NEW YORK: International Business Machines Corp. on Wednesday introduced low-power
computer servers with an advanced disk management system, the latest salvo in the
company's battle with Sun Microsystems Inc. and other computer makers.
The line of servers, IBM's p610 series, is intended to be used for such business
applications as customer or sales force management. IBM said the servers will now
incorporate a system known as RAID, for redundant array of independent disks.
RAID-based computers treat an array of disk drives as if they were a single storage
device, yielding improved data recovery in the event of a single disk drive failure and
the potential for higher speed.
IBM said rival servers require a separate device to make use of RAID, leading to
increased power consumption.
The company also introduced a low-end model to the p610 line at the price of $6,000, 20
percent cheaper than the previously least expensive p610-model server.