IBM PureFlex System: The Future of Data center Management

----------- © 2012 Ptak, Noel & Associates LLC -----------
IBM® PureFlex™ System: The Future of Datacenter Management
Summary:
IBM introduced its new IBM® PureFlex™ System as part of its family of “expert integrated systems”. In this
paper, we describe the system and the unique management capabilities of the IBM Flex System Manager.
IBM’s goals in designing and building these systems were to return agility, efficiency, simplicity and control to
data center operations. This paper will help understand how IBM achieves these goals.
FALL 2012: updated to include a discussion of the extensions and upgrades to PureFlex System and Flex
System Manager and their impact.
This paper is sponsored by IBM Corp.

IBM PureFlex™ System: The Future of Datacenter Management Page 2
Table of Contents
Introduction – Fall Update .......................................................................................................... 3
Introduction – Management Overview........................................................................................ 3
The Challenge............................................................................................................................ 5
IBM PureFlex™ System: An Expertly Integrated System .......................................................... 5
The Management Challenge...................................................................................................... 8
A Dedicated Management Node ............................................................................................ 9
IBM Flex System Manager......................................................................................................... 9
Leveraging the IBM Software Portfolio ..................................................................................11
Patterns of Expertise.............................................................................................................12
Payoff and Benefits...................................................................................................................13
Conclusion................................................................................................................................15

Introduction – Fall Update
In the spring of 2012, IBM® introduced its PureSystems family of intelligent, integrated,
powerful and flexible computing systems. At that time, IBM committed to a continuing
process of improvement and additions to these systems as technology and innovation
evolved.
In the fall of 2012, IBM announced enhancements and updates to IBM PureFlex™
System and IBM Flex System™ Manager demonstrating the reality of that commitment.
This paper has been updated to discuss what’s new. Announcement highlights include:
For the IBM PureFlex™ System and IBM Flex System elements:
 Added chassis-integrated high availability storage (Flex System V7000),
 Added IBM Flex System Storage Expansion node to increase storage capacity,
 Added IBM PureFlex Systems with p260 (POWER 7+), x440 and x220
compute nodes,
 Refreshed IBM Flex System p260 with Power 7+ to increase peformance,
 Added p460, p260 (Power7) and p24L (PowerLinux) compute nodes as Flex
System elements (previously only available in PureFlex Systems),
 Added multiple network switches to increase flexibility, enhance scalability,
speed thruput and.improve perfornance,
 Added IBM Flex System PCIe Expansion node increasing power, agility and
redundancy for higher reliability, better performance and maximizing
expansion options.
For IBM® Flex System Manager™ v1.2 (FSM) enhancements:
 Supports for all the newly announced hardware,
 Rapid deployment and bare-metal install of operating system and hypervisors,
 Remote systems management monitoring apps for smartphones (iPhone,
Android and Blackberry),
 Single, integrated interface for the steps and workflows used for device
configuration and updating.
To speed time-to-value, all FlexSystems include, at no extra cost, the new version of
management software, including the setup wizards that speed initial installation.
Additional announcement details are also available here1
and here2
.
Introduction – Management Overview
IBM® started talking about a Smarter Planet in 2008. Then, their definition3
referred to the
explosion in technology-driven instrumentation (expanding data gathering and adding to
1
http://www.ibm.com/ibm/puresystems/events/broadcast/
2
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/39039.wss
3
http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/overview/ideas/index.html

