NOVEMBER 2014 Proposition A...

+IBM’s Jeff Scheel on Linux trends

The benefits of Linux on Power far outweigh

the barriers to getting started

IBM floods the Linux market with options

NOVEMBER 2014E-book: Linux on Power

PropositionA Growing

Linux on Power continues to flourish

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EDITORIALEXECUTIVE PUBLISHERDiane Rowell

PUBLISHERDoug Rock

EXECUTIVE EDITOREvelyn Hoover

COPY EDITORLisa Stefan

PRODUCTIONART DIRECTORDavid Sather

PRODUCTION MANAGERJonathan Benson

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CIRCULATIONCIRCULATION DIRECTORBea Jaeger

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© Copyright 2014 by International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation. This magazine could contain technical in-accuracies or typographical errors. Also, illustrations contained herein may show prototype equipment. Your systemconfiguration may differ slightly. This magazine contains small programs that are furnished by IBM as simple examplesto provide an illustration. These examples have not been thoroughly tested under all conditions. IBM, therefore, cannotguarantee or imply reliability, serviceability, or function of these programs. All programs contained herein are providedto you “AS IS.” IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED.IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in theUnited States, other countries, or both. If these and other IBM trademarked terms are marked on their first occurrence in thisinformation with an asterisk (*), these symbols indicate U.S. registered or common law trademarks owned by IBM at the timethis information was published. Such trademarks may also be registered or common law trademarks in other countries. A cur-rrrent list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” (ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml).

The following (marked with an *) are trademarks or registered trademarks of other companies: Intel, Itanium and Pentium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.Linear Tape-Open, LTO and Ultrium are trademarks of HP, IBM Corp. and Quantum in the U.S. and other countries. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both. Microsoft, Windows and WindowsNT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries. Other product and service names might be trademarks ofIBM or other companies.All customer examples cited represent the results achieved by some customers who use IBM products. Actual environ-mental costs and performance characteristics will vary depending on individual customer configurations and conditions.Information concerning non-IBM products was obtained from the products’ suppliers. Questions on their capabilitiesshould be addressed with the suppliers.All statements regarding IBM’s future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice andrepresent goals and objectives only. The articles in this magazine represent the views of the authors and are notnecessarily those of IBM.

Direct editorial inquiries to [email protected]

Linux on Power Buzz

At the recent IBM Enterprise 2014 conference, the

buzz around Linux* on Power* was substantial.

From the keynote session with Power GM Doug Balog

to numerous sessions to the expo floor, the duo caught

the limelight. That’s why, this, our first e-book, focuses

on the growth and future of Linux on Power.

We’ve taken two articles from our July 2014 Linux-themed issue of IBM

Systems Magazine and repackaged them in this new format, but we alsoe

added two new content pieces that further the Linux conversation.

A roundtable with representatives of Canonical, Red Hat and SUSE, the

three major Linux distributors, kicks the e-book off, providing insights into

how and why Linux on Power is flourishing. The roundtable, which appeared

in the July issue, begins on page 4.

For a look at Linux on Power trends and future direction, we turned

to IBM’s Jeff Scheel, chief engineer for Linux on Power (page 10). The

Q&A touches on the importance of the kernel-volume manager, Coherent

Accelerator Processor Interface, OpenPOWER and OpenStack.

While some clients are quick to try Linux on Power, others need a little

convincing. That’s part of the job of IBMer Ruviano Martinez. On page 15, he

refutes some of the common arguments about moving to Linux on Power.

Finally, we take a look at the IBM announcements and explain how they

help current and future clients make the move from x86 to Linux on Power

(page 18).

Where is your company with regard to Linux on Power? Drop me a note

and let me know or use the comments feature on our website.

Evelyn Hoover

IBM Systems Magazine Executive Editor

EDITOR’S DESK

Editor’s Desk..........................................................2

Roundtable reveals Linux is flourishing

on Power Systems ................................................4

IBM’s Jeff Scheel on the future

of Linux on Power ..............................................10

The benefits of Linux on Power far outweigh

the barriers to getting started........................15

IBM floods the Linux market with options...18

2 // NOVEMBER 2014 Linux on Power e-book

POWER SYSTEMS EDITION

Editor’s note: This article is reprinted

from the July 2014 issue of IBM Systems

Magazine, Power Systems edition.

BM’s POWER8* announcement and

$1 billion support for Linux* on

Power Systems* servers broaden clients’

access to applications and tools in an

open-source environment. Clients gain

the flexibility and innovation that Linux

offers and are assured that running Linux

on POWER8 technology will be backed by

IBM’s reliability, scalability, security and

performance. The open-source market is

fertile soil for Power Systems growth—

and it’s helping Linux flourish, too.

To provide insight on the latest Linux

trends, IBM Systems Magazine spoke

with IBM partners Red Hat, SUSE and

Canonical (backers of Ubuntu) regarding

what IBM’s investment means for clients,

partners and ISVs, and how open source

can spur growth for everyone. Joining the

Linux roundtable was Patrick Quairoli,

director IBM Alliances, from SUSE; Filipe

Miranda, global lead for Red Hat on

IBM System z* and Power Systems, and

Mark Coggin, senior director, product

marketing, platform, from Red Hat; and

John Dolen, partner marketing manager,

and Mark Baker, cloud technologist,

from Canonical.

