SIXE
IBM Business Partner
ppc64le
Consulting · Support · Migration
Linux on IBM Power.
Every distribution that matters — Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu, Debian — running on the most reliable architecture on the market. Installation, support and x86 migration by engineers who have been inside these servers for years.
$ cat /etc/sixe/power-status
Certified ecosystem
Linux on IBM Power (ppc64le) combines the most versatile operating system with the most reliable enterprise architecture on the market. SIXE, an IBM Business Partner with over 15 years of experience, delivers end-to-end Linux on Power consulting: installation, support, x86 migration and tuning of Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu and Debian on IBM Power11 servers. With up to 240 cores and 64 TB of RAM per system, Power consolidates entire data centres with CPU utilisation above 90%.
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The platform
Why run Linux
on IBM Power?
It is not x86 with a different name. It is an architecture designed from the ground up for mission-critical workloads: higher reliability, more throughput per core, a more secure hypervisor, and CPU utilisation rates x86 simply cannot match.
240cores per system
IBM Power11
IBM Power11
64TBmaximum RAM
a full DC in one box
a full DC in one box
90%+CPU utilisation
with PowerVM
with PowerVM
0known vulnerabilities
in PowerVM
in PowerVM
RAS: mainframe-grade reliability
Reliability, Availability, Serviceability inherited from IBM Z. Hot-swap memory, processors and network cards without stopping LPARs. Uptime measured in years, not months.
ibm.com/power
Superior per-core throughput
A single POWER11 core outperforms an x86 core in transactional and database workloads. Fewer cores means fewer Oracle, SAP and DB2 licences.
MMA: AI without GPUs
Matrix Math Accelerator built into POWER10/11. Run AI inference directly on the CPU — no dedicated GPUs needed for moderate workloads.
ibm.com/products/power-systems
Workloads
What to run on Linux on Power?
From certified SAP HANA to Kubernetes and vLLM for AI inference. Everything that runs on x86 has a ppc64le equivalent — and in many cases, it performs better.
Official IBM play
SAP HANA
Up to 64 TB of RAM per node. SAP certifies IBM Power as the preferred platform for HANA in mission-critical environments.
View SAP HANA on Power
Official IBM play
Red Hat OpenShift
Enterprise Kubernetes on ppc64le. Container consolidation with the security and performance of PowerVM.
View OpenShift
Open ecosystem
Ubuntu Server
Canonical Partner. Ubuntu LTS on Power with professional support. Identical packages to x86, same repositories, same workflows.
View Ubuntu on Power
Open ecosystem
OpenStack
Private cloud on Power. A real alternative to VMware with SIXE support for migration, deployment and ongoing operations.
View OpenStack
Open ecosystem
PostgreSQL & MariaDB
Open-source databases that leverage Power's per-core throughput. Fewer licences, better transactional performance.
View databases
Open ecosystem
vLLM & AI inference
LLM inference with MMA (Matrix Math Accelerator) directly on Power, without NVIDIA GPU dependency for moderate workloads.
View on-premise AI
Services
What does SIXE's
Linux on Power consulting include?
We do not sell generic support hours. We get into your servers, understand them and manage them as if they were our own. From the first yum install to 24/7 production.
01
Linux installation and configuration on PowerDeployment of RHEL, SUSE, Ubuntu or Debian on PowerVM LPARs. Network configuration, storage, ppc64le-specific kernel tuning and interface bonding.
02
Migration from x86 to PowerCompatibility analysis, package inventory, binary recompilation if needed, data migration and functional validation. Zero surprises in production.
03
Ongoing support and updatesAnnual distribution patching, firmware updates, proactive monitoring and incident resolution. You call the person who designed your environment — no tickets, no escalations.
04
High availability and clusteringPowerHA SystemMirror, Pacemaker, DRBD. Active-active or active-passive cluster configuration with automatic failover between LPARs or physical servers.
05
Technical training for your teamTailored Linux on Power courses: from basic ppc64le administration to advanced kernel tuning, PowerVM and high availability. Your team self-sufficient in weeks.
06
Licensing advisory and cost savingsEnvironment analysis, processor pools and actual licence usage review. As an IBM Business Partner, we offer discounts of up to 40% on IBM hardware and licences.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about
Linux on Power.
Linux on Power is the execution of Linux distributions (Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu, Debian and derivatives) on IBM Power servers instead of conventional x86 servers. ppc64le is the architecture identifier: IBM POWER processors in 64-bit little-endian mode. All packages from the major distributions have their ppc64le equivalent, so applications run the same as on x86 without modifications.
Distributions with official IBM support for ppc64le are Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL 9.x), SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES 15 SP6) and Ubuntu Server (24.04 LTS) as a Canonical Partner. SIXE also supports Debian 12, Rocky Linux 9, AlmaLinux 9 and OpenSUSE in production environments on Power.
Three key advantages: reliability (RAS capabilities inherited from IBM Z, hot-swap components without stopping VMs, PowerVM hypervisor with zero known vulnerabilities), per-core performance (a POWER core outperforms an x86 core in transactional workloads, reducing Oracle, SAP and DB2 licence costs) and consolidation (up to 240 cores and 64 TB of RAM per system, with CPU utilisation above 90%).
SIXE is an IBM Business Partner with over 15 years of experience in IBM Power environments. It offers specialised Linux on Power consulting with an in-house team (zero subcontracting), covering installation, 24/7 support, x86 migration and technical training. SIXE works with banking, industrial, healthcare and public sector organisations across Europe.
Yes. SAP HANA is officially certified on IBM Power with up to 64 TB of RAM per node. Red Hat OpenShift has official ppc64le support as a strategic IBM play. Vanilla Kubernetes also works on ppc64le, as do OpenStack, PostgreSQL, MariaDB and AI inference workloads with vLLM.
The x86 to ppc64le migration follows four phases: inventory (package and dependency analysis), compatibility (ppc64le equivalent verification and proprietary binary recompilation if needed), migration (data and configuration transfer) and validation (functional testing in the new environment before cutover). SIXE runs the entire process, maintaining both environments in parallel until production is validated.
Yes. Both Ubuntu and Debian maintain complete repositories for the ppc64le architecture. Packages are compiled from the same source code with the same names, versions and dependencies. Administration workflows (apt, dpkg, systemd) are identical. The only difference is that binaries are compiled for the POWER instruction set instead of x86_64.
The cost depends on the model (S1014, S1022, S1122, E1050, E1080), processor configuration, memory and storage. As an IBM Business Partner, SIXE offers discounts of up to 40% on list price for IBM hardware, upgrades and licences. After a free technical session, we deliver a proposal sized to the customer's specific environment.
Let's talk
Have a Power environment
that needs Linux?
30-minute technical session, no commitment. Tell us about your infrastructure, which distribution you need and what concerns you. We leave the call with a concrete plan.
