Chapter 5. Red Hat OpenShift installation planning and considerations 73
5.1.1  Mission-critical workloads
To handle the most data-intensive mission-critical workloads, organizations need servers that 
can deliver outstanding performance and scalability. Whether they are supporting small 
business groups or building large private and hybrid cloud environments, they need 
no-compromise infrastructure.
Enterprise (Scale-up) servers
IBM Power Systems Enterprise (Scale-up) servers, as listed in Table 5-1, offer the highest 
levels of performance and scale for the most data- intensive, mission-critical workloads. They 
can also serve as building blocks for growing private and hybrid cloud environments. Support 
for AIX, Linux, and IBM i (for the IBM Power Systems E980 server) gives organizations the 
flexibility to run a wide range of applications.
The IBM Power Systems E950 server is the correct fit for growing midsize businesses, 
departments, and large enterprises that are looking for a building-block platform for their data 
center. The IBM Power Systems E980 server is designed for large enterprises that need 
flexible, reliable servers for a private or hybrid cloud infrastructure.
Table 5-1   IBM Power Systems - Enterprise servers
E950 E980
Key features /SM590000Enterprise-class 
capabilities in a reliable, 
space-efficient form factor
/SM590000Exceptional performance at 
an affordable price
/SM590000Ideal foundation for 
world-class private or 
hybrid cloud
/SM590000Can power large-scale, 
mission-critical applications
/SM590000Flagship, high-end server
Machine type and model 
(MTM)
9040-MR9 9080-M9S
Form factors 4U 5U system node and 2U system 
controller unit
Sockets 2 - 4 4 per node
Processor cores /SM590000Up to 48 cores – 12 core 
processor sockets at 3.15 - 
3.80 GHz (max)
/SM590000Up to 44 cores – 11 core 
processor sockets at 3.2 - 
3.80 GHz (max)
/SM590000Up to 40 cores – 10 core 
processor sockets at 3.40 - 
3.80 GHz (max)
/SM590000Up to 32 cores – 8 core 
processor sockets at 3.60 - 
3.80 GHz (max)
One node:
4x POWER9 CPUs; 8, 10, 11 or 
12 cores each System 
Maximum:
16x POWER9 CPUs;
8, 10, 11, or 12 cores each
Memory slots 128 128 per node
Memory max. 16 TB 64 TB per node
PCIe G4 slots 10 8 per node; max. 32
Supported operating 
systems
AIX and Linux AIX, IBM i, and Linux