IBM Unveils PureSystems Private Cloud PackagesIBM Unveils PureSystems Private Cloud Packages

IBM for years has pitched systems that "autonomically" configure, manage, and heal themselves, but the company is now updating the technologies and concepts behind that message for the cloud age. On Wednesday it unveiled the first two in what will be a series of integrated hardware and software offerings, sold under a new brand called PureSystems, designed to deliver the benefits of cloud-style computing without the cost and complexities of building such architectures from scratch.

The first products in the PureSystems line, the result of a three-year, $2 billion research investment, are the IBM PureFlex and IBM PureApplication systems. The former can be thought of as a private Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) platform, while the latter is more like a Software as a Service (SaaS) vehicle that comes optimized and preconfigured for any of more than 100 enterprise apps.

Both systems employ a range of IBM and third-party virtualization, automation, scaling, and on-demand technologies to deliver a cloud-like experience within the confines of an enterprise datacenter.

Cloud in a cabinet

"These are unique in the industry; they address a couple of challenges we’ve been wrestling with for some time," said Rod Adkins, IBM’s senior VP for Systems & Technology, in an interview. "One is that we're simplifying the data center through integration by design. The second is that we’re making IT more consumable. We've built in more expertise and we’ve simplified the experience."

The IBM PureFlex system provides infrastructure on top of which enterprises can run the apps and services of their choosing. The configurations range from an Express version that starts at $100,000 to an Enterprise version that starts at $300,000. In between is the Standard version, starting at $200,000.

As an example of what buyers get for their six-figure investments, the Standard version’s cabinet includes an IBM management node, 10GB network switch, IBM Storwize V7000 storage, and 2 x 8 GB Fiber Channel switching. In terms of server chassis options, IBM said the system will support multiple operating system and processor pairings, from Windows on x86 to AIX on Power. The PureFlex system also supports multiple, third-party hypervisors for virtualization.

The PureApplication systems build on the PureFlex line in that they come with applications that are preconfigured and fine tuned to customers’ requests. The four, initially available PureApplication systems all run servers equipped with Intel’s 8-core, 2.6 GHz Sandy Bridge EP processor. Pricing was not immediately available.

To achieve app integration, IBM has worked closely with more than 100 ISVs to optimize their software for the PureApplication platform. One such ISV is EcoLogic Analytics, a Bloomington, Minn.-based developer of Meter Data Management Systems for major utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric and Austin Energy. EcoLogic execs said customizing their software for a platform that automates configuration, administration, and troubleshooting tasks means a better chance of successful customer engagements--and more software sales.

"The ability to go through those best practices to configure applications on a technology that can be deployed quickly shortens the amount of time a customer would need to spend on preparation to get the benefit of the application," said EcoLogic president Craig Norman, in an interview. "There’s less risk that a project goes off the rails."

Other ISVs that IBM is working with to tailor their software for the PureSystems line, and make their offerings available through a new, app store-like Websphere portal include Sugar CRM, SAP hosting specialist Symmetry, and e-signature software developer Silanis.

Adkins said the hallmark of all systems in the PureSystems line is that they will carry built-in intelligence that hard codes much of the IT deployment and administration knowledge that IBM has learned through years of customer service engagements. "We've integrated compute, storage, networking, and skill into a box," said Adkins.

"In the past we’ve done things like AS/400, which was a server with an integrated database. That improved the experience for many of our midmarket and SMB clients. What this product does is integrate more of the infrastructure capabilities in terms of not just the server, but storage and networking. It’s also tuned to various application environments like database, Web, and Java. In our opinion this is very new."

Industry analyst Richard Ptak, of Ptak/Noel, agreed. He said that, while the automation and management technologies in Pure are "part of a path that IBM has been on" for some time, the company "has taken a big step forwards. The intelligence is built in and exercised automatically. There's intelligence about detecting what are the things that can go wrong, how to reconfigure, how to reprovision." Ptak said converged infrastructures from rival vendors, such as HP, which on Tuesday launched its Converged Cloud offering, are more like "pools of resources" rather than truly integrated, intelligent systems.

IBM said the first systems in the PureSystems line, PureFlex and PureApplication, will be available in the second quarter.

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