IBM today has announced several major additions to its Flex System portfolio designed to support private and public cloud environments both for end-users and MSPs creating their own SaaS and IaaS services for their clients. The new systems include both IBM POWER7+ platforms and a “double dense” x222 system built on x86 technology that, says IBM PureSystems VP Alex Yost, provides double the number of servers per node, for up to 28 per chassis. It features the IBM’s very high speed switch infrastructure to provide both high processing capability at the front end and high bandwidth at the back. This, he says, is ideal for high density environments such as VDI or video rendering. It can support 2,800 Windows 7 user images on a single chassis.

The new Flex Systems combine the latest server technology with new virtualization, networking, and management tools to support larger clouds from physically smaller, simplified data center environments. Swedish manufacturer Tomologic, in collaboration with the global cutting machine manufacturers and researchers from the Swedish Institute of Computer Science, KTH, and Uppsala University, has built a cloud environment on the x222 Flex System. It is now testing a new SaaS for optimizing cutting metal and other material using unique, advanced computational algorithms. Once in production it will help Tomologic’s clients produce more units per sheet of material, reducing waste and enabling more efficient use of machine capacity. The cloud infrastructure allows Tomologic to continually improve the algorithm and service without disrupting end-user production.

The Lira Internet Bank, a Romanian banking services provider, has announced plans to replace its legacy production infrastructure with new Flex Systems. It anticipates that this will increase security, performance, and efficiency of the banking services it offers clients.

Overall, Yost said, IBM customers who previewed or tested the new systems are “universally excited” about them. “Today in every company the CEO and CFO are asking the CIO ‘What are we doing about cloud?’” he said. “Increasing numbers of clients are moving to private internal clouds or hybrid clouds or are looking to MSPs to provide managed cloud environments. If we are going to remain relevant to the market, we need to create systems that speak to those needs. That is what we are doing with these new Flex Systems.”