Comparative Vulnerability Data: Lifetime Totals 5
7. Basic Manufacturing Supply Chain Processes – SCOR Model 9
8. 24-hour Online Order Activity – Distributor Example 10
9. Potential Costs of Outages – Manufacturing Companies 12
10. IBM i 7.1 Single-level Storage Structure 15
11. IBM i 7.1 and IBM Power Systems Autonomic Functions 17
12. IBM i and Power Systems Architecture 20
13. System Environment Layers – Example 21
14. Key Power Systems Availability Optimization Technologies 23
15. Active Energy Manager and EnergyScale Functions for Power Systems 24
16. Installations and Scenarios Summary 25
17. Three-year IT Costs Breakdown 28
4. International Technology Group 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Challenges and Solutions
The challenges faced by midsize businesses remain daunting. An uncertain economic outlook, slow
market growth and cost pressures continue to affect most industries. Yet, in most geographies, IT
spending by midsize businesses is increasing. Technology continues to offers the potential for greater
competitiveness, improved operating efficiency and higher productivity.
Investment priorities vary. Mobile devices and social media are major targets, while interest in cloud
computing continues to grow. Adoption of new tools to collect, analyze and exploit information has
become pervasive. These and other new technologies offer the potential for far-reaching change in the
way businesses compete.
Certain things, however, do not change. Companies continue to require core systems that “run the
business.” Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and core business-critical systems in banking,
retail, insurance and other industries, remain the backbone of IT infrastructures. As new technologies are
deployed within organizations, the role of these systems becomes increasingly significant.
The cost/benefit equation for platforms supporting these systems may be simply stated. If core systems
cease functioning, so does the business. If performance or functionality is impaired, key processes across
organizations may be impacted.
This report deals with this cost/benefit equation. Specifically, it compares the IBM i 7.1 operating system
deployed on Power Systems with two alternatives: use of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and SQL
Server 2008, and use of x86 Linux with Oracle Database 11g, both deployed on Intel-based servers.
There are sharp distinctions between IBM i 7.1 and Power Systems, and these alternatives. Architectures
and software environments are significantly different. IBM i 7.1 and Power Systems are optimized to
deliver levels of availability and security that are – by wide margins – higher than those of x86-based
equivalents. Risk exposure is correspondingly less.
Such capabilities would justify a cost premium. In practice, however, overall IT costs for use of IBM i 7.1
and Power Systems may be significantly lower than for x86 equivalents. Higher levels of consolidation
and more efficient use of system resources, along with lower system and database administration
overhead deliver economies that are seldom realized in Windows and x86 Linux environments.
IT Costs
In six representative installations in midsize manufacturing, distribution and retail companies, three-year
IT costs for use of IBM i 7.1 and Power Systems average 44 percent less than for x86 servers with
Microsoft Windows Server and SQL Server, and 57 percent less than for x86 servers with Linux and
Oracle databases.
Costs included hardware acquisition and maintenance; license and support costs for operating systems,
databases and other systems software; personnel costs for system and database administration; and
facilities (primarily energy) costs.
Figure 1 summarizes these results.
5. International Technology Group 2
Figure 1: Overall Three-year Costs by Platform – Averages for All Installations
Comparisons are between latest-generation versions of all platforms. These include IBM Power 720 and
740 systems configured with POWER7 processors and PowerVM virtualization; and dual- and four-
socket x86 servers equipped with Intel E5 and E7 processors. VMware ESXi 5 is employed with
Windows and x86 Linux servers.
Costs for use of IBM i 7.1 and Power Systems are lower across the board. For example, initial acquisition
costs for hardware and software licenses average 24 percent less than for Windows and 47 percent less
than for x86 Linux/Oracle servers. Ongoing costs average 51 percent and 61 percent less respectively.
Figure 2 summarizes these results.
Figure 2: Three-year Acquisition and Ongoing Costs by Platform – Averages for All Installations
Individual x86 servers and software suites may be less expensive, but proliferation inflates costs. Separate
servers are deployed to handle database, application and Web serving, and to support test, development
and production instances. Hardware, software and maintenance costs are multiplied accordingly. Greater
administrative complexity increases personnel costs.
Although VMware is employed to help reduce numbers of x86 servers, its effects are incremental.
Reflecting overall industry experience, VMware hypervisors in these comparisons host test, development
and comparatively light-duty production systems.
Higher per processor performance, along with more granular partitioning and real-time workload
management mean that the level of concentration achieved with IBM i 7.1 and Power Systems is
significantly greater.
In one of the comparisons presented in this report, for example, 10 physical Windows servers, two of
which act as VMware hosts, are required to handle the same applications, workloads and instances that
run on two partitioned Power Systems configured in a PowerHA SystemMirror for i failover cluster.
IBM
i
7.1/Power
Systems
Windows
Servers
x86
Linux/Oracle
Hardware
Maintenance
SoLware
licenses
SoLware
support
Personnel
FaciliNes
1,118.3
862.2
480.2
$ Thousands
IBM
i
7.1/Power
Systems
Windows
Servers
x86
Linux/Oracle
AcquisiNon
costs
Ongoing
costs
1,118.3
862.2
480.2
$ Thousands
6. International Technology Group 3
Figure 3 illustrates this comparison. High levels of concentration may also be realized by standalone
Power Systems with IBM i.
Figure 3: Power Systems and x86 Server Configurations – Example
In this example, applications include production, test and development instances of ERP, SCM, customer
relationship management (CRM), business intelligence (BI) and e-commerce systems. In the x86 server
configuration, failover clusters are employed for Windows database servers.
Windows and x86 Linux/Oracle server costs escalate further when allowance is made for additional tools
for system administration, security and other functions to provide capabilities equivalent to those included
in the base IBM i 7.1 offering.
Personnel costs for use of IBM i 7.1 and Power Systems reflect lower staffing levels. Numbers of full
time equivalent (FTE) administrators for Windows and x86 Linux/Oracle servers average 2.3 and 2.6
times higher respectively.
Higher costs for x86 Linux/Oracle compared to Windows servers primarily reflect Oracle database
pricing and lower x86 Linux system administrator and Oracle 11g database administrator productivity
compared to Microsoft equivalents.
Details of installations, along with methodology and assumptions employed, and cost breakdowns may be
found in the Detailed Data section of this report.
PowerHA
SystemMirror
for
i
Production
ERP,
CRM
&
E-‐commerce
Production
BI
&
SCM
Development
&
test
Power
740
4
Partitions
Power
720
6
Partitions
POWER
SYSTEMS
Production
ERP,
CRM
Failover
Cluster
x86
SERVERS
SCM
BI
Application
&
Web
servers
E-‐commerce
Development
&
test
(VMware)
Development
&
test
(VMware)
7. International Technology Group 4
Risk Exposure
Costs of Downtime
It is a truism that downtime costs money. Operations may be disrupted, personnel and capacity idled,
orders and shipments delayed, and a wide range of business activities affected. Customers may also be
alienated and business lost.
Not only unplanned (i.e. accidental) outages, but also repeated planned outages for such tasks as software
updates and modifications, and scheduled maintenance can impact the bottom line. Globalization, Internet
commerce and competitive pressures increasingly require 24/7 availability. Even if the business itself is
not functioning, key systems must.
The impact of downtime is often underestimated. Companies may calculate that, say, an hour of
downtime represents $50,000 in lost sales. Typically, such calculations are based on average sales volume
per hour. In practice, the damage may be significantly greater, and longer lasting.
This is particularly the case for businesses that operate supply chains. As companies have moved to “just
in time” and “lean” strategies that cut cycle times and minimize inventories, vulnerability to disruptions
has increased. There is growing evidence that in tightly integrated, lean structures disruptions at any point
may “cascade” through the entire supply chain.
Multiplier effects apply. The actual bottom-line impact is routinely three to ten times greater than a
simple lost sales calculation would indicate.
There are marked differences between platforms in this area. The availability strengths of IBM i and
Power Systems have been widely documented. Users have consistently reported higher levels of uptime
than for any other platform employed by midsize businesses.
In the same companies that form the basis of IT cost calculations, costs of downtime average 84 percent
less than for use of Windows, and 79 percent less than for x86 Linux/Oracle servers. Figure 4 illustrates
these disparities.
Figure 4: Three-year Costs of Downtime – Averages for All Installations
Calculations for all companies include costs of supply chain disruption. Costs for manufacturing and
distribution companies also include customer-related costs such as late delivery and imperfect order fees.
Retail company costs also include costs of lost sales and in-store disruption. The basis of these
calculations is again described in the Detailed Data section of this report.
766.1
3,669.6
4,787.0
IBM
i
7.1/Power
Systems
x86
Linux/Oracle
Windows
Servers
$ Thousands
8. International Technology Group 5
Security and Malware Protection
Hacking and infection by malware (malicious code) remain ubiquitous threats for organizations of all
sizes. Most midsize businesses experience both on a regular basis. Many intrusions are not detected for
long periods, or not detected at all.