,%0�6\VWHPV�0DJD]LQH��,60��:KDW�ZRUNORDGV�DUH�3RZHU�6\VWHPV�FOLHQWV�GHSOR\LQJ�RQ�/LQX["� 4XDLUROL� Open-source infrastructure

and Linux grew up together and we’re

still seeing good penetration. We’re also

seeing a lot of success from customers

putting their SAP front end on Power*

boxes running a Linux partition, giving

them the capability to have database

and application servers on the same

box. Finally, customers are leveraging

Linux on Power to run analytics like

InfoSphere* and Cognos*.

'ROHQ� Power Systems customers are

asking for more cloud capabilities.

Existing clients are asking how they

can integrate next-generation cloud

technologies such as Hadoop, data

analytics and social media with their

current workloads. New clients also

will be seeking out Power technology

to scale out their cloud infrastructure,

whether it’s public, private or hybrid.

With POWER8 technology, IBM has

made a huge leap forward in cloud by

enhancing the architecture to meet

the demands of the latest scale-out

applications, such as data analytics,

enabling a massive growth in the

ecosystem by moving to little endian

support and by designing new

processors that are cost-competitive

alternatives for cloud applications.

Linux on Power e-book NOVEMBER 2014 // 5

TAKEAWAY

r The Linux market is growing and IBM Power Systems technology is positioned to grow along with it.

r Clients gain flexibility and innovation from Linux, and reliability, scalability, security and performance from the Power Systems architecture.

r IBM partners with Linux providers Canonical, Red Hat and SUSE, and each has its own take on Linux trends and opportunities.

Roundtable reveals Linux is flourishing on Power SystemsBY SHIRLEY S. SAVAGE

Roundtable Participants

Canonical

John Dolen

Mark Baker

Red Hat

Filipe Miranda

Mark Coggin

SUSE

Patrick Quairoli

cloud. Clients and ecosystem providers

alike are responding as evidenced by

the numbers joining the OpenPOWER

Foundation.

4XDLUROL� IBM’s investment has caused

the interest in Power and Linux to

explode. We’re seeing it all over the

world, including North America, South

Africa, China, Korea and Brazil.

,60��+DV�WKH�32:(5��UHOHDVH�DIIHFWHG�/LQX[�GHPDQG"'ROHQ� The POWER8 launch takes

Power technology into the scale-out

area, and that opens up choice for

customers, particularly for deploying

cloud solutions. We’ve been seeing

many requests from customers who

are interested in deploying Ubuntu

on POWER8.

4XDLUROL� POWER8 technology is able

to run either big endian or little endian,

which creates a great opportunity. The

majority of hardware that’s out there

today runs little endian, whereas Power

servers have run big endian. SUSE, for

the first time, will be releasing a little

endian implementation for IBM Power

when we release SUSE Linux Enterprise

Server 12. With that, we’re going to see

more opportunities for ISVs to bring

solutions and workloads to Linux

on Power.

,60��:KDW�FKDQJHV�DUH�\RX�VHHLQJ�LQ�WKH�HQWHUSULVH�DQG�WKH�VPDOO�WR�PLGVL]HG�EXVLQHVV��60%��VSDFH�UHJDUGLQJ�/LQX["0LUDQGD� Enterprise CIOs are pressured

to meet the nonstop IT demand to

meet business needs; so they have

to keep looking for performance,

reliability, scalability and security

while keeping investments low, and

Linux is ideal for that. For SMBs, Linux

brings down costs and offers a stronger

interoperability with other systems.

4XDLUROL� We’re seeing a lot of interest

from existing AIX enterprise customers

who want to add Linux. Customers

are now starting to understand that

the infrastructure and management

are different on Linux than on AIX,

and they’re figuring out how it fits.

When SMBs look for more compute

capacity with the same footprint and

same energy usage, IBM and Power

technology stand out.

%DNHU� Enterprises are looking to

support diverse sets of requirements

and those environments need to be

interoperable. Also, enterprises want

more agility in their businesses. They

see greenfield companies that are able

to design, develop and launch services

in a matter of weeks or months and

then are able to scale those services.

Enterprises want to be able to do that.

With Ubuntu and POWER8, SMBs

can now take advantage of the type

of powerful analytics only available

to large corporations with million-

dollar budgets.

,60��$UH�\RX�VHHLQJ�FOLHQWV�LQ�QHZ�LQGXVWULHV�PRYH�WR�/LQX["�,I�VR��ZKLFK�RQHV�DQG�ZK\"�%DNHU��Media/entertainment has

a lot of excitement regarding Linux

0LUDQGD� Power customers take full

advantage of the architecture. With

POWER8 technology, the number

of threads per core has increased,

improving upon the last generation and

benefiting compute-intensive workloads

like big data, business analytics, highly

scaled cloud applications and extreme

Java* workloads.

