Quntifying the Totl Cost of Ownership for Entry-Level nd Mid-Rnge Server Clusters A Detiled Anlysis of the Totl Cost of Ownership of OpenVMS, IBM AIX nd Sun Solris server clusters. June 2007 Version 1.0 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this pper my be reproduced or distributed in ny mnner without the express written permission of TechWise Reserch.
Totl Cost of Ownership for Server Clusters Executive Summry The ll concept of Totl Cost of Ownership for server clusters hs been n importnt issue within the IT community for mny yers. Numerous studies nd customer experiences hve proven tht purchse price lone is not n dequte mesurement to compre server clusters from vrious vendors. Usully other fctors, including the costs to mnge nd mintin the servers, s well s downtime, hve greter finncil impct on n orgniztion thn just the system's purchse price. Recognizing these fctors, TechWise Reserch developed n nlyticl pproch in 1999 clled Relibility-Adjusted Totl Cost of Ownership TM tht incorportes mngement costs nd ppliction vilbility in the nlysis. As prt of this nlysis, server clusters from different mnufcturers re compred in terms of the ctul number of downtime hours per yer tht customers typiclly experience. These downtime findings re then converted into monetry mesurement of the cost differences between clusters which TechWise Reserch refers to s the "Avilbility Advntge TM." This study focuses on the following three brnds of entry-level nd mid-rnge server clusters: OpenVMS Integrity, IBM AIX System p5, nd Sun Solris Sun-Fire clusters. TechWise Reserch lst studied these clusters in 2004. Since tht time,, IBM nd Sun hve ll introduced new server hrdwre s well s updted operting system nd cluster softwre. These chnges ll hve direct impct on the Totl Cost of Ownership for these clusters. TechWise Reserch conducted new study, s result, to provide more current informtion on this importnt topic. This study involves dt from customers s well s publicly vilble pricing informtion. TechWise Reserch surveyed customers tht hve one of the three types of server clusters instlled t their site. The purpose of these interviews ws to collect dt on the opertionl costs ssocited with instlling, mnging, nd mintining their clusters. Informtion ws lso collected on the number of hours nd ssocited costs for vrious downtime events ech compny experienced twelve-month period. All of these opertionl dt were then combined with current system nd service pricing (from IDEAS Interntionl) s well s energy costs to clculte the Relibility-Adjusted TM - n nlyticl pproch tht fctors downtime costs/rtes into the nlysis. TechWise Reserch included four min cost components in the nlysis. These re the costs to (1) buy the servers nd service contrct, (2) instll nd configure the cluster, (3) mnge nd mintin the cluster three yers (including energy nd cooling costs), nd, (4) the costs ssocited with ppliction downtime three yers. Four different cluster configurtions from the mnufcturers were nlyzed. For ech configurtion, the Relibility-Adjusted TM ws clculted t vrious downtime costs to llow reders the bility to compre the different pltforms t downtime cost rte tht most pplies for their firm. Study Results: Five potentil cuses of downtime were used in the nlyses in this pper. When ll five cuses of downtime re considered, OpenVMS Integrity clusters verged the fewest totl number of nnul downtime hours (1.96), followed by IBM AIX System p5 clusters (6.21), then by Sun Solris Sun-Fire clusters (9.53). In terms of vilbility, the, IBM, nd Sun clusters re 99.978%, 99.929%, nd 99.891% respectively. These differences my seem trivil, but in fct they re not. 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 1
The relibility findings were further nlyzed to determine hrdwre nd softwre relibility. Isolting crshes cused by the server hrdwre itself showed tht there is little difference in relibility between Integrity nd IBM System p5 server hrdwre. Sun Sun-Fire servers, however, were found to hve more thn double the downtime of or IBM. Isolting crshes cused by operting system nd clustering softwre showed cler differences between the brnds. OpenVMS verges only 0.19 hours of downtime due to the operting system nd clustering softwre. This works out to 99.998% vilbility. IBM's AIX nd HACMP verge 4.36 hours (99.950% vilbility) while Sun's Solris nd Sun Cluster verge 4.97 hours (99.943% vilbility). Respondents reported tht when ll costs ssocited with downtime were considered, including lost sles, lost production nd productivity, the verge cost per hour of downtime is $145,000. Nerly hlf of the study's respondents report tht their compny loses s lest $10,000 for ech hour their cluster is down. The cost of hving cluster down few extr hours per yer, therefore, cn be quite significnt. This is why for most compnies, mngement nd downtime costs re significnt contributors