The bottom-line implications may be substantial. Businesses that experience customer data breaches may
incur fines and other regulatory penalties, along with costs of remedial actions such as notifications, credit
monitoring subscriptions and query handling. Risks of customer loss and reputational damage may also
be significant.
Even if customer data is not compromised, other types of sensitive information may be stolen, and
malicious damage to systems and software may occur.
In security and malware protection, differences between IBM i 7.1, and Windows and x86 Linux servers
are not merely significant – they are dramatic. IBM i 7.1 is one of the most secure operating systems in
existence. Security violations are rare, and malware incidents are virtually unknown. There are no known
native IBM i viruses.
These differences are reflected in data compiled by Secunia, one of the industry’s leading authorities on
security and malware exposure.
Figure 5 summarizes numbers of advisory notices issued by the company between the beginning of 2008
and the end of June 2012 for the most recent versions of IBM i, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), and for Windows Server 2008.
SEVERITY
WINDOWS
SERVER
2008
RHEL
Server
5
RHEL
Server
6
SLES
10
SLES
11
IBM
i
7.1
i5/OS
6.x
Extremely
critical
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
Highly
critical
64
93
61
134
88
0
0
Moderately
critical
34
185
84
79
53
0
6
Less
critical
73
175
85
60
66
0
5
Not
critical
5
53
31
18
14
0
0
TOTAL
ADVISORIES
179
507
261
291
221
0
11
Source:
Secunia
Figure 5: Comparative Vulnerability Data: January 2008 Through June 2012
Figure 6 shows lifetime vulnerabilities; i.e., the number of vulnerabilities recorded by Secunia since each
version was introduced. Multiple vulnerabilities may be documented in a single advisory notice.
WINDOWS
SERVER
2008
RHEL
Server
5
RHEL
Server
6
SLES
10
SLES
11
IBM
i
7.1
i5/OS
6.x
Release
Date
February
2008
March
2007
November
2010
July
2006
March
2009
April
2010
January
2008
Lifetime
Vulnerabilities
352
1,871
906
3,557
1,889
0
16
Source:
Secunia
Figure 6: Comparative Vulnerability Data: Lifetime Totals
(Windows Server 2012 became generally available in September 2012, and no comparable data was
available when this report was prepared.)
9. International Technology Group 6
The significance of IBM i 7.1 security strengths is reinforced by two factors. One is that, most security
authorities recognize, firewall-based perimeter defenses are no longer enough. Penetration of these has
become increasingly common, and they do not prevent escalating threats of insider abuse. Higher levels
of protection are required for core business databases.
The second is that, since the onset of recession, businesses have become reluctant to increase spending on
IT security, and many have reduced it. Threats, however, have continued to increase. Organizations have
been faced with a choice between greater expenditure or greater risk. Use of IBM i 7.1 enables them to
avoid this choice. Better security may be maintained at a lower cost.
Architecture and Technology
The availability, security and malware protection strengths of IBM i 7.1 and Power Systems relative to
Windows and x86 Linux/Oracle servers reflect fundamental differences in architecture and technology.
High levels of availability reflect features built into the IBM i 7.1 kernel and embedded into Power
hardware and microcode (firmware). The overall simplicity and integration of IBM i 7.1, and its
automation features also assist in minimizing outages.
Certain Power Systems reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS) features may also be found in x86
servers. However, the microelectronics technology used in Power Systems is a great deal more advanced.
Clustered failover solutions for IBM i 7.1 and Power Systems are more robust and have longer track
records of stable and successful operation.
IBM i 7.1 and Power Systems also benefit from technologies transferred from mainframe systems, which
deliver the highest availability levels of any major platform. According to IBM, the company’s Power and
System z (mainframe) design teams jointly developed the availability optimization features of the latest
generation Power Systems.
The strengths of IBM i 7.1 in security and malware protection reflect the operation system’s object-
based architecture. Objects are encapsulated in a manner that places strict controls on data as well as
system code, making it extremely difficult for unauthorized instructions to execute. Additional
capabilities for IP security and other functions are overlaid on this structure.
Conclusions
IBM i has a longstanding reputation for stability and robustness. Users routinely characterize it as “highly
stable...extremely robust…completely dependable…rock-solid.” Such terms are not commonly applied to
Windows or x86 Linux servers.
IBM i 7.1 is the latest version of an IBM system environment that has been employed, in some cases for
more than 20 years, by hundreds of thousands of midsized businesses worldwide. It was designed to meet
the needs of these customers for a simple, reliable, secure and easy-to-administer platform to support core
business systems.
In an era when the IT world has veered toward ever-greater complexity, IBM i has retained these
characteristics. More than any other server environment available today, it is designed to minimize the
complexities with which organizations must deal.
This is particularly the case in two areas:
1. Integration. Core operating system features – including a unique object-based kernel and single-
level storage – are tightly integrated with the DB2 for i relational database; an integrated file
system; Web application and services servers; and more than 300 management tools.
10. International Technology Group 7
Components are not simply bundled. They are engineered to interact with each other in a simple
and efficient manner, and extensive testing is carried out to ensure that they do so. This testing
extends not only across IBM hardware and software, but also across key independent software
vendor (ISV) solutions.
The implications are important. Integration does not simply increase administrator productivity. It
also affects performance – efficient software structures generate lower system overhead – and
quality of service. Tightly integrated, tested systems are less likely to experience outages. There
are fewer potential points of failure.
Equivalent functionality in Windows and x86 Linux server environments typically requires that
users acquire, install, configure and administer multiple software products from different vendors.
This increases deployment complexity, and magnifies integration and administration challenges.
In addition to increasing FTE staffing, poorly integrated environments are more likely to degrade
performance, and maintenance of availability, security, disaster recovery coverage and other
quality of service variables becomes a great deal more problematic.
2. Automation. IBM i was designed to automatically handle a wide range of functions – including
configuration, tuning, software updates, availability and security optimization and other common
operational tasks – for which most other systems require extensive manual intervention.
Core automation features have been reinforced by use of advanced artificial intelligence
technologies and new POWER7 performance optimization features. Although the most visible
effect of automation is that it reduces FTE staffing, other benefits are also realized.
A system that can determine workload requirements and reallocate system resources in a matter
of milliseconds, for example, will use capacity more efficiently than one that is dependent on
administrator or operator intervention. Automation also reduces the potential for human errors
leading to performance bottlenecks, outages, data loss or corruption and other negative effects.
Other unique IBM i features also merit attention. The kernel incorporates one of the most elegant and
sophisticated implementations of workload management available for any server platform today. In
addition, the Technology Independent Machine Interface (TIMI) allows system technologies to be
updated without changes to applications software.
Over the last few years, the IT industry has, ironically, rediscovered the advantages of reduced
complexity. The principal value propositions for cloud computing – faster deployment and provisioning,
more effective use of virtualization to enable consolidation, reduced administrative overhead and others –
have been enjoyed by IBM i users for decades.
The ability to minimize complexity strikes at the heart of the technology challenges facing midsize
businesses today. Excessive complexity has undermined the IT strategies of many large organizations. In
a midsize business with limited resources and technical skills, the impact may be a great deal more
serious and longer lasting.
A core business system typically has a lifecycle of five to ten years. Platform choices will affect costs,
complexities and risk exposure for years to come. IBM i 7.1 on Power Systems offers the potential to
reduce all three.
11. International Technology Group 8
RISK TRENDS
Overview
Key industry trends mean that the significance of IBM i strengths in availability and disaster recovery,
and in security and malware resistance are increasing over time. These trends are discussed in more detail
in this section.
The following section, Platform Differentiators, deals with differences in architecture and technology
between IBM i 7.1 and Power Systems, and Windows, x86 Linux and Intel-based hardware platforms that
affect comparative costs, complexities and risks. These differences, and their implications for businesses,
are often underestimated.
The last section, Detailed Data, provides additional information on the methodology employed for IT
costs and costs of downtime calculations. More granular cost breakdowns are also provided.
Availability and Recovery
Decades of experience have shown that, in most industries, downtime costs money. During the last
decade, however, avoidance of downtime has become increasingly critical for a broad range of systems
used by midsize businesses. Effective disaster recovery – i.e. the ability to resume operations and recover
data rapidly in the event of a severe outage – is also increasingly mandated.
These shifts have been driven by a number of trends, including the following:
• Integration. Core business systems in most industries have progressively expanded to integrate a
broader range of transactional processes, as well as new analytical and collaborative functions.
This evolution has been particularly apparent for ERP and supply chain management (SCM)
systems, but has also affected other core systems employed in a wide range of industries.
Examples include core merchandising systems in retail; core banking systems; policy
management revenue and service delivery systems in insurance companies; customer information
and billing systems in telecommunications and utilities; reservation systems in travel and
hospitality; and revenue and service delivery systems in government and others.
Businesses, however, have found that the benefits of broader functionality and organization-wide
process integration have a side effect: they become fundamentally dependent upon their systems.
Quite simply, an outage may grind the entire business to a halt.
Vulnerabilities have been magnified in many businesses by consolidation of core systems.
Standardization in the wake of mergers and acquisitions, as well as the adoption of shared
services structures for order processing, finance, human resources (HR), customer service and
other functions have contributed to this trend.