,60��:KDW�FKDQJHV�KDYH�\RX�VHHQ�LQ�GHPDQG�IRU�ELJ�GDWD�DQG�DQDO\WLFV�FDSDELOLWLHV"�4XDLUROL� We’re seeing success on

Power Systems servers for analytics and

big data because the system of record

has been running on DB2* on AIX* or

Oracle on AIX. Customers want to get

the same performance and capabilities

that they see on the Power platform,

but the applications are only available

on Linux. Fortunately, Linux opens up

a broad portfolio of applications for

enterprises that depend on POWER*.

0LUDQGD� Big data and analytics are

growing and have become critical for

many industries. It’s helping companies

make better decisions.

'ROHQ� Canonical sees big data and

analytics as a core business solution for

many of our enterprise customers, such

as those in finance and healthcare.

These new workloads require scale-

out and cloud capabilities. We are

also seeing a need of speed and for

customers to quickly deploy cloud.

,60��+RZ�KDV�,%0�V�LQYHVWPHQW�DIIHFWHG�LQWHUHVW�LQ�/LQX["�0LUDQGD� It’s always a benefit to

have additional drivers behind Linux

adoption. While we can’t point to any

specific numbers, IBM’s support of

Linux can only help the ecosystem.

'ROHQ��IBM’s investment in Linux has

been a major factor influencing open

solutions in the market. IBM’s support

of Ubuntu shows that it’s serious about

being an open-systems leader in the


Big endian and little endian are

terms that describe the order in which

bytes are stored in computer memory.

Big endian stores the “big end” (most

significant value in the sequence) first (at

the lowest storage address). Little endian

stores the “little end” (least significant

value in the sequence) first.

and what cloud technologies such

as Ubuntu and OpenStack can do for

them. How can they deliver a service

to an end user that’s going to be $5 a

month cheaper than their competitors

yet more profitable? We’re also seeing

strong interest from traditional carriers

with managed services and banking

sector clients now deploying clouds.

4XDLUROL� We’re getting requests from

automotive, insurance, education and

banking—the places where Linux has

always been popular. What’s new is

that the interest is from a different

subset of customers. It’s broadening.

0LUDQGD� Financial, healthcare

as well as retail, government and

manufacturing are all benefiting from

Linux because they want to reduce

costs. Companies usually start small

by employing Linux for noncritical

services and then move Linux to

mission-critical applications. Further,

it’s very easy to find people with

Linux skills.

,60��,V�WKH�2SHQ32:(5�)RXQGDWLRQ�GULYLQJ�LQWHUHVW�LQ�/LQX["�'ROHQ� At Canonical, we have a unique

perspective, being one of the first

software members of the foundation

and the only Linux board member. The

direction for Power technology is clearly

becoming open. That’s one reason

we’ve delivered Ubuntu along with

OpenStack and our cloud orchestration

and provisioning tools—Juju and Metal

as a Service—on POWER8.

4XDLUROL� What Power technology can

offer with Linux is new interest. IBM

is always doing the right things, like

adding common APIs and the capability

for original device manufacturers

to drive demand into a niche

market that never considered Power

platforms before.

&RJJLQ� The OpenPOWER Foundation

is intended to facilitate a vibrant

industry ecosystem around Power


architecture with a component being

open-source software and the Linux OS.

We’ve always believed that architectural

choice is an important aspect of

customer value.

,60��+RZ�LV�2SHQ6WDFN�V�ZRUN�JHQHUDWLQJ�/LQX[�FXVWRPHUV"�&RJJLQ� OpenStack is driving Linux

from several different angles—the

underlying infrastructure upon which

the OpenStack applications run as well

as the guest OS provisioned on top of

KVM [Kernel-based Virtual Machine] or

other hypervisors. You can’t easily use,

try or adopt OpenStack without also

embracing Linux. Today we’re seeing

Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack

Platform in many scenarios—often in

early pilots or architectural proof-of-

concepts. These are typically customers

who already have Linux experience, so

it’s viewed as a Linux expansion within

a customer’s organization.

4XDLUROL� SUSE has been involved in

OpenStack since its formation. The

importance for Power customers is that

they can now use the extra capacity

they have on their compute servers

and make those compute nodes within

an OpenStack environment. That’s

made possible by KVM, which IBM has

adopted. That introduction of KVM

into the Power platform makes those

compute nodes consumable within

OpenStack. Without KVM, we would

need a different set of APIs within

OpenStack to speak to PowerVM*. With

KVM, once you’ve assigned virtualized

compute resources through KVM,

OpenStack can consume them just like

any other KVM resource.

%DNHU� OpenStack is evolving into

Linux deployed at scale for enterprises

as they move to next-generation

architectures and workloads. This is a

move toward an open platform that can

deliver business applications at scale.

That is where the openness of Power,

Linux and OpenStack technologies

are creating this perfect storm where

customers are going to be able to do

more with their own structure, which

they need to do because of the volume

of data and customers is growing

so fast.

,60��:KDW�RWKHU�/LQX[�RQ�3RZHU�WUHQGV�DUH�\RX�VHHLQJ"�4XDLUROL� KVM will open up the Power

platform to new customers. Adding

utility computing capabilities like KVM

creates an opportunity for those who

are familiar with KVM and Linux to

expand into a new hardware platform

without learning additional tools.

