IBM eServer Crushes Sun in Java Performance; IBM eServer Systems Outperform Sun Servers by up to 56 Percent

Business Wire, June 8, 2001

Business & Technology Editors

ARMONK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 8, 2001

IBM today announced that its IBM eServer* systems provide better Java (R) software performance than Sun. On tests measuring Java software performance for four, eight, twelve and twenty-four processor systems, IBM outperformed Sun servers by as much as 56 percent.

"Our winning results across a spectrum of systems clearly demonstrate the scalability and performance IBM eServer customers can expect when deploying Java-based solutions," said Tim Dougherty director of e-business strategy, IBM. "Powered by copper and silicon-on-insulator technologies, IBM eServer systems provide an ideal platform to process the intensive, high-volume Java transactions required by today's e-businesses."

According to a public SPECjbb2000 server-side Java benchmark report** released this week, a 4-way IBM eServer p620 performed 25,087 operations per second, outperforming a 4-way Sun 420R system by 56 percent.

IBM eServer pSeries systems consistently beat Sun's recently announced Sun Fire line powered by UltraSPARC-III microprocessors. An 8-way IBM eServer p680 system performed 51,565 operations per second beating an 8-way Sun Fire 6800 by 18 percent, while a 12-way p680 performed 71,303 operations per second, beating a 12-way Sun Fire 6800 by 14 percent.

Only weeks ago, a 24-way IBM eServer i840 system broke SPECjbb2000 performance records to become the first server to exceed 132,000 operations per second. This score was 21 percent better than a similarly configured system from Sun.**

IBM eServer pSeries and iSeries systems are powered by the latest generation of IBM POWER microprocessors, featuring IBM's breakthrough copper and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technologies. The addition of SOI can increase performance up to 30 percent beyond the use of copper alone by protecting the millions of transistors on a chip with a blanket of insulation, reducing harmful electrical leakage that wastes power.

IBM and Java Technology

IBM has invested significantly in Java technology since becoming one of the first Java licensees in 1995. That commitment continues today as the company directs resources toward the development of core Java technology, the enablement of IBM software with Java technologies, and Java-based solutions and services across all industries and geographies. Over 80 percent of the technologies in Java 2 Enterprise Edition have been developed by or in assistance with IBM. With over 3,000 Java developers, IBM's commitment to this technology is unsurpassed by any other company.

About SPECjbb

SPECjbb2000 (Java Business Benchmark) is the Standard Performance Evaluation Corp.'s benchmark for evaluating server-side Java performance. It models a three-tier system, the most common type of server-side Java application. SPECjbb2000 focuses on business logic and object manipulation and the work of a middle-tier Java server workload. The workload benchmarked is a typical business-critical workload, including order-entry, inquiry and payment processing.

About IBM

IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com.

* The IBM eServer brand consists of the established IBM e-business logo with the following descriptive term "server" following it. IBM, the e-business logo and pSeries are trademarks of IBM Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Java is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems.

All other company, product and service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. (C) 2001 International Business Machines Corporation, all rights reserved.

** According to published SPECjbb2000 benchmark results. Data is current as of June, 1, 2001. For complete results visit Ideas International at http://www.ideasinternational.com/benchmark/spec/specjbb2000.html