Vulnerability to disruptions also expands when organizations deploy new tools for planning and
forecasting, business intelligence, e-commerce, mobile computing and other informational
applications. Even if these are deployed on different platforms, they draw upon core databases. If
core systems are down, they will at best be working with stale data.
• Globalization. A growing number of midsize businesses operate internationally, or employ
foreign suppliers, channel partners or both. Large segments of manufacturing industry, in
particular, have moved to China and other offshore bases.
12. International Technology Group 9
As a result, certain processes – including those related to procurement, logistics and, in many
cases, sales, order management and customer service – now routinely occur on a 24/7 basis.
The impact of disruptions tends to be greater for regional and global supply chains. For example,
rescheduling shipments may be a significantly more demanding process for businesses dealing
with offshore suppliers and logistics contractors.
• Supply chain strategies. For years, in manufacturing, distribution, retail and other industries, best
practice supply chain strategies have focused on “lean” operating models and streamlined process
structures. There is an important implication: as inventory buffers removed or reduced, and
process delays are eliminated, the potential impact of disruptions increases.
The effects of such strategies may permeate the entire supply chain. At the corporate or business
unit level, for example, forecasting and planning cycles may be reduced from weeks to days, or to
24 hours or less.
In some sectors, manufacturers are now receiving continuous demand signals from their
customers, recalibrating plans and forecasts, and initiating procurement, production and logistics
actions on a daily or even hourly basis.
At the other end of the spectrum, cross docking (i.e., the immediate transshipment of goods
between arriving and departing vehicles, without intermediate storage) in distribution centers may
increase both efficiency and vulnerability to disruption.
In consumer products and retailing, techniques such as Efficient Customer Response (ECR),
Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR), Continuous Replenishment and
Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) have reinforced these effects.
There is growing evidence that, in such environments, the effects of an outage may “cascade”
through the entire supply chain. Not only internal operations, but also customers, suppliers,
logistics contractors and other business partners may be affected. Moreover, the impact may
continue to be felt long after service has been restored.
The implications of cascading may be simply illustrated. Even a basic manufacturing supply
chain will typically involve most or all of the processes summarized in figure 7.
SOURCE
§ Identify
sources
of
supply
§ Select
supplier(s)
§ Negotiate
with
supplier(s)
§ Schedule
product
deliveries
§ Receive
product
§ Verify
product
§ Transfer
product
§ Authorize
supplier
payment
MAKE
§ Schedule
production
§ Set
up
production
§ Issue
product
§ Produce
§ Inspect/test
product
§ Package
product
§ Stage
product
§ Release
to
delivery
DELIVER
§ Process
inquiry
&
quote
§ Receive,
enter
&
validate
order
§ Reserve
inventory
resources
§ Reserve
delivery
resources
§ Determine
delivery
date
§ Consolidate
orders
§ Build
loads
§ Route
shipments
§ Select
carrier(s)/rate(s)
§ Receive
product
§ Pick
product
§ Pack
product
§ Load
product
§ Generate
shipping
docs
§ Ship
product
§ Customer
receipt
&
verify
§ Install
product
§ Invoice
customer
Figure 7: Basic Manufacturing Supply Chain Processes – SCOR Model
13. International Technology Group 10
This presentation is based on selected segments of the Supply Chain Operations Reference
(SCOR) model developed by the Supply Chain Council. These processes may be replicated
hundreds or thousands of times every day for different products, customers, production lines and
distribution centers. A disruption at any point may affect the entire sequence of processes.
A delay in delivering components to a plant, for example, might cause finished product deadlines
to slip. This may in turn impact transportation schedules and warehouse operations, resulting in
further delays and causing disruption to spread. The effects are cumulative.
Industry-specific effects may also be significant. For example, food and beverage suppliers face
risks of spoilage if operations are disrupted. Traceability of ingredients and final products may
also be impaired. Retailers and distributors risk stock-outs, whose impact may be particularly
serious if they occur during peak sales seasons.
• E-commerce and M-commerce. The trend across many industries is toward Internet-based
customer and supplier self-service systems that handle processes such as inventory availability
queries, order placement and customer service.
The Internet is, almost by definition, a 24/7 medium, and the expectation is that online systems
should be accessible at any time. Figure 8, for example, illustrates the frequency of online orders
placed with a wholesale distributor over a 24-hour period.
Figure 8: 24-hour Online Order Activity – Distributor Example
Many of the company’s smaller customers often did not have time to check inventories and place
orders until late evening or early morning. Inability to access the distributor’s online system at
this time would, at best, be inconvenient, and could easily result in lost sales. If the experience
were repeated, customers might defect.
M-commerce – meaning use of mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones for key business
interactions – also places a premium on uptime. Online interaction with customers may now
occur continuously and irregularly, magnifying risks that business may be lost if an outage is
experienced.
Retailers, for example, must deal with growing use of mobile devices in stores. According to
recent market research surveys, more than 40 percent of U.S. tablet and smartphone owners use
these for comparison-shopping while visiting retail outlets, and some estimates put the ratio at
over 60 percent. Similar trends are occurring in other geographies.
12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Orders
per
Hour
AM Time PM
14. International Technology Group 11
It has long been a principle that, in e-commerce, “customers are only a few clicks away from
competitors” and that online outages translate rapidly into lost sales. M-commerce extends this
effect to stores. Increasingly, any customer may be “only a few clicks away from competitors.”
• Customer impacts. Economic conditions, changing expectations and mounting competition in
many industries have made business customers as well as consumers less tolerant of vendor
failings. Although the costs of operational disruption may be substantial, the largest bottom-line
impact of outages often involves customers.
A customer who is impacted directly (e.g., because an online self-service system is down) or
indirectly (e.g., because supplier order management, production or delivery operations are
disrupted) by an outage will inevitably be dissatisfied.
Dissatisfaction may translate into immediate lost sales or (in financial services and other
industries) transaction value. The long-term impact, however, may be significantly higher.
For example, experience with e-commerce and, more recently, M-commerce has shown that some
customers who are deflected to a competitor may not return. Even if they do, they are more likely
to divide future purchases between multiple suppliers.
“Word of mouth” may also discourage others. Traditionally, these typically included family
members, co-workers and friends. In the age of social media, however, online reviews and
comments about negative experiences may reach thousands or millions of prospective customers.
Even if customers are not lost, there can be a number of potential bottom-line effects. For
business-to-business suppliers, these might include late delivery and imperfect order penalties. It
may also be necessary to offer special discounts or terms and conditions in order to win back the
customer’s business.
A less visible, but potentially more significant erosion of confidence might also occur. This could
cause the customer to hedge by diverting some future purchases to other suppliers in order to
reduce dependence. In addition, the customer might be reluctant to rely upon the company for
future strategic orders, particularly where these were time-sensitive.
No manufacturer or distributor wants to hear that customers consider them a “high-risk supplier.”
An additional set of “strategic” costs may be incurred. These will tend to occur if outages are severe,
protracted or both. Share prices may be impacted. Other effects such as reduced brand value; increased
risk provision; higher insurance premiums; and a variety of reputational, legal and compliance problems
may be experienced.
System outages may have a wide range of potential cost impacts. Figure 9, for example, shows a
representative list of these for manufacturing companies.
Another effect should be highlighted. Disruptions tend to raise error rates. This may occur across multiple
stages of the supply chain, and may cause additional customer dissatisfaction, along with penalties and
resolution costs.
15. International Technology Group 12
STRATEGIC
COSTS
Charge
against
earnings
Financial
metrics/ratios
Share
price
decline
Share
price
volatility
Cost
of
capital
Increased
risk
provision
Reduced
brand
value
Insurance
premiums
Damaged
reputation
- Financial
markets
- Customers/prospects
- Banks
- Business
partners
- M&A
candidates
Impaired
credit
Liquidity
exposure
Legal
exposure
- Customers
- Third
parties
- Shareholders
Compliance
exposure
- Regulatory
reporting
- Impaired
inspection
- Impaired
traceability
CUSTOMER-‐RELATED
COSTS
Lost
short-‐term
sales
Lost
short-‐term
profit
Lost
future
sales/profit
Late
delivery
penalties
Imperfect
order
penalties
Product
defect
penalties
Customer
rebates
Buyback
pricing/concessions
Additional
customer
service
cost
OPERATIONAL
COSTS
Idle
capacity
- Overall
supply
chain
- Procurement
- Plant
operations
- Logistics/distribution
- Transportation
- Warehouses
- Third-‐party
services
Personnel
costs
- Idleness/underutilization
- Reduced
productivity
- Additional
work
required
- Overtime/shift
premiums
- Additional
T&E
costs
Finance
processes
- Delayed
billing/receivables
- Inventory
carrying
cost
- Cash
flow
cost
- Delayed
close
Costs
of
change
- Procurement
change
- Revised
order
processing
- Special
order
cost
- Production
schedule
change
- Line
change
cost
- Costs
of
logistics
change
- Supplier
premiums
- Expedited
transportation
- Additional
handling
cost
- Additional
inventory
cost
- Additional
checking
cost
Error-‐related
costs
- Order
processing
errors
- Product
defect
- Specification
error
- Manufacturing
error
- Quality
failure
- Shipment
error
- Damaged
product
- Wrong
packaging
- Routing
error
- Wrong
delivery
time
Other
costs
- Lost
promotional
expenditure
- Lost
marketing
expenditure
- IT
costs
- Administrative
costs
- Overhead
Figure 9: Potential Costs of Outages – Manufacturing Companies
The potential significance of such effects was highlighted by a study co-authored by Kevin Hendricks of
the University of Western Ontario and Vinod Singhal of the Georgia Institute of Technology. After
reviewing the financial results of more than 800 public companies that had experienced severe supply
chain disruptions, the authors concluded that company stocks experienced 33 to 40 percent lower returns
relative to industry benchmarks over a three-year period because of these.