to the for entry-level nd mid-rnge clusters. The four different cluster configurtions nlyzed rnge in price from $100,000 to $1 million. For ll four configurtions studied, OpenVMS Integrity clusters offer the lowest regrdless of the cost ssocited with n hour of downtime. This represents chnge from pst studies where Sun clusters used to offer the lowest when there re no costs ssocited with downtime. Over the pst two yers hs been trnsitioning its OpenVMS business from AlphServer to Integrity. One reson for this shift ws tht Integrity servers offered lower cost solutions thnks to economies of scle. This trnsition hs helped to vult to be the cler leder in for entry-level nd mid-rnge servers. In ll but Cluster Configurtion #4, Sun Solris Sun- Fire clusters offer lower thn IBM AIX System p5 clusters t low downtime hourly rtes. Once the cost per hour of downtime exceeds certin level, IBM's better relibility compred to Sun gives IBM lower thn Sun. Cluster Configurtion #4 represents the lrgest systems studied in this pper. These clusters, which re one step below enterprise-clss clusters, hve price tgs $1 million. In this configurtion, Sun clusters hve the highest of the three brnds regrdless of the cost per hour of downtime. This study showed tht the differences in between these three cluster brnds cn be quite significnt nd cn esily mount to hundreds of thousnds of dollrs three yers. Applying typicl hourly rtes for downtime costs, OpenVMS Integrity cluster's cost between $290,000 nd $1.5 million less thn IBM AIX System p5 clusters three-yer period. Similrly, 's dvntge Sun rnges from $254,000 to $2.8 million three yers. 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 2
The History of The ll concept of Totl Cost of Ownership continues to be n importnt issue within the IT community, s evidenced by the mny published studies on the topic. Some nlyses performed tody focus only on the prices tht mnufcturers chrge for their clusters nd the service contrcts purchsed with them. Mny studies hve shown tht this simplistic pproch cn be misleding becuse it ignores other costs tht often exceed the initil system price. TechWise Reserch hs developed robust pproch tht ccounts for these other costs. It is our belief tht this pproch provides more ccurte picture of the true totl cost of ownership for these server clusters. Two key costs re often ignored in nlysis: mngement nd downtime costs. TechWise hs conducted number of studies the pst nine yers which show mngement costs (the time spent mnging nd mintining server cluster its lifetime) contribute significnt mount to cluster s. Most compnies' IT stff re stretched thin with mny responsibilities. Clusters tht require more time to mnge on dy-to-dy bsis tke importnt resources wy from other tsks. As importnt s mngement costs re in clculting, they re often shdowed by downtime costs. Clusters by definition re usully deployed in situtions where ppliction vilbility is importnt. One of the primry functions of server cluster is to provide high vilbility through utomted fil. In the event tht one server crshes, the other servers in the cluster should keep the pplictions vilble so tht end users re unffected. The cost per hour of downtime vries considerbly for compnies. It is not uncommon for this cost to be mesured in the tens, if not hundreds of thousnds of dollrs per hour. Clerly ny nlysis tht ignores ctul vilbility dt will be lcking key cost component. Simply purchsing the lowest cost hrdwre my be crucil mistke if tht hrdwre were to be unrelible. TechWise recognized this bck in 1999, nd s result developed proprietry technique clled Relibility-Adjusted TM. Using this technique, downtime costs hve been n integrl prt of ll of our subsequent studies. Bckground on This Pper TechWise Reserch's most recent study tht focused on entry-level nd mid-rnge servers ws published in Februry, 2004. Tht study focused on RISC-bsed servers from, IBM nd Sun. Since tht report ws published, ll three mnufcturers hve introduced new server models bsed on new processors nd rchitecture. IBM, for instnce, introduced the higher performnce dul core POWER5+ processor in 2005. In tht sme yer relesed the first version of OpenVMS to run on its Integrity pltform, bsed on the Intel Itnium 2 microprocessor. In 2005 Sun introduced two new processors, the UltrSPARC IV+ nd the multicore-multithreded UltrSPARC T1 processor. All of these new systems offered higher performnce t lower price thn the systems nlyzed in the 2004 study. Becuse the findings from the Februry 2004 report re no longer current, TechWise Reserch completed this new study to provide updted informtion on server cluster. For this prticulr pper, TechWise Reserch decided to focus on 's Integrity pltform nd not AlphServer, since stopped shipping AlphServers in April, 2007. 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 3