operational control) accompanying an increase in the interconnectedness of ‘everything’, a direct
result of a migration from wired to near ubiquiuous wireless networks. IBM predicted
‘intelligence’, derived from the data, would infuse the processes and systems making the world
work. They forecast and participated in innovation that redefined whole industries, and IT itself.
In 2011, IBM introduced Smarter Computing4
as IT infrastructure designed for data, tuned to the
task and managed in the Cloud. By data, they meant terabytes of increasingly unstructured5
data.
By tuned to task, they meant optimized systems exploiting every aspect of the infrastructure and
system to improve task (workload, application, service, etc.) performance. By Cloud, they meant
abstracting the delivery of computing infrastructure, software and services into a dynamic range
of logical (not physical) configuations to optimize performance and utilization. Managing in the
Cloud means managing the creation and allocation of assets to assure the availiability, capacity
and performance, as needed, to meet the evolving computing needs of the business or enterprise.
The result has been an explosion in creativity that extends and accelerates a redefinition, already
underway, in the architecture, the structure and the application of the infrastructure of computing.
Every aspect from service definition to development to underlying business and operational
models are being re-thought and re-configured to make service delivery the highest priority.
The operation and management of the infrastructure is fundamentally altered. Management is
evolving from primarily monitoring infrastructure availability to pro-actively ensuring the right
combination of infrastructure, assets and resources is used to deliver the performance and
capacity needed to assure an exceptional experience for the consumer/customer of a service.
Smarter Computing led to an upheaval in the business of Information Technology. IT could no
longer function as a back-room operation solely bound to infrastructure, focusing on process
automation to control costs and using mostly structured data. Traditional operating processes and
workflow schedules had to be upended and transformed.
IT had to adapt to operating at the center of core business operations; reshaping itself to act
proactively to anticipate and respond to an evolving service demand that is more volatile than
predictable. Systems infrastructure management, at all levels, had to change from being process-
oriented, ensuring infrastructure availability and configuration consistency to being service-
delivery oriented.
This paper discusses the IBM PureFlex™ System and the IBM Flex System Manager. The newly
architected hardware and software system provides more intelligent, powerful and flexible
computing. We discuss how this game-changing platform uses built-in expertise and integration
4
https://www-304.ibm.com/partnerworld/wps/servlet/ContentHandler/pw_sol_sol_smp_smarter_computing_what
5
Unstructured data has no fixed format. It includes data such as conversations, video, free-form text, notes,
blogs, .pdf files, pictures, etc. as opposed to structured data which conforms to a pre-defined data model or tabular
format such as a database, matrix, data table, etc.

by design to simplify the application of technology to address the challenges of an increasingly
competitive, complex and dynamic business and IT operating environment.
The Challenge
The proliferation of mobile devices that collect and share volumes of increasingly unstructured
data led to an explosion in information. As a result, their volumes are now measured in zetabytes
not gigabytes. Consuming this information are users tutored by personal experience to expect
fast response to demands for new, innovative services delivered with exceptional performance.
Companies lose competitive advantage and revenue drops if IT takes too much time to satisfy a
service request or develop and deliver new services. Increasing competition meant response
cycles had to be cut from months and weeks to hours and days.
The result is a global corporate IT environment of mind-boggling complexity and burdened with
severe constraints on budgets and continuing skill shortages. Some 70 percent of the $2.5 trillion
global IT budget is spent just to assure the status quo works – an unsustainable operating model.
Why must it be addressed?
Traditional IT ways of managing system and service optimization were slow and risky. Oriented
around manual processes, they are difficult and expensive to program, reconfigure and
implement. Alternatives, such as appliance- based solutions – were simple to use, as well as fast
and easy to deploy, but designed to support a single application with little ability to scale. Clouds
are highly flexible and extensible, but with the inherent risk of shared resource dependency.
All these computing models have drawbacks. None could meet the challenge alone. But, neither
would they disappear. They were too ingrained and useful to be targeted for a ‘rip ’n replace’ or
‘total refresh’ solution to be reasonable. Anything new had to be able to leverage, integrate and
interoperate with the existing models.
IBM PureFlex™ System: An Expertly Integrated System
The IBM PureFlex System, built on the IBM Flex System compute node
chassis, provides the infrastructure basis of the PureSystem family. It is
designed to address the challenges described above. An expert system, it is
able to sense and anticipate the resources needed to optimize infrastructure
performance, simplifying data center operations and management. IBM
PureFlex Systems come in Express, Standard and Enterprise versions. These reflect the software
and resource capacities included in the system. The basic rack, chassis, chassis switches, FSM
hardware, storage hardware, compute nodes, adaptors and Mezzanine (Mezz) cards are the
same for all. The basic operating system, management and Smart Cloud Entry software are the
same. Model details are summarized in the next three paragraphs. The versions include Lab
Services for expansion, custom expansion and integration, but the number of days bundled in
varies.