The same is true with OpenStack. It

gives this commodity-like feel to the

Power platform, which has typically

had an air of mystery around it

with Linux adopters. I think Linux

is going to increase the popularity

of Power technology based on

IBM’s investments.

'ROHQ� Working with IBM, it’s going to

be exciting to see advances, whether

it’s in scale out or in some of Power

technology’s traditional core streams,

such as performance, reliability and

security being exploited for Linux. We

look forward to seeing Ubuntu and

Linux bring more value to clients.

Shirley S. Savage is a Maine-based

freelance writer.

Greenfield is a term used to describe a

project that’s not constrained by prior work.

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Linux on Power and WebFOCUS saves IT costs. 5IF�GMFYJCMF�DBQBDJUZ�PG�1PXFS�PGGFST�TBWJOHT�JO�FMFDUSJDJUZ��DPPMJOH�

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Linux on Power and WebFOCUS deploys quickly. *#.�1PXFS�4ZTUFNT�GPS�-JOVY�BOE�TVQQPSUJOH�TZTUFNT�IFMQ�

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Linux on Power and WebFOCUS delivers super-linear scalability. 8F�PGGFS�GMFYJCJMJUZ�TP�ZPV�DBO�EFQMPZ�BOZ�DPNQPOFOUT�PG�

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WebFOCUS and Linux on PowerTwice as Fast, Twice as Powerful

Register for the IBM/Information Builders webinar in November�,%0�/LQX[�RQ�3RZHU�DQG�:HE)2&86�H[SHUWV�GLVFXVV�WKH�SRZHU�

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WebFOCUS iWay Software Omni

informationbuilders.comGet Social

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As data gets bigger and

information becomes more

widely available, businesses

are tapping into the power

of open innovation. In response, IBM

continues to make strategic investments

in open technology, including its

announcement last year of a $1 billion

investment in Linux*, aimed to help

clients capitalize on big data and cloud

computing. The release of the POWER8*

processor in June is another example.

One expert at the helm of these

efforts is Jeff Scheel, chief engineer for

Linux on Power*. Since joining IBM in

1992, Scheel has played a lead role in

advancing the company’s open-source

ecosystem. Today, he sets the technical

direction for current and future

investments in Linux on Power, keeping

a close eye on industry trends.

,%0�V�-HII�6FKHHO�RQ�WKH�IXWXUH�RI�/LQX[�RQ�3RZHU

BY EVE DANIELS

TAKEAWAY

r Keeping a close eye on industry trends, Jeff Scheel, chief engineer for Linux

on Power, plays a lead role in advancing IBM’s open-source ecosystem.

r Among the most exciting trends, OpenStack and Kernel-based Virtual

Machines are enabling cloud and virtualization to grow up together.

r IBM is developing new solutions based on the Coherent Accelerator Processor

Interface, which IBM recently made available to the OpenPOWER Foundation.

down through the virtualization level.

When all of these areas are common, the

expense of introducing new hardware is

as cheap as it gets.

4��:KLFK�WUHQGV�DUH�\RX�PRVW�H[FLWHG�DERXW"$� One of the most well-known

examples is the open-source and

specialized databases—whether it’s a

NoSQL, key value store or a traditional

database. There’s a whole set of these

new Linux applications that customers

are now using instead of the traditional,

proprietary databases. Many of these

niche databases are cheaper and faster

at their specific function.

The cloud environment is another

good example of an exciting trend.

OpenStack is driving huge interest,

whether we’re talking about large

service providers or traditional

enterprises. OpenStack and KVM

[Kernel-based Virtual Machine] are

enabling cloud and virtualization to

grow up together.

IBM has cloud images available to

open-source developers at Oregon State

and the Open Source Lab. We have

recently established and brought online

a similar setup in Brazil at UNICAMP,

and we’re continuing to explore other

opportunities in China and Europe. So

we are not only opening these cloud

images, but we’re also contributing

resources and providing boxes to key

developers to ensure that strategic

projects support Linux on Power.

4��&DQ�\RX�RXWOLQH�WKH�ELJJHVW�EHQHILWV�RI�32:(5��IRU�RSHQ�VRXUFH�GHYHORSHUV"$� First and foremost, we doubled

the number of hardware threads per

core in the processor. The POWER7*

processor had four hardware threads

per core. In POWER8, we have eight

hardware threads per core.

Of course, doubling the number of

hardware threads doesn’t necessarily

mean that you double the quantity of

work you can accomplish. So we’ve

also improved that single thread

performance, and we’ve introduced

a new technology called micro-

threading. Now we can split the core

and simultaneously dispatch up to

four different partitions across those

eight threads. This advancement gives

us increased virtualization density

on the core and will help our overall

virtualization strategy.

A second technology that’s being

exploited in Linux is transactional

memory. This is something the

industry has used for some time at the

software level, but now we’re seeing it

in the hardware, too.

In a transactional memory

environment, you go in and start

the activities on that specialized set

of memory, and when you end the

transaction, you’re told whether

anybody interfered with you. Support

for this kind of software is now in

POWER8 hardware, and we’ll continue

to optimize our software to exploit it.

