While the x86 server model has been extremely popular due to the low acquisition cost, this architecture is due for a change as power and cooling costs are eight times greater than they were 12 years ago, and management costs now represent 70 percent of the IT budget.

IBM estimates that x86 servers are also being utilized only at 10 percent of capacity due to a 30-year old architecture that locks processor and memory capacity together. When more virtual machines are added to a single physical machine, the amount of memory required increases since each virtual machine still requires the same amount of memory that it did when it was operating as a physical machine. Since x86 systems hit performance limits due to memory constraints, enterprises end up buying more servers as there is no memory in the host machine to add more virtual servers.

IBM has addressed this problem by decoupling the memory from the processor. While standard x86 blade servers typically come with 12 to 16 Dual In-Line Memory Modules (DIMMs), the eX5 allows an enterprise to add up an additional 24 DIMMs. This feature allows enterprises to scale the memory in their data centers without having to buy new servers. The eX5 servers will  incorporate Intel’s 45-nm Nehalem processors.

“One of the biggest bottlenecks for virtualization is scaling of memory. With eX5, you can run more virtual machines on the same server,” says Leo Joseph, VP - System x, Systems and  Technology Group, IBM India. A larger memory capacity is good news for enterprises as more virtual machines can be deployed per socket. Since virtualization software is typically licensed per socket, eX5 can lead to significant reduction in licensing costs for organizations involved in virtualization deployments.

"One of the biggest bottlenecks for virtualization is scaling of memory. With eX5, you can run more virtual machines on the same server” - Leo Joseph, VP - System x, Systems and Technology Group, IBM India

Virtualization is a big area that is seeing a lot of interest among Indian enterprises. About 88 percent of respondents in the Infrastructure Agenda 2010 survey conducted by Network Computing had said that they would increase their investments in virtualization technologies. As the scale of the virtualization deployments grow, these enterprises face the same challenges of memory capacity as their global counterparts. IBM is eyeing this virtualization sweet spot with eX5.

Joseph says that eX5 will be extremely valuable for customers looking to deploy huge workloads such as large databases or applications. This includes sectors such as banking, telecom and manufacturing. For example, enterprises can just increase memory to reach performance goals—instead of buying new servers. The additional memory support also allows enterprises to virtualize more of their x86 infrastructure.

Research firms such as Gartner and Forrester are viewing the announcement of eX5 as a positive development for the x86 architecture. While Forrester has said that eX5 will help enterprises to avoid buying a new server they do not want, Gartner believes that the extended memory support will open up new opportunities in areas such as hosted virtual desktops and video streaming.