The Express is a basic, entry level configuration with limited power, basic management and
other software included. TOR (Top-of-Rack) switches for Ethernet and Fibre channel are
available if additional chassis are purchased. The standard Flex System Manger software is
included. Real-Time Compression and Smart Cloud Entry software are options; three days of
Lab Services are included for expansion, custom expansion and integration. A single year of
software maintenance is included. Extensions for additional capacity and functionality in storage,
networking and software are available.
The Standard option targeted for mid-range shops extends the basic option with more power,
more options for storage and networking devices and software with more functionality bundled
into the package. Similar to Express, TOR switches for Ethernet and Fibre channel are available
for multi-chassis configurations. Advanced Flex System Manager software is included with more
extensive management functions. For example, Real Time Compression and Smart Cloud Entry
are included as default choices, but can be turned off; Five days of Lab Services are included.
Three years of software maintenance are included but less can be selected. Extensions for
additional capacity and functionality in storage, networking and software are available.
The Enterprise edition comes with additional power supplies and fans. TOR switches for
Ethernet and Fibre channel are included, as well as Lab Services for 7 days. It includes the
Advanced Flex System Manager software. It has the same optional Real Time Compression and
Smart Cloud Entry software as the Standard version. Software maintenance is for three years. It
is possible to extend this with additional capacity and functionality in storage, networking and
software. Extensions for additional capacity and functionality in storage, networking and
software are available. Check with your IBM sales representative or check here6
for details.
The system is built around three specific capabilities. These are:
1. Integration by design – a single, ready-to-run system with all pieces of the operating
infrastructure deeply integrated and tuned to work together;
2. Built-in expertise – workload-oriented patterns of expertise that automate system
operation to optimize agility, simplicity and control;
3. Simplified experience – a collection of processes, procedures and support that makes the
IT lifecycle easier with integrated total system management and supported by an open
ecosystem of solutions optimized for the platform.
Flex System elements are the basic building blocks of the packaged IBM PureFlex system which
comes assembled, integrated, tested and delivered by IBM. Flex System elements are intended
for customers who want to build, integrate and tune their own personally customized
environment. PureFlex Systems can also be extended using Flex System elements.
6
http://www.ibm.com/ibm/puresystems/us/en/pf_pureflex.html

A new element is the Flex System p260 with the 2-socket POWER7+ processor. Also new are 8-
and 16-core versions which provide more than a 30% power boost along with multiple, faster
processing speeds that double the number of potential Virtual Machines supported per core. All
come in the same width, density and energy use as existing p260 nodes. Also newly available as
Flex System elements are p460, p260 (Power7) and p24L compute nodes7
. The Flex System
chassis has been upgraded to handle 2100W, providing the most flexibility for expansion in its
class.
IBM PureFlex System uses both x86 and POWER7 compute nodes. The physical servers can be
of a single type or a mix of types with a broad choice of operating systems and hypervisors8
. It
has the flexibility and control of client-tuned systems optimized for infrastructure utilization and
performance for specific workloads. It has the appliance benefits of a complete, ready-to-run,
and rapid-time-to-value compute environment that is simple to install, implement and operate. It
has the agility and elasticity of the Cloud infrastructure to allow rapid adjustment of resources to
meet business and operational needs. Finally, the IBM PureFlex System will easily integrate and
interoperate with existing infrastructure, preserving existing investment value.
IBM PureFlex System includes the IBM Storwize® V70009
storage node able to access and
virtualize third-party storage and high availability data recovery (DR) devices. It improves the
performance of applications using solid state drives and IBM System Storage® Easy Tier™
technology.
A Flex System V7000 storage system can now fit into the FSM chassis with no loss in capability
or functionality. It can work alone or with external storage units. All storage assets (internal,
external, physical, virtualized) are managed and treated as a single resource for allocation,
updates, provisioning, etc. Management of all credentials, events, power, cooling, capacity,
performance, etc. is handled at the system level for computer, network and storage assets and
can be viewed via chassis map overlays.
Also new is the Flex System Flash that supports applications 10
requiring Flash disk speed and
capacities. Unlike competitors, it is designed to support both RAID 5/6 and non-raided high
throughput demands. At introduction, IBM targeted its cost/GB at less than half that of its HP
Fusion IO competitor (assuming server costs are 1 to 1).
Integrated network resources for IBM PureFlex Systems have been designed to simplify
management and assure high performance though optimized, automated, integrated network
control and management. Designed to significantly reduce latency, they directly contribute to
7
These were previously available only as part of IBM PureFlex System configurations.
8
Operating systems include IBM i, AIX®, Microsoft Windows®, LINUX from Red Hat and SUSE, as well as
hypervisors KVM, PowerVM, VMware and Microsoft HyperV.
9
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/storage/disk/storwize_v7000/index.html
10
Typical applications include decision support for large complex data queries, consolidate Virtual Desktop
Infrastructure (VDI) on one server to avoid bottlenecks, cache an entire database for maximum throughput.

