Customers can install capacities up to 300 gigabytes per drive for a total
IBM announced the xSeries 260, a four-processor machine
geared to power remote offices that require large amounts of storage and
local backup of crucial information.
The machine is 7U (1u = 1.75 inches) and lets customers include up to twelve
3.5-inch Serial Attached Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI)
of 3.6 terabytes
IBM said bank branches can use the x260 to meet federal rules for data retention and auditing purposes. Hotels are another ideal candidate for the z260 because they may use it to back up their records and reservations. Retail outlets may use the x260 to run point of sale systems and serve as central storage for inventory and sales.
Dual-core-capable, the x260 uses 64-bit Intel Xeon MP processors and can run
on standard 110 volt power in a fully redundant configuration. The x260
offers customers investment protection possibilities through expandable
processing power, memory and storage capacity.
The x260 starts at $4,599, and is planned to be available in mid-September.
All X3 systems run the latest 64-bit x86 operating system software from
Microsoft, Red Hat and Novell.
Introduced at Intel’s Developer Forum Wednesday, the x260 is the Armonk,
N.Y., company’s third server based on its X3 architecture, a $100 million
development effort to bring mainframe-like capabilities to IBM’s newest
64-bit Intel Xeon processor xSeries servers. X3 is designed to boost
virtualized environments.
The system vendor drew the
curtain on X3 in February with the x366, a four-way server that uses Intel’s
Xeon DP Cranford processor for server consolidation and enterprise
applications.
IBM followed
that machine up with the more powerful x460 in June, which uses four Intel
processors and scales up to 32 processors in an eight-chassis configuration.
The x460 is built to scale for environments that require “always-on”
computing for industries such as financial services, government and
healthcare.
In related news, Big Blue announced the IntelliStation M Pro 6218, a
workstation utilizing an Intel dual-core processor. The machine offers eight
gigabytes of memory. The machine is expected to be available in September,
starting at $1,479.
Workstations are generally used to conduct mechanical or electronic design,
drug discovery and digital content creation. Earlier this morning, HP announced
a pact to provide more than 1,000 workstations to production powerhouse
Lucasfilm LTD.
IBM Touts More Storage, Remotely in Latest X3
