IBM introduced its NeXtScale server which at maximum density could see a single rack carry 84 servers and 2,106 cores consisting of 12 half width servers in seven 6u chasses.
 

The firm said the 6u N1200 chassis supplies the power and cooling necessary for the servers. The N1200 enclosure is a 6U chassis that holds up to 12 nx360 M4 servers. Reports say each chassis will carry six 900W power inputs.

N1200 enclosure
 

In its statement the company said: “NeXtScale is approved for operation in higher-temperature data centers (up to 40C/104F degrees).”

It was announced in the week that Intel launched the new Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v2 the NeXtScale System compute nodes are designed around this family of processors. The Xeon E5-2600 v2 series uses a 22nm manufacturing process in contrast to the 32nm used in the E5-2600.

Servers sit side by side in a standard EIA 19” rack with each half width 1U server supporting up to two processors, each with up to 12 cores and 30 MB of cache. A maximum of 4TB of local storage consists of one 3.5” or two 2.5” SAS/SATA drives or four 1.8” solid state drive.


IBM NeXtScaler - outside view
 

Roadmap

IBM said NeXtScale and System x3650 M4 HD are two new entries headlining a broad refresh of the entire System x core server portfolio of two-socket systems including System x racks and towers, Flex System, iDataPlex, and BladeCenter offerings.

Components
“NeXtScale supports the industry's fastest x86 processors and ultra-fast 1866 MHz memory, and can be integrated into data centers or departmental IT closets, including those running at 100-127V power inputs…NeXtScale is approved for operation in higher-temperature data centers (up to 40C/104F degrees).”
 

It uses industry-standard components including I/O cards and top-of-rack networking switches for flexibility of choice and ease of adoption.
Rack level power capping is provided via the IBM Extreme Cloud Adminsitration Toolkit (xCAT) as part of the supporting software stack which includes IBM General Parallel File System, GPFS Storage Server and Platform Computing for scheduling, management and optimization.

Adalio Sanchez, General Manager, IBM System x, said: "By delivering high flexibility, ultra performance and great efficiency in an industry-standard format with a powerful software stack, NeXtScale provides our clients with a versatile new data center solution that is easy to qualify, acquire and deploy. The introduction of NeXtScale and the other offerings and enhancements we're announcing today illustrate our continuing commitment to providing high-value, high-performance x86-based solutions to our clients." 

Route to market
Because of its standard-rack form factor and broad use of industry-standard components the firm said pre-tested and pre-configured options made it reseller partner friendly.
 

“NeXtScale can be purchased as a single node, an empty or configured chassis, or in full racks as a complete pre-tested IBM Intelligent Cluster solution, delivered fully configured and ready to power on. With Intelligent Cluster, NeXtScale arrives at the client location racked, cabled, and labeled with user-supplied naming, with pre-programmed Integrated management module and addresses, and with burn-in testing completed at virtually no additional cost.”
 

IBM also announced the x3650 M4 HD, an enhancement of its 3650-class system featuring first-in-class 12-gigabyte RAID and a 60-percent higher spindle count for higher density storage and higher IO performance.