improved application performance. Network modules are optimized, automated and integrated to
provide simple, flexible performance. In keeping with the overall platform design goals, they
automatically optimize performance in virtualized and Cloud environments.
Network modules have been optimized to meet current needs yet grow smoothly with service
demand. Options include 1Gb, 10 Gb and 40 GB scalable Ethernet Fabric switches, 8Gb
and16Gb, fixed and dynamic port Fibre Channel scalable switches and multiple, high capacity
InfiniBand Fourteen Data Rate(FDR) and Quad Data Rate (QDR) switches.
A designed-in ability to automatically adjust capacity and pay-as your grow/go is available with
some switch options to maximize overall network investment. Policy-driven automated licensing
allows dynamic adjustment with ports- on-demand to expand available bandwidth and number of
ports.
IBM added support for a number of switches and network device enhancements including
support for the QBG and virtual switch (Osiris) and support for Mezzanine cards. IBM Flex
System Manager includes management for port profiles, configuration and fabric optimization
for the new devices.
Tightly integrated infrastructure management moves the focus from managing individual
components (whether network, storage or server) to managing the complete infrastructure to
satisfy the business requirements of service delivery. The result is effort directed at optimizing
workload performance. This allows for operational environment-aware automated smart
placement and provisioning for optimal performance of the workload.
The Management Challenge
IT infrastructure management poses its own set of challenges as software and systems become
increasingly integrated, dynamic and complex. Capacity requirements undergo dramatic shifts
due to unpredictable demand. The increasing diversity of devices and platforms accessing highly
distributed services add to management costs and complexity. Management solutions, separated,
uncoordinated and siloed by device or platform is inadequate to the task. Coordination across
multiple interfaces is becoming impossibly difficult to effectively, let alone efficiently, deliver.
The architecture and philosophy of management had to be updated and adapted to deal with the
new realities. Traditional process-oriented approaches had limited vision. The need was for
proactive, intelligent, informed management of a dynamic pool of resources. Management had to
exert control with an end-to-end understanding of evolving business and operational conditions
affecting service delivery and infrastructure availability, in short, an expert integrated system.
However, such a system dramatically expands the role and range of required management
functionality and intelligence, leaving the ability to integrate and automate business and IT

processes now only a small part of the management function.
A Dedicated Management Node
Expert integrated systems with multiple levels of response and action needed to fulfill design
goals added to the management challenge. The system needed integrated, end-to-end
management of all assets, resources and services to assure it would optimize operations, capacity,
availability and performance to meet business and IT needs. The infrastructure systems
management had to be able to discover, collect data, analyze and proactively initiate or
recommend action. It needed to be able to manage the diverse components and capabilities in an
automated, effective and efficient manner.
And, it had to provide straight-forward access to sophisticated management capabilities that
functioned reliably and consistently. The user interface had to be easily accessible and simple to
keep training costs down and avoid the need for expensive specialists. It needed to accomplish
this and still easily integrate, interface and interact with existing infrastructure. No off-the-shelf
product existed able to satisfy all requirements. A new management solution was the answer.
IBM Flex System Manager
New management functionality includes advanced functions for provisioning, configuring and
estimating storage requirements. This release integrates the workflow of device configuration
and update steps into a single interface. This significantly simplifies management leading to
faster response times, increased flexibility and agility of operations to lower operational costs
and freeing vital IT resources. Security management is centralized, including a single repository
for user accounts and passwords that extends across multiple chassis and compute nodes. New
applications allow smartphone and other mobile devices to remotely access and monitor
management functions. More on these enhancements is included below.
IBM applied its decades of experience in building systems management solutions to build IBM
Flex System Manager. Over 40 years of platform and virtualization management experience as
applied to platforms, networks, virtualization, storage and many other areas are the foundation
for the functionality, value and capability of the management node.
IBM Flex System Manager is designed specifically to manage all resources of the IBM PureFlex
System from a single management node. It comes pre-loaded and configured with the expertise
necessary to manage the diverse assets and capabilities of the system. It is a single point of
control maintaining an integrated view of the entire IBM PureFlex System, physical, as well as
virtual, including servers, storage and network devices.
IBM Flex System Manager manages the pooling of all resources. Intelligent automation and
integrated management capabilities for chassis resources and assets are detailed in the following
paragraphs. Management includes application of policies and best practices to assure optimal
resource utilization.