We sat down with Scheel to discuss

a few of those trends, as well as learn

what IBM is doing to stay ahead of

the curve.

4��/HW�V�VWDUW�ZLWK�WKH�ELJ�SLFWXUH��:KDW�V�KDSSHQLQJ�ZLWKLQ�WKH�RSHQ�VRXUFH�ODQGVFDSH"$� The world has changed and

enterprise systems are changing with

it. The number of companies designing

and building their own servers is

increasing, as are the disruptive

forces behind these custom systems.

Software architects from large retailers,

government entities and many others

are finding ways to handle rapid

growth in big data and analytics-based

solutions. And it’s not just in the U.S.—

it’s worldwide.

When Linux originally came out,

there was a “me too” mentality in

the software. It was about things that

Microsoft and UNIX* could do as

well. But now we have this new set of

applications being developed on and

for Linux—whether it’s Hadoop, Redis,

Node.js or Docker—and businesses

are out designing their new solutions

around this next generation of software.

This is happening because of

open-source software. Developers

can innovate together on the same

code base with minimal effort.

Companies benefit because they can

run the same software on different

hardware platforms, not only from

the application level, but all the way


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FRQVROLGDWLRQ�LQ�WKH�HQWHUSULVH�μ��³-HII�6FKHHO��FKLHI�HQJLQHHU�IRU�/LQX[�RQ�3RZHU

4 // NOVEMBER 2014 Linux on Power eBook

And the third feature is our Coherent

Accelerator Processor Interface

(CAPI). In this CAPI world, outboard

accelerators and processors can touch

and cache memory without specialized

programming constructs, simplifying

the programming model between the

system and the outboard accelerator.

It goes from being more of a device

driver-embedded model, where you

have to share memory very carefully, to

one where the processor takes care of

it for you.

Right now, IBM is developing new

solutions based on CAPI. Look for

these in the not-too-distant future.

What makes CAPI more exciting is

that IBM has also made it available to

the OpenPOWER Foundation. So the

opportunities for CAPI exploitation are

greatly expanded due to the involvement

of the foundation members.

4� 1HHGOHVV�WR�VD\��WKH�ZKROH�ZRUOGLVQ�W�RSHQ��:KHUH�GR�WKH�WKLUG�SDUW\�RU�FORVHG�DSSOLFDWLRQV�FRPHLQWR�SOD\"$� We’re focused on creating an

environment that interacts well with

pieces of third-party software. And

some great new products are coming to

market that are based on open. That’s

where we get things like our Power

Development Platform (cloud), which

enables third-party software providers

to get access to Linux images for their

development purposes. IBM provides

this access through PartnerWorld.

Through our university rela-

tionships, we’re also leveraging

Bountysource.com to incent porting of

various open-source libraries. Our goal is

to proactively pursue the porting of key

libraries before applications need them.

There are also the cases of enterprise

versions of open source where the line

is blurred, in a sense, between open

and closed. I’m referring to companies

like Opscode, which provides the

enterprise version of Chef, or Puppet

Labs, which provides the enterprise

version of Puppet. Both are DevOps

tools used in the cloud environment.

These companies are key to the next-

generation software ecosystem that we

are now witnessing.

4��7HOO�XV�PRUH�DERXW�.90��:K\�DOOWKH�IXVV"$� My personal belief is that KVM

is the next great opportunity point

for consolidation in the enterprise.

As Linux has been in the past, KVM

will be the next rallying point for

commonality.

Today, people run multiple hyper-

visors on different platforms—not

because they want to, but because they

have to. With the introduction of KVM

on Power we’ve made possible the

day when enterprises can deploy KVM

across all of those platforms using com-

mon software tools and technologies.

When this becomes standard, we

will have taken the enterprise solutions

with multiple hardware platforms to

the most affordable place possible—all

through open source. Then, companies

will be able to reap the benefits of each

hardware platform without paying the

expense of integrating a whole new

platform. That’s on the horizon, and it’s

fun to watch people get excited about it

and start to exploit it.

Eve Daniels is a Minneapolis-based

freelance writer.

IBM Systems Magazine, Power Systems edition, provides additional information about

many of the topics covered in this interview. To learn more, check out these articles:

1 The IBM POWER8 announcement, including coverage of CAPI and KVM:

IBM Team Announces POWER8 and Unveils a New Strategy

1 A more technical look at OpenStack: OpenStack Primer

1 A Power perspective on OpenPOWER: How IBM, Its Clients and Its New

Partners Stand to Benefit From OpenPOWER

Related Articles

14 // NOVEMBER 2014 Linux on Power e-bookLinux on Powerinux on Power eBookeBook

Watch Lisa Johnston, IBM VP of Power Systems Worldwide Marketing, talk

about IBM’s investments in Linux. Also, Mike Kowolenko of North Carolina

State University and Roxanne Reynolds-Lair of the Fashion Institute of

Design and Merchandising share how they use Linux in their environments.