The study also reported declines of 7 percent in sales growth, 107 percent in operating income, 114
percent in return on sales, 93 percent in return on assets, and increases in cost of sales, selling, general
and administrative (SG&A) expenses and inventory levels.
There is also a growing body of evidence from other industries that the effects of major system
disruptions may have a significant – and protracted – effect on key measures of financial performance.
A clear conclusion emerges. Whether outages result in operational disruption, customer-related costs
and/or strategic costs, they have a significant bottom-line impact. Maintenance of the highest possible
level of availability and recovery for core business systems should be a central goal of IT strategy.
16. International Technology Group 13
Security and Malware
Threat Matrix
Security and malware attacks are now so common that security authorities have largely abandoned efforts
to quantify their frequency. The U.S. government-supported Computer Emergency Response Team
(CERT), for example, stopped reporting numbers of incidents in 2003. CERT takes the position that
attacks are now so common that it is no longer meaningful to aggregate totals.
The number of malware variants – including viruses, Trojans, worms, spyware, rootkits, backdoors and
assorted hybrids of these – circulating on the Internet and intranets continues to expand. Security firm
Symantec Corporation, for example, reports that it detected more than 400 million unique variants during
2011, a more than 40 percent increase over 2010.
Although most organizations have invested in information security for more than a decade, the extent of
improvement is questionable. The sophistication of cybercriminals continues to evolve, as do the
technologies and techniques they employ. Because organizations are often reluctant to report incidents,
threat statistics are often unreliable.
Until recently, cybercriminals tended to attack large corporations and government agencies. They are now
increasingly targeting midsize businesses. These are also vulnerable to – and usually less well protected
than their larger counterparts against – the actions of individual hackers, disgruntled employees and
others who may hold grudges against them.
Security analysts report consistent growth in “gateway” attacks, which seek to create covert breaches that
can be exploited over time, and in the prevalence of spyware (malware that collects and forwards
information from computers without the knowledge of users). Increasingly, the fact that breaches are not
detected does not mean that they are not occurring.
Use of bots – malware that allows an attacker to gain control over a computer for illicit purposes – has
also expanded. Estimates of the number of bot-infected computers worldwide range from 12 million to
more than 200 million.
Economic conditions have accelerated growth of all types of cybercrime.
Data Breaches
Midsize users increasingly risk intrusions that expose sensitive data. The bottom-line impact of such
incidents may be substantial.
In most countries, privacy laws expose businesses to penalties in the event of data breaches, and other
costs may also be substantial. In the United States, for example, most estimates put the average cost of a
data breach in the range of $150 to $300 per record exposed. A leading industry authority, the Ponemon
Institute, put the overall average cost of breaches in 2011 at more than $5 million each.
These averages include direct costs, including notification; remedial action such as security fixes,
subscriptions to credit monitoring services and costs of marketing initiatives to retain disaffected
customers; as well as indirect costs due to lost business, customer defections and other effects. In
individual cases, costs may be significantly higher.
17. International Technology Group 14
PLATFORM DIFFERENTIATORS
Overview
IBM i 7.1 and Power Systems represent the convergence of two major technology streams:
1. IBM i 7.1 is the latest version of an IBM operating system that originated with the AS/400 in
1988, and has been progressively enhanced to incorporate new technologies.
These include latest-generation SQL relational technology, C/C++, Java and Eclipse, the PHP
Web enablement language, XML, MySQL database, Apache Web server, the IBM Rational
Enterprise Generation Language (EGL) and others.
As a result, IBM i users have been able to take full advantage of the Internet and, more recently,
mobile technologies, to employ popular “open” development tools, and to draw upon large pools
of third-party tools and add-ons conforming to widely supported industry standards.
IBM has also continued to invest in established IBM i technologies such as the RPG II, COBOL
and CL languages. IBM Rational Open Access (ROA) for RPG, for example, enables mobile
access to native RPG applications from devices such as iPhones, iPads, web browsers and
Android phones.
IBM i 7.1 is supported by more than 2,500 ISVs – including most major vendors of ERP and
industry-specific core business systems – along with systems integrators and professional services
firms worldwide. It enjoys one of the highest levels of customer loyalty for any platform.
2. Power Systems are built upon the seventh generation of IBM POWER reduced instruction set
computing (RISC) architecture. POWER7-based systems, which also support the IBM AIX
UNIX-based operating system and Power versions of RHEL and SLES Linux, have consistently
outperformed competitive RISC and x86 platforms in a wide range of industry benchmarks.
POWER7-based systems also incorporate industry-leading advances in chip density, memory
technology, multithreading virtualization, workload management, availability optimization,
energy efficiency and other areas. In the UNIX server market, Power Systems have progressively
increased their share since 2008, and by the end of 2011 had reached the 50 percent mark.
For midsize organizations considering whether to employ IBM i 7.1 on Power Systems, or Windows or
x86 Linux servers, it is important to understand the differences between these environments.
IBM i 7.1
The current IBM i version 7.1, introduced in April 2010, as well as IBM i 6.1 are supported on Power
Systems. Binary compatibility has been retained for earlier IBM i, AS/400, System/36 and System/38
applications.
Major features include the following:
• System integration. IBM i includes not only core operating system functions. It also includes DB2
for i, an integrated file system, WebSphere Application Server (WAS), Tivoli Directory Server,
Java Virtual Machine (JVM) environments, and tools handling system, database, storage, backup
and recovery, communications, security, operations and other management tasks.
18. International Technology Group 15
DB2 for i is an i-optimized version of IBM DB2 platform also offered by the company for
Windows, Linux, UNIX and mainframe systems. It is a full-functional SQL relational database
enabling high levels of transactional as well as query performance, along with industry-leading
data compression, encryption and Extensible Markup Language (XML) compatibility.
Components share a common, high-productivity administrator interface through IBM Systems
Director Navigator for i, which forms part of the larger IBM Systems Director portfolio of
operational management tools.
Integration of DB2 for i allows database and system administration tasks to be handled by the
same individuals. Users of other platforms typically require a database administrator (DBA). In
the cost comparisons presented in this report, FTE staffing for Windows and x86 Linux servers
includes SQL Server and Oracle DBAs respectively.
• Core design. The core IBM i design is built around an object-based kernel in which all system
resources are defined and managed as objects.
The kernel incorporates single-level storage capability – meaning that the system treats all storage
resources, including main memory and disks, as a single logical entity. Placement and
management of data on all resources is handled automatically by the system, minimizing tasks
that must be handled by administrators.
Single-level storage capability, as figure 10 illustrates, is built into the core system design.
Figure 10: IBM i 7.1 Single-level Storage Structure
These features enable high levels of configuration flexibility; improve system administrator
productivity; and materially improve the efficiency with which processor and storage resources
are used, with corresponding benefits in performance and capacity utilization.
A further benefit of single-level storage is that integration and management of solid-state drives
(SSDs) is comparatively simple. The operating system automatically places the “hottest” (most
frequently accessed) data on SSDs, reallocates data to SSDs or hard drives as workloads evolve,
and optimizes performance on an ongoing basis.
SINGLE-‐LEVEL
STORAGE
STORAGE
MANAGEMENT
Objects
Main
memory
(RAM)
Disk
storage
Solid
state
19. International Technology Group 16
This provides basic automated storage tiering capability without array-based tools, and without
the additional storage administration overhead that is normally generated by this approach. No
application changes are required.
IBM i users have realized gains in high-throughput applications such as large batch runs
(reductions of 20 to 50 percent in elapsed time are common) and initial program loads (IPLs). A
no-charge SSD Analyzer Tool may be employed to determine which workloads would benefit
from use of SSDs.
The IBM i kernel also includes the Technology Independent Machine Interface (TIMI), which
acts as a “virtual” instruction set with which applications interact, regardless of the instruction set
of underlying processor hardware. The TIMI allows users to update underlying hardware
platforms without obliging users to recompile applications software.
• Workload management. Since its inception, IBM i has incorporated industry-leading workload
management (in IBM i terminology, work management) capabilities designed to handle diverse
workloads such as online, batch and collaborative processing in a highly efficient manner.
The backbone of these capabilities is provided by IBM i subsystems, which leverage the IBM i
object-based architecture – individual workloads or applications (e.g., ERP, CRM, e-mail, Web
serving) are described and managed independently. The system allocates memory, limits
consumption of resources by individual workloads, and manages scheduling, tuning and other
tasks automatically, or based on priorities set by users.
