In September 2009 IBM announced the availability of SAP Business Warehouse Accelerator on the BladeCenter S. Now, just over 18 months later, IBM no longer approve this solution for new systems. However, all systems already in the field are still supported.

The BladeCenter S solution bought BWA functionality to users at a much lower price point than the BladeCenter H solution. Although it suffered from limited redundancy and scalability the BladeCenter S did prove a popular choice with Centiq customers. To plug the gap left by this mini BladeCenter IBM submitted the System X x3850 X5 server to SAP for qualification. The system has been tested and approved for use with BWA. So, if you are looking for a small BWA solution at a low price point, then maybe you should be considering the IBM System X x3850 X5.

For BWA the x3850 X5 is configured with 4 x 8 core Intel Xeon processors running at 2.26Ghz. This gives a whopping 32 cores and 64 threads. BWA blades on the other hand currently have 12 cores and 24 threads, but at a faster clock speed. Users can choose from either 64 or 128GB configurations. Rather than an external SAN running GPFS the x3850 X5 has an internal RAID solution using ext3.

Like the BladeCenter S the x3850 X5 has some short comings. For example, there are only two configurations, 64GB and 128GB. The system (currently) cannot be scaled, it a single server only. Being a single server there is no redundancy, if the server goes down so does your service. On the other hand are some fantastic advantages. As it's a single server there is no GPFS, which is a huge saving considering IBM's Client/Server licensing for the product. As the product has so many cores it replaces around 4 x HS22 blades. The x3850 X5 is a standard rackmount server, so you don't need to buy dedicated Ethernet or storage switches as you would in a BladeCenter based solution.

The 3850 x5 will not suit all users. It doesn't have the scalability or redundancy to be considered for large systems, but for smaller datasets this new single server BWA is ideal.

For in-depth infomation on IBM System X appliances: Click here

For more information of the SAP BW Accelerator product: Click here

Or...Information on the BRAND NEW SAP HANA: Click here

If you would like to speak to one of our advisors on the options open to you, please call us on 0115 951 9666.