9LGHR�([WUD

REACHExpand your

The benefits of

Linux on Power far

outweigh the barriers

to getting started


BY EVELYN HOOVER

As the popularity of Linux* running on Power*

technology continues to grow, IBM is working to further

expand the OS’s reach. While some clients are more

than willing to move workloads to open source, others

are reluctant. These clients cite various reasons behind the

decision to not try Linux on Power. But if clients examine the

details, they’ll see that their arguments aren’t supported by

facts, according to IBM.

As the person responsible for developing and evangelizing

the competitive advantages of IBM software solutions running

on Power Systems* servers, Ruviano Martinez, program director,

IBM Competitive Project Office, says his goal with Linux is to

make clients aware of the progress IBM

has made since Linux on Power was first

launched with POWER4* technology

more than 10 years ago. The recently

announced POWER8* Linux-only

systems—S812L, S822L and S824L—

further change the game.

Refuting Claims“I’ve heard all kinds of reasons clients

give to not try Linux on Power,”

Martinez says. “I’ve heard everything

from I will need to retrain my staff to

use Linux on Power, to I’m not sure my

applications will run the same way on

Power as they run on Intel* servers,

to running Linux on Power will be

too expensive.”

Cost is the most often cited reason

clients give. It’s also the easiest

argument to address, Martinez says,

pointing to the recent POWER8

announcement. The Power S822L, for

instance, a 3.4 GHz POWER8 processor

with 10 cores, costs about the same as

comparable x86 Linux servers.

“This means for the same price as

you can buy an x86 server, you could

buy a Power Systems server that only

runs Linux and gives you twice the

performance,” he explains. “So a client

will get a server that runs twice as fast

and gets twice the performance of an

x86 server, basically giving them a

savings of 50 percent in transaction

costs.” As a proof point, Martinez points

to a recent SAP benchmark, which

shows that Power provides two times as

many users per core.

In addition to the competitive

acquisition cost, Linux applications run

faster and are more secure on a Power

server than Intel servers, according to

Martinez. This allows IT organizations

to reduce their operational cost by

managing fewer servers. IBM regularly

runs internal test cases and conducts

benchmarks in the field demonstrating

the 2x performance gains that can be

achieved with Linux on Power.

The decision to run Linux on Power

technology instead of x86 becomes

even clearer if you examine the

differences in infrastructure. POWER8

servers boast faster chips, providing

twice the performance and four times

as many threads as x86. Running

Linux on this type of infrastructure

allows it to manage today’s demanding

workloads, he adds. The servers

also boast twice the amount of

cache memory, resulting in greater

I/O bandwidth.

Yet another differentiator between

Power and x86 servers can be found

in the Coherent Attached Processor

Interface (CAPI) that IBM introduced

this spring with POWER8 servers.

Martinez describes it as a high-speed

bus that lets devices attach directly

into the motherboard, in essence

creating a superhighway for vendors

to attach new accelerators, which

reduces the amount of I/O latency.

This provides faster response times

and allows other companies to bring

innovative new solutions to the market

more quickly.


“These new capabilities represent

radical changes in how open the

platform is today, making this a great

time to get reintroduced to what IBM

has been doing around Linux on

Power,” he adds.

All of these capabilities come

together in Linux on Power technology

to provide a more reliable and secure

infrastructure. “You take the best and

the proven capabilities on a Power

platform and then you add the Linux

operating system to it, which brings

in the openness with new innovation

capability on top and you really get the

best of both worlds,” Martinez notes.

Retraining staff who are familiar

with working on x86 Linux is also a

nonissue. Linux on Power technology

is the same Linux that many shops are

already comfortable running. “The

commands, the configuration settings

and everything that customers already

know about running Linux will apply

the same way when running on the

Power platform,” Martinez remarks.

Making the SwitchSome IT staffers and IT managers

might be interested in testing Linux

on Power technology but they need to

convince their executives that doing

so makes sense and that the open-

source OS isn’t a flash in the pan. To

help convince them, Martinez offers

the following:

1 IBM’s investment and commitment

in Linux extends across Power Systems

and System z* servers.

1 IBM has been running the OS

for years and offers more than 400

software products ranging from

DB2* to WebSphere* to InfoSphere*

BigInsights*, and many others that are

fully supported in a Linux environment.

IBM has donated more than 500

patents to the open-source community

to protect Linux from litigation.

TAKEAWAY

r IBM has made great strides since

Linux on Power was first launched

with POWER4* technology more

than 10 years ago, and the recently

announced POWER8* Linux-only

systems—S812L, S822L and

S824L—further change the game.

r Linux applications run faster and are

more secure on a Power server than

Intel servers.

r Making the move to Linux on Power

technology is relatively easy as several

free resources are available to help

ensure client success.


1 The company has more than

600 developers focused on making

Linux better for the community and

within IBM.

1 IBM is also a founding member of

the OpenPOWER Foundation.

When these facts come together, they

facilitate improved reliability, security

and performance for clients, he adds.

Linux has many customers across

multiple industries, including banking,

insurance and government. Clients

who use the OS like the fact that once

they develop applications, they can run

them on Linux anywhere.

Company size doesn’t matter with

regard to Linux success. “I find that

it’s the innovation and passion people

bring to it that really determine how

successful things become at the end of

the day,” Martinez adds.

For clients new to the OS, making

the move to Linux on Power

technology is relatively easy as well.