Subsystems are integral to the IBM i design, and may be employed independently of or in
conjunction with PowerVM virtualization.
• Security and malware resistance. The strengths of IBM i’s object-based design are reinforced by
tight integration of security functions with compiler, directory server and object-based file system
structures. In contrast, security functions for Windows and x86 Linux are implemented as
software overlays. The level of integration is significantly less.
IBM i 7.1 also contains a comprehensive IP security suite, including support for the principal
industry security standards and encryption techniques.
Extensive access control and audit facilities are included, and single sign-on is enabled using an
industry-leading IBM autonomic technology, Enterprise Identity Mapping (EIM), which maps
user IDs across all middleware and application components.
IBM i 7.1 strengths offer a further advantage. The time and effort that must be spent on routine
security and malware protection tasks, and in patching and auditing is a great deal less than for
Windows and x86 Linux servers.
• Automation. Core IBM i automation strengths have been reinforced by autonomic technologies.
Autonomic computing – meaning the application of artificial intelligence technologies to IT
administration and optimization tasks – has been a major IBM development focus since the
1990s, and the company is the recognized industry leader in this area.
Four categories of autonomic functions – self-configuring, self-optimizing, self-protecting and
self-healing – are implemented in IBM i and Power Systems. These functions, which represent
one of the most advanced implementations of autonomic technologies within the IBM product
line, are summarized in figure 11.
20. International Technology Group 17
SYSTEM
Self-‐configuring
Self-‐protecting
Connect
automated
services
CPU
capacity
upgrade
on
demand
Enterprise
Identity
Mapping
EZSetup
Wizards
Hot
plug
disk
&
I/O
Linux
&
Windows
Virtual
I/O
RAID
subsystem
Switchable
auxiliary
storage
pools
Windows
file/print
support
Windows
dynamic
storage
addition
Wireless
system
management
access
Automatic
virus
removal
Chipkill
Memory
Digital
certificates
Digital
object
tagging
Enterprise
Identity
Mapping
Integrated
Kerberos
support
Integrated
SSL
support
IP
takeover
RAID
subsystem
Self-‐protecting
kernel
Tagged
storage
Self-‐optimizing
Self-‐healing
Adaptive
e-‐transaction
services
Automatic
performance
management
Automatic
workload
balancing
Dynamic
disk
load
balancing
Dynamic
LPAR
for
i
&
Linux
Expert
Cache
Global
resource
manager
Heterogeneous
workload
manager
Quality
of
service
optimization
Single-‐level
storage
ABLE
problem
management
engine
Auto-‐fix
defective
PTFs
Automatic
performance
adjuster
Chipkill
Memory,
dynamic
bit
steering
Concurrent
maintenance
Domino
auto
restart,
clustering
Dynamic
IP
takeover,
clustering
Electronic
Service
Agent
(“call
home”)
First-‐failure
data
capture
&
alerts
Service
director
DATABASE
Self-‐configuring
Self-‐protecting
Automatic
collection
of
object
relationships
Automatic
data
spreading
&
disk
allocation
Automatic
data
striping
&
disk
balancing
Automatic
disk
space
allocation
Automatic
distributed
access
configuration
Automatic
object
placement
Automatic
self-‐balancing
indexes
Automatic
tablespace
allocation
Automatic
TCP/IP
startup
Graphical
database
monitor
Automatic
Encryption
management
Automatic
enforcement
of
user
query
&
storage
limits
Automatic
synchronization
of
user
security
Digital
object
signing
Object
auditing
OS-‐controlled
resource
management
Self-‐optimizing
Self-‐healing
Adaptive
Query
Processing
Automatic
Index
Advisor
Automatic
memory
pool
tuning
Automatic
query
plan
adjustment
Automatic
rebind
&
reoptimization
Automatic
statistics
collection
Auto
Tuner
Caching
of
open
data
paths
&
statements
Cost-‐based
Query
Optimizer
On
Demand
Performance
Center
Performance
monitoring
&
analysis
Automatic
object
backup/restore
Automatic
database
object
extents
Automatic
database
restart
Automatic
index
rebalancing
Automatic
journaling
of
indexes
&
objects
Automatic
rebuild
of
catalog
views
Automatic
restart
of
journal
processing
Self
managed
database
logging
Self-‐managed
journal
receivers
Systems
managed
access
path
protection
Figure 11: IBM i 7.1 and IBM Power Systems Autonomic Functions
Additional automation capabilities are implemented in Power Systems. Two new functions – Intelligent
Cache and Intelligent Threads – allow cache allocation and numbers of threads to be varied according to
workload requirements. Parameters may be set by administrators, or determined automatically by the
system based on application priorities.
21. International Technology Group 18
A broader characteristic of IBM i 7.1 is that its different components are implemented in a highly
synergistic manner. For example, DB2 for i exploits the underlying object-based structure and single-
level storage capabilities of the operating system. Multithreading, virtualization, workload management
and other functions are also closely integrated.
IBM i 7.1 is also supported on Power processors in new IBM PureFlex Systems, which combine IBM
Power, System x (x86) and midrange Storwize V7000 disk arrays in a single integrated platform.
PureFlex systems also implement common management services across the full range of operating
systems, systems software and hypervisors supported by the platform.
Power Systems
Overview
Power Systems have been the recognized industry leader in server performance since the mid-2000s. To
some extent, this has been a function of the performance delivered by successive generations of POWER
processors. However, other factors also come into play.
In Power Systems, system-level performance has been optimized at all levels of design and
implementation – including microelectronics and module-level components, internal communications, I/O
and system-level hardware and software.
Key capabilities include highly effective compiler- and operating system-level performance acceleration,
including chip simultaneous multithreading; low levels of symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) overhead;
and extensive system-level integration and optimization of performance-related features.
A key differentiator is that Power Systems are optimized not only to deliver high levels of performance
for single applications and workloads, but also for the mixed workload environments that are typically
generated by core systems in midsize businesses. Transactional, as well as query and collaborative
workloads may be handled concurrently in a highly efficient manner.
The level of integration of virtualization and workload management capabilities is also higher than for
Windows and x86 Linux servers, and availability optimization and energy efficiency features are built
into the core system design.
Current-generation Power Systems may be equipped with quad-, six- or eight-core processors with
frequencies of 3.0 to 4.0 GHz, supporting up to four simultaneous threads. Processors incorporate
industry-leading on-chip cache, memory compression features and resiliency features.
Power Systems include single-socket (710 and 720), two-socket (730 and 740) and four-socket (770 and
780) models covering a wide range of prices, and performance and expandability levels; and the high-end
Power 795, which is configurable to 32 sockets (256 cores). There are also single- and two-socket blade
models equipped with quad-core POWER7 3 GHz processors. All models support IBM i 7.1 and i 6.1.
Power Systems and IBM i support use of the principal IBM disk storage platforms – including enterprise-
class System Storage DS8000 and XIV Storage System, midrange Storwize V7000 and entry-level
DS3000 arrays – as well as the IBM SAN Volume Controller (SVC) cross-platform storage virtualization
solution. A wide range of tape systems and standards are supported.
IBM i support for use of removable disk storage (RDX) storage devices on Power Systems has also been
announced. RDX is a comparatively new SATA-based drive technology that offers an alternative to
conventional entry tape drives for backup and recovery.
22. International Technology Group 19
Virtualization
Effective virtualization requires more than the ability to create virtual machines.
Multiple mechanisms are required to create and modify partitions, share system resources between these,
and change resource allocations as needs change. It is also necessary to prioritize availability of resources
to different applications based on business criticality; monitor and control workload execution processes;
and meet service-level performance and uptime targets.
PowerVM virtualization meets these requirements. Capabilities include three types of partitioning:
1. Logical partitions (LPARs) are microcode-based partitions that may be configured in increments
as small as 1/10th
core. The technology was originally developed for IBM mainframes.
As a general principle, this approach (often referred to as hard partitioning) offers better isolation
of workloads than software-based techniques. Workloads running in different partitions are less
likely to interfere with each other, enabling higher levels of concentration. LPARs also provide
additional security functions.
System resources used by LPARs may be dedicated (Static LPARs), or shared according to
application priorities (Dynamic LPARs). Static LPARs are typically employed for applications
with high levels of business criticality.
Hard partitioning is supported on Hewlett-Packard Integrity and Oracle Sun M-Series UNIX
server platforms, albeit in a more limited form than on Power Systems. Integrity systems have
suffered a severe loss of market share during 2011 and 2012. Sun M-Series servers, first
introduced in 2007, are now rarely seen in competitive bids.
No equivalent capability is available for Intel-based servers with Windows, x86 Linux and/or x86
virtualization tools, or for newer Oracle Sun servers.
2. Micro-partitions are software-based partitions. They are typically employed to support instances
requiring limited system resources, and to improve load balancing for large, complex workloads.
Micro-partitions may be configured in initial increments of 1/10th
core, and subsequent
increments as small as 1/100th
core.