It includes extensive built-in data collection and analytics capabilities that works with
infrastructure-based patterns of expertise that supply operational insight that simplifies and
automates the optimization of resource performance and utilization. It also includes built-in
management processes that simplify and automate the handling of routine, repetitive tasks. This
includes automated failover and maintenance of backup processes to assure smooth running of
all applications running on virtualized infrastructure.
IBM Flex System Manager will auto-discover new and existing components, as well as
automatically initiate and perform set-up tasks. As part of this discovery process, IBM Flex
System Manager prepares and maintains complete, detailed front, back and chassis map views of
each chassis and all physical compute nodes and virtual servers that exist in the rack.
Management and control of the physical and virtualized infrastructure includes initiating the
detailed tasks required for full life-cycle management of virtualized devices, including their
creation, provisioning, configuration, operation and de-provisioning. It can build and maintain a
library of pre-defined virtual devices. This allows fast automated, on-demand adjustments in
server, storage and network capacities in response to changing business and operational needs.
The built-in network provides a reliable and secure communications path for management and
inter-rack data sharing. Sophisticated network resource management moves the focus from
managing the network to managing for the workload. The complete infrastructure is managed to
assure maximum workload performance. This allows for operational environment-aware
automated smart placement and provisioning of the workload itself. The emphasis is on
optimized, automated, integrated network control and management.
The management node acts as a single-point of support across all assets and resources in IBM
PureFlex Systems for the complete range of management tasks, including service requests,
incident handling and problem resolution. It can handle specialized management tasks in
connection with security, performance, resource allocation, application version control, etc.
Using built-in and extendable patterns of expertise along with predictive analytics, IBM Flex
System Manager verifies each workload has sufficient resources to meet performance
commitments. It performs proactive analysis of both physical and virtual servers to track
resource utilization and performance. If it detects a potential problem, either because a physical
resource is over-committed, or because a virtual resource is over-loaded, it proactively acts to
avoid or minimize the potential impact.
The IBM Flex System Manager initiates action to proactively reallocate resources or move
workloads across chassis to assure that the performance and availability commitments of
individual workloads are met. It proactively monitors operations to detect deviations from
normal operating patterns. Such deviations can be early indicators of problems, such as device

failure or over-load that will affect performance. Flex System Manager can alert, initiate action
or do both, to avoid a service interruption or workload performance failure.
Working from a built-in store of historical expertise about best practices and optimization
techniques represents a significant advance. But change is constant. A management system
operating with only its own expertise runs the risk of missing out on advances or increasing
knowledge for optimizing operation. Expert integrated systems and the underlying management
policies can change. IT staff will constantly monitor applications, workloads and operations to
identify ways to improve and optimize them. IBM allows best practice changes to policies and
practices to be integrated into the system and patterns of expertise as staffs increase their
familiarity with operating needs and workload characteristics.
Unified management and control expands with the latest additions to the PureSystems family.
New functionality targets increased ease of use, speeds time-to-value, automates maintenance
operations for all resources and increases platform infrastructure security. The new user-
interface provides a multi-chassis view for integrated management and control across all
physical and virtualized resource. Improved chassis maps simplify management and control with
more detailed data on device status health and performance. They can provide real-time views of
the embedded and external storage devices, as well as additional details on status and health of
resources being managed within a single Flex System Manager management domain.
More flexibility in defining management domains allows systems and resources to be managed
as integrated entities. Specific domains of resources, such as storage (physical and virtualized)
or network devices can be managed for configuration, provisioning, optimization, maintenance,
etc. Configuration Patterns speed time to value with pre-defined and automated application of
policy-based configurations for systems, devices or classes of resources.
The ability to do a bare metal deployment of a virtual machine hypervisor11
and operating
system simplifies and speeds maintenance updates while increasing agility. To better secure the
platform infrastructure, user management domains can extend across multiple racks
encompassing up to 4 chassis.
IBM Flex System Manager’s full integration and interoperation with IBM’s extended software
portfolio is described in the next section. In addition, it will work and interoperate with the major
systems management solutions available on the market today. There is no need to ‘rip ‘n replace’
existing hardware or software assets. The built-in virtualization management integration allows
straight-forward consolidation of external storage and networking resources into ‘resource pools’.
Leveraging the IBM Software Portfolio
IBM Flex System Manager management node is further enhanced by its ability to leverage all
the capabilities of the extended IBM software portfolio. These capabilities are not only
11
KVM, ESXi