Several free resources are available to

help ensure client success, according

to Martinez. IBM, for example, offers

a wealth of resources and information

for developers and others, including

free applications, toolkits, migration

kits and services. If a company

is interested in a more bundled

approach, IBM provides software

developer toolkits that bundle tools

into Linux on Power.

Business partner resources are

handled via IBM PartnerWorld* and

include Power hardware that can be

used for development via the cloud.

IBM also provides free help for ISVs

to import their applications to Linux

on Power. Site Ox also lets users run

Linux applications on its service for

free on a trial basis.

Expanded OfferingsIn his role with the Competitive

Project Office, Martinez’s mission is

to perform competitive intelligence on

how products truly work in a client

environment. To get that intelligence,

he and his team meet with clients

regularly to understand their

technology issues.

They work with clients to harness

data and look at their scenarios

to see how IBM products stack up

to the competition. This can help

clients compare and contrast the

latest x86 servers against the Power

server. “It’s such an exciting time

“It’s such an exciting time with cloud, analytics, mobile

and social applications coming to fruition now, and

Linux is playing a big part of that in a major way.”

—Ruviano Martinez, program director,

IBM Competitive Project Office

with cloud, analytics, mobile and

social applications coming to fruition

now, and Linux is playing a big part

of that in a major way,” Martinez

explains. “In fact, the leading OS for

the OpenStack cloud community is

Linux. So all of this comes together at

a very opportune time to illustrate the

benefits of Linux on Power for

IBM clients.”

Evelyn Hoover is executive editor of IBM

Systems Magazine.

of detailed technical specifications for

its POWER8* processor—lets software

and hardware developers implement

and innovate using POWER8 technology.

Also announced were PowerKVM, the

Power Systems version of Kernel-based

Virtual Machines available on IBM’s

next-generation Power Systems servers

tuned for Linux, and the introduction of

Canonical’s Ubuntu Server for use on the

POWER8 system. These announcements

are part of a $1 billion investment

IBM made in September 2013 and a

larger push into the Linux market. This

news helps IBM and its clients stay

ahead of IT trends, says Adam Jollans,

program director for IBM’s cross-IBM

Linux strategy.

“When you look at the IT world, a

lot of the software that’s being used

for big data, the cloud and systems

of engagement is only available on

Linux. With these new developments,

Power Systems users are poised to

take advantage of the performance of

Power* technology with the flexibility

and functionality of Linux,” Jollans

explains. “In the end, building on open

source allows you to innovate really,

really quickly; to move fast in a fast-

moving market.”

Analysts were impressed with the

announcements, saying they give IBM

the capability to work with the leading

enterprise Linux distributions.

“At announcement, IBM had an

impressive roster of Linux [distribution]

partners including SUSE, Red Hat and

Ubuntu, which collectively account for

at least 90 percent of the commercial

Editor’s note: This article is reprinted

from the July 2014 issue of IBM Systems

Magazine, Power Systems edition.

If open source is the wave of the

future, IBM is fully suited up

and paddling out beyond the

breakers. The company this spring

made a series of announcements

and investments that put it at the

forefront of Linux* development and

use, giving existing and future clients

the capability to get more out of their

current Power Systems* investments

and migrate their existing Linux on x86

to a more substantial platform.

A Deluge of AvailabilityThe most recent announcement— new

Power Systems servers and the release


The Wave of the

FUTURE

I B M f l o o d s t h e L i n u x m a r ke t w i t h o p t i o n sBY KAREN J. BANNAN

Linux market,” wrote Richard Fichera,

VP and principal analyst at Forrester

Research (bit.ly/1mSqgKX).

“With claims of ‘nearly 100 percent’

compatibility for interpretive languages

(Java*, PHP, Python, etc.) and easy

recompile of C/C++, IBM is making an

aggressive play for Linux workloads.”

Proof Is in the PowerIBM’s newest additions to the Power

line include five new Power Systems

S-Class servers based on POWER8

technology—the first of their kind.

Two of the five, the Power Systems

S812L and S822L servers, run

Linux exclusively. The other three,

Power Systems S814, S822 and S824

servers, can run multiple operating

systems, including Linux, AIX*

and IBM i.

Also added to the Power Systems

solutions line were IBM BLU

Acceleration Solution, IBM Solution for

Analytics and IBM Solution for Hadoop.

These offerings make the most of the

POWER8 processor, which can analyze

data 82 times faster than an x86-based

server, according to IBM tests. The chip

itself has 12 cores per die and 8 threads

per core for a total of 96 threads per

socket. This lets users get quick insights

on both structured and unstructured

data. And each server is designed to

meet a specific need. IBM Solution

for Analytics, for instance, handles

analytical, computational and cognitive

workloads through integration with

Cognos*, SPSS* and DB2* with

BLU Acceleration.

One main benefit of the POWER8 chip,

according to Jollans, is that it provides

a high degree of multithreading,

cache memory and data bandwidth,

which plays well with Linux and its

capabilities. “Big data can be brought in

and processed very fast—much, much

faster than you could before. You can

also get far higher utilization. Combined,


this means more value for your money,

and therefore, more cost-effective

infrastructure,” he explains.