LPARs and micro-partitions are supported by mechanisms that allow processor, memory and I/O
resources to be pooled and re-allocated in an extremely granular manner. The system monitors
resource utilization every 10 milliseconds, and may change allocations as rapidly.
Business-critical workloads may run in dedicated LPARs, using dedicated physical processors.
However, other workloads may be executed based on assigned priorities using combinations of
threads, partitions and shared processor pools. The system allows workloads to run on one or
more processor cores within shared pools.
3. Virtual I/O Servers allow operating system instances running in multiple LPARs to share a
common pool of LAN adapters as well as Fiber Channel, SCSI and RAID devices; i.e., it is not
necessary to dedicate adapters to individual partitions. Hardware, maintenance and energy cost
savings may be realized.
The overall architecture, illustrated in figure 12, integrates with IBM i to allow users to manipulate a
wider range of variables – including subsystems, threads, processors, cache, main memory and I/O,
multiple types of partition, multiple threads and dedicated or pooled processors – with higher levels of
granularity and flexibility than any competitive platform.
23. International Technology Group 20
Figure 12: IBM i and Power Systems Architecture
In this figure, Virtual I/O Servers are duplicated to provide redundancy.
RESOURCE
SHARING
Processors,
Cache,
Memory,
I/O
Threads
VIRTUAL
I/O
SERVER
VIRTUAL
I/O
SERVER
Physical processors
DEDICATED
PROCESSORS
Physical
processors
SHARED
PROCESSOR
POOL
Virtual
processors
SHARED
PROCESSOR
POOL
Virtual
processors
Virtual
LAN
LPAR
Micro-partitions
Virtual
tape
LPAR
Virtual
disks
LPAR
LPAR
LPAR
Micro-partitions
LPAR
POWERVM HYPERVISOR
IBM
i
7.1
Object-‐based
architecture
•
Single-‐level
storage
System
integration
&
automation
WORKLOAD
MANAGEMENT
Subsystem
Subsystem
Subsystem
Subsystem
24. International Technology Group 21
PowerVM and x86 Virtualization
In comparison to PowerVM, x86 virtualization tools employ only a single, software-based partitioning
method. While they may be able to support diverse workloads, they do so less efficiently than Power
Systems. System overhead may be significantly larger.
Differences in two other areas should also be highlighted.
1. Workload management. Partitioning creates the potential for high levels of capacity utilization.
However, the extent to which this occurs in practice depends on mechanisms that allocate system
resources between, and monitor and control workload execution processes across partitions. If
these mechanisms are ineffective, a high proportion of system capacity may be idle over time.
Most workloads experience fluctuations, and processes (e.g., online, batch, collaborative) may
vary. Unexpected spikes may also occur. When multiple applications are concentrated on a single
physical platform – particularly if these generate mixed workloads – highly granular, real-time
monitoring and resource assignment will be required.
If systems cannot provide such capabilities, administrators will tend to limit the number and size
of partitions to prevent workloads interfering with each other. This is one of the key weaknesses
of such tools as VMware and Hyper-V, and helps explain why most installations of these realize
only a fraction of their architectural potential.
2. Complexity. Ironically, solutions intended to reduce complexity by enabling consolidation of
physical x86 servers have often had the reverse effect. Implementation has often proved to be a
longer and more difficult process than anticipated, and skill requirements and staffing levels have
tended to escalate.
As figure 13 illustrates, virtualization inevitably increases complexity by introducing a new layer
of architecture into system environments.
Figure 13: System Environment Layers – Example
In an IBM i 7.1 system environment, the bottom four layers are integrated by IBM in a highly
efficient manner. The company’s close relationships with ISVs also mean that the applications
layer is better tested and optimized for the overall IBM stack than is the case for Windows and
x86 Linux servers.
A VMware environment, in contrast, will typically include components from Intel or Advanced
Micro Devices (AMD); the server hardware manufacturer; operating system, database and/or
application suppliers; and VMware itself. The number of vendors may be significantly larger if
storage and networks, and third-party tools are included.
HARDWARE
VIRTUALIZATION
OPERATING
SYSTEM
DATABASES/MIDDLEWARE
APPLICATIONS
25. International Technology Group 22
Another difference is that VMware and (to a lesser extent) other x86 virtualization tools have become
common hacker and malware targets. Businesses deploying these may find that their vulnerabilities
increase, while patching workloads expand.
PowerVM is less vulnerable. The National Vulnerability Database maintained by the U.S. National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), for example, recorded 39 medium and high severity
vulnerabilities for VMware, and 13 for Xen and KVM during 2011. None were reported for PowerVM
over the same period.
Availability Optimization
Power Systems
A first set of availability optimization features is built into Power Systems hardware and microcode. It
includes the following:
• Basic capabilities include high levels of component reliability and redundancy, along with hot
swap capabilities enabling devices to be replaced without taking systems offline. Redundant and
hot swap components include disk drives, PCI adapters, fans, blowers, power supplies and, on
high-end models, system clocks, service processors and power regulators.
• Monitoring, diagnostic and fault isolation and resolution facilities are built into all major Power
system components, including processors, main memory, cache and packaging modules, as well
as adapters, power supplies, cooling and other devices. In many cases, multiple layers of
protection and self-test are implemented.
Key functionality is provided by IBM-developed Chipkill and First Failure Data Capture
(FFDC) technologies. Chipkill is significantly more reliable than conventional error correction
code (ECC) techniques. FFDC employs embedded sensors that identify and report failures to a
separately powered Service Processor, which also monitors environmental conditions.
The Service Processor can automatically notify system administrators or contact an IBM Support
Center (electronic support or call home service) to report events requiring service intervention.
• Fault masking capabilities prevent outages in case failures do occur. For example, in the event
an instruction fails to execute due to a hardware or software fault, the system will automatically
repeat the operation. If the failure persists, the operation will be repeated on a different processor
and, if this does not succeed, the failed processor will be taken out of service.
In addition, memory sparing enables alternate memory modules to be activated in the event of
failures; and enhanced memory subsystem enables memory controller and cache sparing.
Availability optimization features of Power Systems are summarized in figure 14. Additional capabilities
are provided for high-end Power 770, 780 and 795 models.
LPARs contribute to reduction of planned outages. Software modifications may be made and new
versions installed and assured without disrupting operations. Backups may be performed, and batch
workloads executed concurrently with online processes.
A further capability, Live Partition Mobility, was introduced for IBM i 7.1 in April 2012. This allows
movement of active LPARs between Power Systems without disrupting operations. Service interruptions
of one or two seconds may occur due to network latency. These are, however, rarely noticeable to users.
26. International Technology Group 23
Software Solutions
Avoidance of planned as well as unplanned outages is a central IBM i design parameter. High levels of
stability, integration and automation minimize risks of unplanned outages caused by software failures and
human error, and reduce both the frequency and duration of planned outages.
BASIC
CAPABILITIES
Redundancy,
hot-‐swap
&
related
Redundant/hot-‐swap
disks,
PCI
adapters,
GX
buses,
fans
&
blowers,
power
supplies,
power
regulators
&
other
components.
Redundant
disk
controllers.
I/O
paths
&
oscillators.
Concurrent
system
clock
repair.
Concurrent
firmware
update
Server
microcode
may
be
updated
without
taking
systems
offline.
Concurrent
maintenance
Allows
processors,
memory
cards
&
adapters
to
be
replaced,
upgraded
or
serviced
without
taking
systems
offline.
MONITORING,
DIAGNOSTICS
&
FAULT
ISOLATION/RESOLUTION
Hardware-‐assisted
memory
scrubbing
Automatic
daily
test
of
all
system
memory.
Detects
&
reports
developing
memory
errors
before
they
cause
problems.
Chipkill
error
checking
Employs
RAID-‐like
striping
of
data
across
memory
devices
to
provide
redundancy
&
enable
reinstatement
of
original
data.
Significantly
more
reliable
than
conventional
error
correction
code
(ECC)
technology.
First
Failure
Data
Capture
(FFDC)
Employs
1,000+
embedded
sensors
that
identify
errors
in
any
system
component.
Root
causes
of
errors
are
determined
without
the
need
to
recreate
problems
or
run
tracing
or
diagnostics
programs.
FAULT
MASKING
Processor
instruction
retry
Alternate
processor
recovery
Processor-‐contained
checkstop
If
an
instruction
fails
to
execute
due
to
a
hardware
or
software
fault,
the
system
automatically
retries
the
operation.
If
the
failure
persists,
the
operation
is
repeated
on
a
different
processor
&,
if
this
does
not
succeed,
the
failed
processor
is
taken
out
of
service
(checkstopped).
Only
LPARs
supported
by
the
failed
processor
are
affected.
Dynamic
processor
sparing
Allows
idle
Capacity
Upgrade
on
Demand
(CUoD)
processors
to
be
automatically
activated
as
replacements
for
failed
processors.
Partition
availability
priority
In
the
event
of
a
processor
failure,
maintains
LPAR-‐based
workloads
based
on
assigned
priorities;
i.e.,
remaining
processor
capacity
is
assigned
to
the
highest-‐
priority
workloads.