appropriate for clients interested in bringing their new IBM PureFlex System into their existing
service management processes, but also for clients interested in extending the service
management capabilities for the workloads running on the platform itself.
The service management portfolio of products provided by IBM Tivoli® is fully supported by
IBM PureFlex System. Capabilities like automation, provisioning, storage and security can be
completely integrated into a customer's existing process by integrating with IBM PureFlex
System and with IBM Flex System Manager node. For example, the automation products can
help IBM PureFlex System leverage an existing external monitoring infrastructure and events
can be forwarded to an existing IBM Tivoli Netcool®/OMNIbus installation for root-cause
analysis and integration with Service desk ticketing. They will also incorporate workloads
running on IBM PureFlex systems into Business Services views that represent the business
impacts of IBM PureFlex System-based applications. From a storage perspective, IBM PureFlex
System storage can be managed by the on-board Storage Control or integrated into an external
IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center12
for overall optimization.
The service management capabilities align with IBM's four client initiatives: Consolidate.
Optimize. Innovate. Accelerate Cloud. Here are some examples of how this is done:
1) Consolidate: IBM Tivoli Storage Manager13
and IBM SmartCloud Monitoring14
ensures resiliency and achieves high levels of virtualization density while managing
risk as customers move to IBM PureFlex Systems and seek to reduce costs.
2) Optimize: IBM software enables provisioning, comprehensive image management,
storage optimization and security for workloads to improve performance and
reliability.
3) Innovate: IBM provides application level instrumentation, business perspective views,
event consolidation and a complete view of the client's storage environment.
4) Accelerate Cloud: Leveraging the IBM SmartCloud Foundation15
portfolio, dynamic
provisioning, charge-back or show-back, and security for virtualized workloads are
all features that help to accelerate cloud deployment and delivery.
Patterns of Expertise
A few words have to be said about patterns of expertise. These built-in patterns are based on
decades of IBM’s interactions with customers in a wide range of projects. They have been
extensively tested in real operating environments. They are derived from proven best practices
combined with extensive experience at running complex tasks. Both the basic patterns and
complex operational policies can be expanded and tuned by administrators and workload experts.
The three types of patterns of expertise are:
12
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/storage/software/center/
13
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/tivoli/products/storage-mgr/
14
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/tivoli/products/smartcloud-monitoring/
15
http://www.ibm.com/cloud-computing/us/en/