The architecture of the chip enables

direct attach to DRAM, significantly

reducing the amount of processing

time necessary to start an operation

and also reduces the DRAM

required to hold data in

OS memory. This reduces

latency, according to Jollans.

POWER8 technology meets

the expectations of the

industry—a chip that’s faster

with more cores, threads,

cache and I/O. But the real

stunner is the new Coherent

Accelerator Processor

Interface (CAPI). This open

interconnect will let system

engineers attach accelerators

and I/O resources that will

provide impressive results

and significant advantages in big data

operations, Jollans says.

Indeed, at the event announcing

POWER8 technology, Doug Balog,

general manager, Power Systems,

equated the new processor with

a superhighway, saying the open

interface allows accelerators to attach

to the system, presenting a shared

virtual memory space for applications.

The chip performance coupled with

Linux and its always-evolving kernel

means there will be more innovation,

which can lead to a serious

competitive advantage for users.

Real World, Real FastWhile IBM’s new servers and solutions

are impressive, end users

will also benefit from the

company’s decision to make

the technical specifications

for the POWER8 processor

available to developers for

customized server System-

on-Chip development.

OpenPOWER Foundation

work allows for innovation

around the POWER8

chipset and has already

led to third-party software

development. The net result

will be improved data center

efficiency and capabilities.

Google, one of the founding partners

in the OpenPOWER Foundation,

is already taking advantage of the

availability of the specifications. Soon

after the April 24 announcement,

Gordon MacKean, a senior director

at Google, showed off a server board

built around POWER8. MacKean,

who is also the chairman of the

OpenPOWER Foundation, posted the

photo of the board to his Google+

TAKEAWAY

r IBM’s latest POWER8 and Linux announcements give existing and future clients the

capability to get more out of their Power Systems investments.

r The POWER8 chip provides a high degree of multithreading, cache memory and data

bandwidth, which plays well with Linux and new workloads.

r Sharing POWER8 technology with the OpenPOWER Foundation has already led to

breakthrough technology from Google and other members.

r CIOs won’t struggle to find talent because they’ll be able to tap students just coming out of

school as well as existing IT staffers already skilled in UNIX.

The POWER8 chip has

12 cores per die

and

8 threads per core

for a total of

96 threads per

socket

™

page (bit.ly/T6Quwm), writing, “We’re

always looking to deliver the highest

quality of service for our users, and so

we built this server to port our software

stack to Power. A real server platform

is also critical for detailed performance

measurements and continuous

optimizations, and to integrate and

test the ongoing advances that become

available through OpenPOWER and the

extended OpenPOWER community.”

While MacKean didn’t post details

about which OS or applications the

board might run, given Google’s

extensive use of Linux in its data

centers, it’s likely that it will be

running a version of the new POWER8

technology-compatible Linux. This

capability to use Linux

on POWER8 technology

is especially important to

organizations like Google,

says Brian Warner, director

of client services at the Linux

Foundation.

“Everyone is realizing that

cost is one of the bigger factors

for the increasing use of Linux

in the cloud, but the second

factor is the unbelievable

pace of innovation in the Linux kernel.

When you listen to [Linux Foundation

executive director] Jim Zemlin say

there are nine changes an hour in

the kernel—and that’s every hour,

365 days a year—that’s an incredible

statistic,” he explains. “If you look at

how innovation happens, we’ve shown

that collaboration is the best way to get

things done and it produces the best

results. Opening [POWER8 technology]

up and creating something that allows

people to grow the ecosystem and

create good products—it’s just good for

the industry as a whole.”

Some companies are already reaping

the benefits of Linux on Power Systems

servers. Retailer Bon-Ton, which

reported nearly $30 billion in revenue

in 2013, had been running Linux on

x86 servers. The infrastructure included

about 1,000 x86 virtual machines

that ran the company’s e-commerce

platform. In previous years, server

consumption had been as high as 96

percent, so the company was looking to

raise capacity without raising software

costs. Last holiday season—using

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on the

IBM Power architecture— capacity

utilization peaked at 50 percent.

Bon-Ton is a good example of a

company that moved from x86 to Linux

on Power, and shows what companies

can do if they’re running Linux on

existing, older infrastructure and need

more performance or capacity, Jollans

says. “There is a pent-up

demand from people who are

already using Linux but want

to do Linux bigger, faster and

better,” he explains. “They

want to do big data analytics.

They want to do cloud.

They want to do systems of

engagement such as mobile

and social—and they want

it to be as ultra-reliable,

responsive and low cost as

possible, but they can’t on their existing

hardware. Those are the demands that

Linux on Power is going to be able

to meet.”

Jollans also points to the need for

high-level security for anything running

in the cloud, which Linux on Power

makes available. “When you’re running

in the cloud and sharing space with

other people, you want to be absolutely

sure your data is secure. You’re typically

running encryption and decryption and

you need to do those things on the fly

very fast, and again, that’s where Power

comes in.”

Karen J. Bannan is a veteran writer and

editor with a wide range of publishing

experience.

W

Who Will Run Linux on Power?Everyone.

POWER8 can analyze data

82x faster than an

x86 server

™


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