Memory
sparing
Enables
redundant
memory
to
be
activated
in
the
event
of
failure.
Enhanced
memory
subsystem
Enables
memory
controller
&
cache
sparing.
Enhanced
cache
recovery
Detects
&
purges
processor
&
cache
errors.
Recovers
original
data.
Dynamic
I/O
line
bit
repair
(eRepair)
Detects
&
bypasses
failed
memory
pins.
PCI
bus
parity
error
retry
Retries
an
I/O
operation
if
an
error
occurs.
Figure 14: Key Power Systems Availability Optimization Technologies
Specialized features further minimize risks of data loss in the event of an unplanned outage. These
include Remote Journaling (file and system changes may be automatically copied to a second server),
Save While Active (backups may be performed without taking systems offline) and Independent
Auxiliary Storage Pools (IASPs) (data may be mirrored to local or remotely located alternate systems).
Additional protection may be provided by IBM or third-party clustered failover solutions, IBM PowerHA
SystemMirror for i, for example, builds upon IASP technology to provide more advanced database
mirroring, failover and recovery. Synchronous or asynchronous replication may be employed.
27. International Technology Group 24
Although the amount of time required to failover and restart systems and reinstate data may vary, the
“best practice” norm for use of PowerHA SystemMirror for i is that operations may be fully restored
within two hours with little or no data loss. Users have achieved mainframe-class failover and recovery
even for complex large-scale transactional workloads.
Energy Efficiency
The high levels of concentration and capacity utilization enabled by Power Systems can deliver
significant energy savings by enabling users to employ fewer physical servers.
This effect is magnified by industry-leading energy efficiency features. These include the following:
• Active Energy Manager software provides energy conservation functions that include
monitoring, recording and analysis of energy usage and thermal loading; and the ability to
allocate energy on a server-by-server basis as well as to set thresholds for individual server
energy usage based on application priorities, time of day and other factors.
• EnergyScale technology is a set of built-in capabilities that employ an embedded controller,
temperature sensors located throughout systems, and microcode to provide additional energy
conservation functions. Combined use of Active Energy Manager and EnergyScale technology
enables the functions summarized in figure 15.
FUNCTION
DESCRIPTION
Thermal
monitoring
&
reporting
Monitor
&
display
ambient
temperatures,
including
inlet
&
exhaust
temperatures;
display
&
analyze
trends.
Power
trending
Track
&
display
power
usage
data;
display
&
analyze
trends.
Power
saver
mode
Set/schedule
reduction
of
voltage
&
frequency
by
fixed
percentage
within
pre-‐determined
to
be
safe
operating
limit.
Power
capping
Set/schedule
“hard”
&
“soft”
(flexible)
energy
usage
caps;
automatically
throttle
back
voltage
&
frequency
if
system
approaches
cap.
CPU
trending
Determine
actual
CPU
speed
of
processors
for
which
power
saver
or
power
capping
is
active;
display
&
analyze
trends.
Dynamic
power
savings
Automatically
adjust
voltage
&
frequency
settings
based
on
workload;
select
whether
server
operations
should
be
optimized
for
energy
efficiency
or
performance.
Power
efficient
fan
control
Setting
of
fan
speed
based
on
server
usage
&
ambient
temperatures;
altitude
input.
Processor
core
nap
mode
Automatic
processor
stop
when
idle
EnergyScale
for
I/O
Automatic
power-‐off
of
pluggable
PCI
adapters
when
idle.
Guaranteed
Safety
Features
designed
to
ensure
continued
operation
of
the
system
during
adverse
power
or
thermal
conditions.
Figure 15: Active Energy Manager and EnergyScale Functions for Power Systems
Power 750 models, and dual-socket configurations of Power 730 and 740 servers are qualified under the
Energy Star program, which is managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of
Energy. The program sets industry standards for power supply and system energy efficiency.
Some functionally similar energy efficiency capabilities are implemented in hardware, software or both in
x86 server platforms. However, as in other areas, POWER7 based systems benefit from more effective
system-level design, superior microelectronics technology, and more in-depth integration and
optimization across different hardware, microcode and software components.
28. International Technology Group 25
DETAILED DATA
Installations
The cost comparisons presented in this report are based on the installations, server configurations and
FTE staffing levels summarized in figures 16.
CONSUMER
PRODUCTS
DISTRIBUTOR
INDUSTRIAL
DISTRIBUTOR
SPECIALTY
RETAILER
Business
Profile
$450
million
sales
500
employees
3
distribution
centers
$250
million
specialty
industrial
distributor
8
distribution
centers
600
employees
$300
million
sales
1,500
employees
250
stores
2
distribution
centers
Applications
ERP/CRM,
messaging,
Web
applications
CRM,
order
management,
finance,
HR,
supply
chain,
e-‐commerce
Core
retail/merchandising,
supply
chain,
finance,
HR,
Web
&
wireless
applications
Number
of
Users
300
350
400
PLATFORM
SCENARIOS
Power
Systems/IBM
i
7.1
1
x
720
1/4
x
3
GHz
5
LPARs
IBM
i
7.1
0.35
FTE
1
x
720
1/6
x
3
GHz
7
LPARs
IBM
i
7.1,
IASP
0.4
FTE
1
x
740
1/6
x
3.7
GHz
1
x
720
1/4
x
3
GHz
9
LPARs
IBM
i
7.1,
PowerHA,
SystemMirror
0.5
FTE
Windows/SQL
Server
1
x
2/12
x
2
GHz
2
x
2/8
x
2.2
GHz
Windows
Server
2008,
SQL
Server
2008,
third-‐party
0.65
FTEs
2
x
2/12
x
2
GHz
3
x
2/8
x
2.2
GHz
Windows
Server
2008,
SQL
Server
2008,
VMware,
third-‐party
0.95
FTEs
2
x
2/12
x
2.5
GHz
7
x
2/8
x
2.2
GHz
Windows
Server
2008,
SQL
Server
2008,
VMware,
third-‐party
1.15
FTEs
Linux/Oracle
1
x
2/12
x
2
GHz
2
x
2/8
x
2.2
GHz
Linux,
Oracle
11g,
third-‐party
0.75
FTE
2
x
2/12
x
2
GHz
3
x
2/8
x
2.2
GHz
Linux,
Oracle
11g,
VMware,
third-‐party
1.05
FTEs
2
x
2/12
x
2.5
GHz
7
x
2/8
x
2.2
GHz
Linux,
Oracle
11g,
VMware,
third-‐party
1.3
FTEs
Figure 16: Installations and Scenarios Summary
In this presentation, numbers of processors and cores are shown for all platforms; e.g., 1 x 720 1/4 x 3
GHz refers to a Power 720 system with one quad-core 3.0 GHz IBM POWER7 processor, while 2/12 x 2
GHz refers to an x86 server with two six-core 2.0 GHz Intel E5-2620 processors.
Installations and platform scenarios were constructed using data on applications and workloads, server
configurations, database and system administrator staffing and other variables supplied by 35 companies
in the same industries and approximate size ranges, with similar business profiles.
Companies employed ERP systems and other applications from different vendors deployed on IBM i on
Power Systems and/or Windows or x86 Linux servers.
29. International Technology Group 26
DISCRETE
MANUFACTURER
PROCESS
MANUFACTURER
AGRIBUSINESS
COMPANY
Business
Profile
$500
million
sales
2,500
employees
5
manufacturing
&
distribution
centers
$1
billion
manufacturer
of
food
&
beverage
products
6
manufacturing
plants
2,000
employees
$1.5
billion
sales
5,000
employees
10
production
&
distribution
centers
Applications
ERP,
CRM,
supply
chain,
BI,
e-‐commerce
ERP,
CRM,
supply
chain,
e-‐commerce,
departmental
ERP,
procurement,
BI,
Web
query,
e-‐commerce,
compliance,
EDI
Number
of
Users
600
500
1,200
PLATFORM
SCENARIOS
IBM
i
7.1/
POWER
SYSTEMS
1
x
740
1/6
x
3.7
GHz
1
x
720
1/4
x
3
GHz
10
LPARs
IBM
i
7.1,
PowerHA,
SystemMirror
0.75
FTE
2
x
740
1/8
x
3.3
GHz
12
LPARs
IBM
i
7.1,
PowerHA,
SystemMirror
0.65
FTE
2
x
740
2/12
x
3.7
GHz
17
LPARs
IBM
i
7.1,
PowerHA,
SystemMirror
0.95
FTE
WINDOWS
SERVER
2
x
4/24
x
1.86
GHz
1
x
2/8
x
2.4
GHz
7
x
2/8
x
2.2
GHz
Windows
Server
2008,
SQL
Server
2008,
VMware,
third
party
1.65
FTEs
2
x
4/32
x
2.13
GHz
6
x
2/12
x
2
GHz
1
x
2/8
x
2.4
GHz
1
x
2/8
x
2.2
GHz
Windows
Server
2008,
SQL
Server
2008,
VMware,
third
party
1.55
FTEs
2
x
4/32
x
2.13
GHz
1
x
4/24
x
1.86
GHz
1
x
2/12
x
2
GHz
2
x
2/8
x
2.4
GHz
7
x
2/8
x
2.2
GHz
Windows
Server
2008,
SQL
Server
2008,
VMware,
third
party
2.25
FTEs
x86
LINUX/ORACLE
2
x
4/24
x
1.86
GHz
1
x
2/8
x
2.4
GHz
7
x
2/8
x
2.2
GHz
Linux,
Oracle
11g,
VMware,
third-‐party
1.9
FTEs
2
x
4/32
x
2.13
GHz
6
x
2/12
x
2
GHz
1
x
2/8
x
2.4
GHz
1
x
2/8
x
2.2
GHz
Linux,
Oracle
11g,
VMware,
third-‐party
1.8
FTEs
2
x
4/32
x
2.13
GHz
1
x
4/24
x
1.86
GHz
1
x
2/12
x
2
GHz
2
x
2/8
x
2.4
GHz
7
x
2/8
x
2.2
GHz
Linux,
Oracle
11g,
VMware,
third-‐party
2.5
FTEs
Figure 16 (cont.): Installations and Scenarios Summary
IT Cost Calculations
IT costs were calculated as follows:
• Server costs include hardware and software license acquisition, along with three-year hardware
maintenance and software update and support subscriptions. Maintenance and support costs are
for vendor 24/7 coverage. Calculations were based on vendor list prices discounted to reflect
prevailing street prices.