1. Application patterns of business application expertise focused on specific workload
types, e.g. Web experience, Business Intelligence, Business Application (e.g. SAP),
etc.16
2. Platform patterns that define optimized platforms of various infrastructure and
middleware configurations for specific operations, e.g. demand driven elasticity, data
mart deployment, transactional database deployment17
, etc. These are part of the IBM
PureApplication System.
3. Infrastructure patterns (included with IBM PureFlex System) with expertise applied
across computer resources, e.g. optimizing for provisioning and automation tasks,
optimizing storage systems, or tuning for scalability and upgradability.
The patterns of expertise available with the PureSystems (PureFlex and PureApplication) will
vary. The information in the footnotes (10, 11) is correct at the time of publication.
Payoff and Benefits
IBM PureFlex System platforms and IBM Flex System Manager node have been specifically
designed to be operated as an integrated, intelligent system. As one would expect when a design
goal is to reduce costs, improve efficiency and simplify the process from acquisition through to
operations – significant savings can be realized at multiple levels. There are also the clear
advantages for operations to reduce costs and improve efficiency as a result of the automated
execution of built-in knowledge to optimize infrastructure performance and utilization.
First are the well-known and frequently reported benefits and problem avoidance that result from
automation that eliminates error-prone manual tasks. Automation speeds the completion of
repetitive tasks, as well as increases the consistency and accuracy at applying policies, best
practices and processes for maintenance adjustments, updates, patches, configuration,
provisioning, scheduling and placement of services, etc. The result is a dramatic reduction in
errors, faster time to problem resolution, less device downtime, etc. All this translates to more
efficient, cost effective operation as utilization and overall operational efficiency increases. The
productivity and, frequently, the job satisfaction of operating staff improve as they are freed from
boring and routine tasks to apply their efforts to more interesting, productive and creative tasks.
All these also contribute to an improved customer experience and, hence, their satisfaction. All
of these results will contribute toward building service differentiators and help to strengthen any
competitive advantage.
Summarizing PureFlex System (and Flex System) improvements and benefits include:
 Increased memory capacity supports more virtualization,
 Increased network bandwidth by up to 2x previously,
16
Available through the “patterns of expertise” catalog
17
The three mentioned along with simplified system setup and install, web application deployment, policy-based
system management and simplified application migration are included with the IBM PureFlex System purchase. Web
experience is available through the “patterns of expertise” catalog.

 3 times more dedicated storage fit in compute nodes (up to 8 400 GB SSDs),
 Containing node-to-node traffic inside the chassis cuts network latency by 50%.
 Intelligent data placement across all storage,
 Integrated management across all resources,
 Workload optimization across both POWER and x86 environments,
 Increased automation combines with virtual resource pooling to accelerate deployment.
Other benefits resulting from IBM Flex System Manager include:
1. Resource pooling with integrated management that monitors and controls all virtual
resources within and across chassis and racks means workload placement and resource
utilization is optimized for top performance.
2. Built-in intelligent management of virtualized infrastructure (servers, storage, networks
and applications) assures optimal utilization of assets and minimizes service disruptions
and outages due to overloaded assets and resources.
3. Automating configuration management for networks and servers reduces the time to
provision, configure and deploy assets to adapt to changing environment conditions and
shifting business priorities.
4. Automated population and maintenance of a library of virtualized assets will further cut
time to respond when additional capacity is needed to meet demand and balance
workloads.
The net effect is to help achieve the optimal utilization of existing assets. This improves the
management of capital expenditures by minimizing over-provisioning and lowering the risk of
under-utilization. Optimal utilization of assets helps to determine when to purchase additional or
upgraded infrastructure. This is best done when driven by real operational need and not
motivated by fears of under-capacity. The result is better control of the cost and timing of
acquisition, as well as overall operations and maintenance.
Integrated, within and across chassis management – assures optimal resource utilization,
consolidation and setup into efficient rack configurations supporting a heterogeneous collection
of operating environments and hypervisors.
IBM Flex System Manager monitors all virtualized and physical resources. It automatically
checks and will proactively implement load-relocation and balancing to prevent over-
commitment of resources to avoid the threat of performance problems and SLA violations. This
minimizes service disruptions and prevents customers from suffering with response problems.
The server (physical and virtual) on which a workload or service runs becomes a business
decision based on the priorities and needs of the business and the service, not simply based on
the available infrastructure. This puts business and workload needs in charge of asset allocation.
The result is that IT staff has more visibility into the relationship between what they do and the
success of the business. They can become more sensitive and responsive to the needs of business

