The evolution of IBM’s Power architecture has been the subject of intense debate in the technology community. Over the past few years, this architecture has undergone significant strategic changes that have generated criticism and expectations alike. As with KVM, we almost guessed everything IBM was going to announce; let’s take a second shot at Power11. In this case, we don’t have the kernel.org lists to clue us in, but we do have 10 years of trajectory since Power8 and a market with very clear demands for alternative architectures to x86, even more so when Intel is going through one of its worst moments in its history..
Background and a little history
With Power8, came Power OEM/LC systems, NVIDIA GPUs, the NVLink connector and the possibility of having a first version of KVM on Power(not to be confused with the 2024 announcement). However, in practice, the challenges outweighed the opportunities… and we’ll leave it at that 🙂. Some felt that IBM was ahead of the market, while others felt that there was a lack of supported and proven solutions on these servers to achieve the anticipated impact; there was even talk of mass adoption by Google or Rackspace. Power9 represented a milestone in IBM’s strategy by offering a more open and accessible architecture for the community. Through the OpenPOWER Foundation, IBM released a significant portion of the specifications and technologies associated with Power9, allowing third parties to design and manufacture their own systems based on this architecture, similar to what is done with ARM or x86. Companies such as Raptor Computing Systems developed Power9-based systems using open source firmware and software, offering highly auditable and user-controllable platforms.
However, in the next generation, development delays-perhaps exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic-led IBM, upon launching Power10, tolicense blocks of intellectual property from Synopsys for components like the DDR4/5 PHY and PCIe 5.0, this decision introduced proprietary firmware into the system, breaking with the openness established with Power9 and limiting community involvement in the development of these technologies. Additionally, NVIDIA’s strategic shift since Power9, opting for alternative architectures such as ARM-based GPUs, complicated the reintegration of GPUs into the Power platform. In Power10, IBM’s strategic response was to focus on inference within the processor core, enabling artificial intelligence processing directly on the chip, without relying on GPUs.
With the anticipated release of Power11, there is an expectation that IBM will address these past challenges and realign its strategy with current market demands. This includes reintegrating GPUs and other accelerators, enhancing support for open-source workloads and Linux applications, and continuing to advance AIX and IBM i as key components of the Power ecosystem
Anticipating Power11: Key Expectations and Strategic Imperatives
The decisions made around Power10 have had a significant impact on both the community and the market. Moving away from an open architecture raised concerns among developers and companies that prioritize transparency and collaborative development. Competitors with open frameworks, such as RISC-V, have gained traction by offering the flexibility and freedom that Power10 lacked. This underscores the competitive value of openness in today’s technology landscape, where open-source solutions increasingly dominate the market for new workloads. Looking forward to Power11, there is a strong anticipation that IBM will address these concerns. At SIXE, we advocate for a return to open development practices, providing access to firmware source code and specifications to foster greater collaboration and innovation.
We believe Power11 should correct the limitations seen in Power10, especially by regaining control over critical components like DDR PHY and PCIe interfaces. Avoiding reliance on third-party intellectual property is essential for achieving a truly open architecture. In doing so, IBM can realign with community demands and tap into the expertise of developers and organizations committed to open-source principles. Furthermore, reintegrating GPUs and other accelerators is crucial to meet the growing need for heterogeneous computing. By supporting a wide range of accelerators—including GPUs, FPGAs, and specialized AI processors—IBM can offer flexible, powerful solutions tailored to diverse workloads.
This strategy aligns with industry trends toward modular and scalable architectures that can handle increasingly complex and dynamic computational requirements. Strengthening support for open-source workloads and enhancing compatibility with Linux applications will be vital for the broader adoption of Power11. Seamless integration with open-source tools and frameworks will attract a larger developer community, making it easier to migrate existing applications to the Power platform. This approach not only encourages innovation but also addresses market demands for flexible, cost-effective solutions. Additionally, we are keen to see how these hardware advancements can be fully utilized by AIX and IBM i, reinforcing IBM’s commitment to its longstanding customer base. It is essential that businesses relying on these operating systems can benefit from Power11’s innovations without compromising on stability, performance, compatibility, or availability for their critical systems
Conclusion
If there is one thing we know for sure, it is that there is no one operating system or architecture that fits all workloads. What is most valuable for Power customers is the possibility of integrating on the same machines the databases on which their business depends on AIX or IBM i, private clouds with KVM, front-ends with Kubernetes on Linux and, hopefully soon, also AI, ML, HPC, etc. workloads. At SIXE we think that, just as there is no perfect music for every moment, there is no universal operating system, database or programming language. In Power we can have them all, and that’s why we love it.
For us, Power11 represents an opportunity for IBM to realign its strategy: integrating GPUs and accelerators to meet high-performance computing needs, enhancing support for open source workloads and Linux applications, and continuing to develop its leading-edge operating systems for mission-critical environments, such as AIX and IBM i. In doing so, IBM can deliver a versatile and powerful platform that appeals to a broad spectrum of users. The success of Power11 will depend on IBM’s ability to balance proprietary innovation with openness and collaboration with third parties.
Need help with IBM Power?
Get in touch with SIXE; we are not only experts in everything that runs on Power servers, but also active promoters and part of the IBM Champions community. We have extensive knowledge in virtualization, security, critical environments on AIX, application modernization with RPG and IBM i, as well as emerging use cases with Linux on Power.