Power Systems were configured with IBM i 7.1 and PowerVM Standard or Enterprise Edition. In
the four largest installations, POWER7 based systems form two-way failover clusters using IBM
PowerHA SystemMirror for i.
x86 servers employed for comparisons were branded models equipped with Intel Xeon E5-2400,
E5-2600 and E7-4800 series processors.
30. International Technology Group 27
Windows servers were configured with Windows Server 2008 R2 and, for database serving and
development systems, SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise Edition. License costs for
Microsoft software include Client Access Licenses (CALs). Software support costs are for
Microsoft Software Assurance.
x86 Linux servers were configured with a major commercial Linux distribution, along with
Oracle 11g Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition. Oracle configurations also include Diagnostics
and Tuning Packs providing functionality equivalent to that incorporated by IBM in i 7.1, and by
Microsoft in SQL Server 2008 at no additional charge.
Windows and x86 Linux/Oracle servers were also configured with third-party system
management and security tools providing functionality corresponding to that of the IBM i 7.1
base offering. VMware ESXi 5 was employed for test and development serving, and for some
production applications in the five largest installations.
Production Windows and x86 Linux/Oracle database servers in the five largest installations were
configured in two-way clusters using a common third-party failover solution.
• Personnel costs were calculated based on annual average salaries of $87,851 for i 7.1 and Power
Systems administrators handling database as well as system administration tasks; $75,908 and
$76,889 for Windows and x86 Linux system administrators respectively; and $90,339 and
$99,538 for SQL Server and Oracle DBAs respectively.
Salaries were increased by 52.6 percent to allow for benefits, bonuses, training and other
personnel-related items. Overall costs were calculated for a three-year period.
• Facilities costs include data center occupancy and energy consumption by servers and by the data
center infrastructure equipment supporting these.
Energy costs were calculated using vendor electricity consumption values for server
configurations and data center equipment. Specific utilization levels and hours of operation for
the installation were then applied, and a conservative assumption for average price per
kilowatt/hour was employed to determine three-year costs.
Detailed breakdowns of IT costs are presented in figure 17.
Costs of Downtime
Costs of downtime were calculated using a two-phase process.
First, average costs per hour of downtime were calculated for all companies using appropriate industry-
and organization-specific values. “Average,” in this context, means that costs are based on overall annual
volumes of business activity divided by hours of operation (in all three cases, 24 x 365 = 8,760).
The following costs were calculated:
• For manufacturers and distributors, supply chain disruption costs included costs incurred for
planning and operational processes between initial customer queries and final delivery.
Calculations include costs of idle and underutilized capacity, including personnel; handling of
delivery delays (including distribution center and transportation costs); additional inventory
carrying costs; costs of customer billing delays; and costs of change for affected processes.
Calculations also include costs of customer penalties such as late delivery and imperfect order
fees, and remedial costs such as buyback rebates.
31. International Technology Group 28
Company
Health
Products
Distributor
Industrial
Distributor
Specialty
Retailer
Discrete
Manufacturer
Process
Manufacturer
Agribusiness
Company
IBM
i
7.1/POWER
SYSTEMS
Hardware
9,876
11,999
26,571
26,571
46,875
64,124
Maintenance
928
928
3,843
3,843
5,829
5,829
Software
20,699
52,377
100,953
118,560
203,036
304,545
Software
support
6,617
22,794
47,297
55,444
98,754
149,592
Personnel
140,764
160,873
201,091
301,636
261,418
382,073
Facilities
3,396
4,275
8,124
8,320
9,979
11,147
TOTAL
($)
182,280
253,246
387,879
514,374
625,891
917,310
WINDOWS
SERVER
Hardware
14,800
24,787
44,008
66,833
83,784
95,956
Maintenance
3,375
5,626
8,163
11,127
11,504
14,817
Software
58,547
87,509
103,410
169,110
234,453
315,600
Software
support
46,526
68,964
79,736
125,028
171,473
215,227
Personnel
239,092
349,951
422,756
606,419
571,668
821,529
Facilities
5,948
8,013
11,237
19,769
25,597
30,964
TOTAL
($)
368,288
544,849
669,311
998,286
1,098,480
1,494,093
x86
LINUX/ORACLE
Hardware
14,800
24,787
44,008
66,833
83,784
95,956
Maintenance
3,375
5,626
8,163
11,127
11,504
14,817
Software
104,253
150,362
161,328
291,623
340,564
469,557
Software
support
79,996
117,069
134,272
218,686
238,673
332,420
Personnel
289,920
405,888
499,072
736,193
700,993
952,576
Facilities
5,948
8,013
11,237
19,769
25,597
30,964
TOTAL
($)
498,292
711,745
858,080
1,344,230
1,401,115
1,896,290
Figure 17: Three-year IT Costs Breakdown
For manufacturing companies, calculations also allow for the effects of delays on production
operations, including costs of supplier order, production scheduling and setup, and other changes.
• For the retail company, calculations included supply chain disruption costs as well as lost sales
due to stockouts and, for the company’s Internet channel, inability to quote product availability
and process customer orders due to outages.
Allowance was also made for costs due to disruption of store operations, including increased
markdowns, set-up delays, handling and administrative costs for late and imperfect deliveries,
and remedial actions such as re-ordering, display changes and restocking.
Second, average costs of downtime per hour were multiplied by numbers of hours of downtime per year
for each platform. These were calculated based on user inputs. The focus was placed on downtime for
underlying hardware and software platforms, rather than application downtime. Annual costs of downtime
for each platform were then multiplied for three-year totals.
All IT costs and costs of downtime values were for the United States.
32. ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY GROUP
ITG sharpens your awareness of what’s happening and your competitive edge
. . . this could affect your future growth and profit prospects
International Technology Group (ITG), established in 1983, is an independent research and management
consulting firm specializing in information technology (IT) investment strategy, cost/benefit metrics,
infrastructure studies, deployment tactics, business alignment and financial analysis.
ITG was an early innovator and pioneer in developing total cost of ownership (TCO) and return on
investment (ROI) processes and methodologies. In 2004, the firm received a Decade of Education Award
from the Information Technology Financial Management Association (ITFMA), the leading professional
association dedicated to education and advancement of financial management practices in end-user IT
organizations.
The firm has undertaken more than 120 major consulting projects, released more than 250 management
reports and white papers and more than 1,800 briefings and presentations to individual clients, user
groups, industry conferences and seminars throughout the world.
Client services are designed to provide factual data and reliable documentation to assist in the decision-
making process. Information provided establishes the basis for developing tactical and strategic plans.
Important developments are analyzed and practical guidance is offered on the most effective ways to
respond to changes that may impact complex IT deployment agendas.
A broad range of services is offered, furnishing clients with the information necessary to complement
their internal capabilities and resources. Customized client programs involve various combinations of the
following deliverables:
Status Reports In-depth studies of important issues
Management Briefs Detailed analysis of significant developments
Management Briefings Periodic interactive meetings with management
Executive Presentations Scheduled strategic presentations for decision-makers
Email Communications Timely replies to informational requests
Telephone Consultation Immediate response to informational needs
Clients include a cross section of IT end users in the private and public sectors representing multinational
corporations, industrial companies, financial institutions, service organizations, educational institutions,
federal and state government agencies as well as IT system suppliers, software vendors and service firms.
Federal government clients have included agencies within the Department of Defense (e.g., DISA),
Department of Transportation (e.g., FAA) and Department of Treasury (e.g., US Mint).
International Technology Group
609 Pacific Avenue, Suite 102
Santa Cruz, California 95060-4406
Telephone: + 831-427-9260
Email: Contact@ITGforInfo.com
Website: ITGforInfo.com