operation. They can see the impact not only of their day-to-day activities, but also can recognize
the potential contribution of IT to business success.
IBM PureFlex Systems design reduces costs and increases operational productivity in multiple
ways. For example, installing and integrating management contributes to Day 1 availability as
the ready-to-run system speeds time to value. Integration by design with built-in expertise
dramatically cuts installation and implementation time from days to hours and months to weeks.
PCCW Solutions says: “PureFlex’s integrated system enabled us to reduce the set-up time
more than half.”
Consolidating management and administration tasks into a single, consistent interface while
automating many task processes across x86 and POWER7 compute nodes simplifies the job of
administrators to manage and configure servers, storage, network and other resources. Whole
rack management of energy, cooling, etc. reduces cost, cuts downtime while the systems operate
at higher performance levels and are more consistent in operation. The single interface eliminates
the need to have different administrative support and skills for each platform, thus reducing
training costs.
Management based on an end-to-end view across the infrastructure and the complete life-cycle
of virtualized devices increases utilization, lowering hardware costs, as well as the cost of
commissioning/decommissioning devices. Similarly, managing consolidated servers in a single
chassis with shared access to power and networks simplifies intelligent control and management
to optimize power, cooling and energy requirements. Built-in storage, network and servers
reduce wiring and maintenance complexity while minimizing required floor space. The result is
seen in significantly reduced operational and maintenance costs.
Conclusion
With the announcement of IBM PureFlex Systems and IBM Flex System Manager, IBM
provides the industry with a totally new category of computing. The ‘Expert Integrated System’
delivers a combination of hardware, software and built-in expertise that makes implementing and
applying the power of computing simpler, easier, faster and more effective than ever before. And,
it does all this while preserving the investment in existing hardware and software infrastructure
with its extensive capabilities for integration and interoperation with computer, storage and
network devices.
The design goals of this new system were many. IBM wanted to reduce the time it took to start
getting value from their purchase, i.e. increase agility. It was designed to reduce costs by getting
the maximum from available resources, i.e. increase efficiency in operations and acquisition. It
included a desire to simplify all aspects of acquisition, implementation, operation and
management, i.e. reduce the skill level needed to operate the data center effectively. And finally,
it was designed to reduce the errors in all aspects of computing and thereby lower operational

risk, i.e. restore control in data center operations. It appears to us that IBM has made exceptional
progress toward achieving these goals with IBM PureFlex and IBM Flex System Manager.
This new generation of systems provides easier access to the power of heterogeneous computing.
IBM Flex System Manager simplifies management, facilitates faster implementation,
reconfiguration and provisioning management of server, storage and network resources. And, it
does this without forcing an infrastructure ‘refresh’ or ‘rip ’n’ replace of existing data center
resources.
The introduction of IBM Flex System Manager and IBM PureFlex System establishes them as
the leader in defining new ways for customers and partners to realize more benefit at lower cost
from the data center. They redefine IT’s role away from focusing on the idiosyncrasies of the
physical infrastructure to being focused on how to create new services and squeeze value from
that infrastructure.
IBM is providing solutions to IT and organizational (typically business) problems, not arguing
the fine points of one server over another. The point is to get the best out of the infrastructure to
address problems and create services. They do this by intelligently automating and consolidating
operations, management and maintenance functions where it makes sense and is possible today.
With two significant waves of enhancements after last spring’s announcement, IBM is clearly
and convincingly keeping to its word to provide enhancements and extensions that assure the
IBM PureFlex System, Flex System elements and IBM Flex System Manager are maintained at
the leading edge of technology application, utilization and management. IBM shows
considerable commitment to keeping this product family there. We look forward to new surprises
in their next release.
Finally, with IBM Flex System Manager and the patterns of expertise, existing IT staff benefit
from an enhanced ability to leverage an enormous base of expertise in applying computers to the
solution of a broad range of problem patterns in applications, infrastructure and platforms. The
heritage and ingenuity embedded in IBM PureFlex Systems is purposely not static; it will
continue to grow and extend beyond current capabilities with contributions and enhancement
made by both the consumer’s IT staff and IBM.

Publication Date: November 7, 2012
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While every care has been taken during the preparation of this document to ensure accurate information, the
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About Ptak, Noel & Associates LLC
We help IT organizations become “solution initiators” in using IT management technology to business problems. We
do that by translating vendor strategy & deliverables into a business context that is communicable and actionable by
the IT manager, and by helping our clients understand how other IT organizations are effectively implementing
solutions with their business counterparts. Our customers recognize the meaningful breadth and objectively of our
research in IT management technology and process.
www.ptaknoel.com
This document was developed with IBM funding. Although the document may utilize publicly available
material from various vendors, including IBM, it does not necessarily reflect the positions of such vendors
on the issues addressed in this document.

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