IBM has introduced an open beta version of a virtual Linux environment that enables x86 Linux® applications to run without modification on POWER processor-based IBM System p servers. Once released, the technology – called the IBM System p Application Virtual Environment (System p AVE) – is designed to open a universe of thousands of x86 Linux applications to the System p platform, according to IBM. The news follows Blue's recent launch of three System p-based Web-tier servers aimed at consolidating x86 Linux workloads. Customer orders in the first quarter show a fast start for the System p5-560Q as a Linux consolidation solution, according to company information.

With nearly 2,800 applications that already run natively on Linux on System p servers, System p AVE will allow most x86 Linux binaries to run unmodified as well, which will expand the x86 workloads that can be moved to a System p server, thereby increasing the power, cooling and space savings customers can get by consolidating x86 server footprints onto System p products.

"Today’s customers want to get more out of their IT investments and are already moving Linux workloads to virtual server environments that allow the consolidation of multiple servers onto a single platform," according to IBM executives developing this strategy. "To do this they need a systems approach that maximizes system resource utilization, manageability and flexibility as well as provides ‘no excuses’ reliability and scalability."

Additionally, “system p customers have told me that technology that may have been 'good enough' for deploying one x86 server at a time is not 'good enough' when consolidating over 300 x86 servers spanning eight racks onto one rack of more powerful System p servers," said Scott Handy (pictured), vice president, worldwide marketing and strategy, System p. "These customers are choosing to trust System p products and our Advanced POWER Virtualization for those more mission critical points of consolidation and p AVE will expand the possibilities of what x86 workloads they can consolidate onto System p platforms to derive greater savings."

“I’m encouraged by the fast start in the first quarter, especially for the new p5-560Q, the most powerful of the three web-tier server solutions announced in the quarter,” Handy added, “Customer orders show that each p5-560Q sold in the first quarter had an average of 30 logical partitions configured for Linux per server.”