TechWise Reserch's Model There re four components in TechWise Reserch Relibility-Adjusted TM model, or for short: Acquisition Costs The costs to purchse the hrdwre nd softwre from the mnufcturer long with three-yer support greement. Strt-Up Costs The costs to instll nd configure the cluster, s well s ny time nd money spent to trin stff on the cluster. Mngement Costs The ongoing costs ssocited with mnging nd operting the cluster on n nnul bsis (including energy nd cooling costs). Downtime Costs The number of hours, nd resulting costs for cluster downtime, on n nnul bsis. The cquisition costs for the clusters were clculted using current system nd service pricing from IDEAS Interntionl. IDEAS Interntionl is recognized worldwide s leding uthority on systems technology, specilizing in the reserch of comprtive informtion on computer systems. Their current system nd service pricing is updted dily with new product nd price nnouncements from server mnufcturers. When buying servers, two customers cn py very different prices for two identicl systems depending on when they buy them, nd on the level of discount they cn negotite from their chnnel. By using current list prices from IDEAS Interntionl, this time nd purchsing power bis ws eliminted from the nlyses. TechWise Reserch conducted mrket reserch study to collect informtion for the other three components. Mngement costs hve two min components: Costs for compnies to hire third-prties to mnge their cluster on n ongoing bsis, nd costs for mnging the cluster "in-house." In the former sitution, respondents provided the ctul costs for outsourcing cluster mngement ctivities. In the ltter cse, we collected the number of hours "internl stff" spent on ll mngement ctivities ssocited with the cluster. TechWise Reserch converted internl hours spent into cost figure by using stff slry dt provided by respondents. When clculting internl mngement costs, the TechWise model fctored in the hours spent, if ny, mnging nd mintining: servers in the cluster, the cluster's storge rry, cluster softwre nd operting system, end-user pplictions, nd network permissions. For the first time TechWise included energy costs s prt of the cluster's nnul mngement costs. The cost to run nd cool servers continues to rise. Cooling costs cn be very significnt for compnies with lrge server rooms. As it turns out, in this prticulr study the differences between brnds in energy nd cooling were negligible nd did not ffect the ll findings. Downtime costs were clculted in multi-step process bsed on findings from number of studies TechWise Reserch hs conducted on cluster vilbility nd downtime the pst five yers. TechWise defines cluster "crsh" s ny sitution tht cuses the cluster's primry ppliction(s) to become unvilble to end-users. Downtime hours re the number of hours per yer, if ny, when the cluster s primry ppliction(s) were not vilble for end-users to ccess. TechWise Reserch developed list of five potentil cuses of downtime. These re explined in detil in the section entitled: Possible Resons for Crshes nd Downtime. 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 4
This study focuses on three pltforms: Integrity servers running OpenVMS, IBM System p5 servers running AIX, nd Sun Sun-Fire servers running Solris. The ltter two pltforms were studied in gret detil in the 2004 pper. TechWise surveyed compnies in 2006 nd determined tht on verge the number of hours spent mnging server cluster declined by 25% between 2004 nd 2006. Similrly, the number of hours of downtime declined by 30% during tht sme period. In order to clculte the mngement nd downtime hours for IBM nd Sun, TechWise reduced IBM's nd Sun's 2004 opertionl costs by 50%. By pplying greter reduction thn wht ws mesured, TechWise is using conservtive pproch tht is likely understting IBM's nd Sun's mngement nd downtime costs. The Integrity pltform for OpenVMS, on the other hnd, ws not vilble in 2004. TechWise conducted surveys in 2006 with compnies tht hve these clusters to clculte its mngement nd downtime costs. TechWise Reserch used web survey to collect opertionl nd profiling dt bout ll three brnds of clusters. The web survey lsted between 25 nd 30 minutes. Throughout the survey, respondents were given severl opportunities to clrify ny nswers they provided. One of TechWise Reserch's senior nlysts, who specilizes in server clusters, personlly reviewed ech completed survey nd followed-up with respondents by phone if ny nswers needed clrifiction. Approximtely 30 surveys were completed with ech of the three cluster brnds. Previous TechWise cluster studies hve indicted tht three-yer time frme is pproprite to evlute entry-level nd mid-rnge clusters'. Once gin, this sme time period ws pplied in the nlysis for this current study. Since ech compny will hve different costs ssocited with downtime, TechWise lso clculted the three-yer t vrious hourly rtes of downtime costs. Configurtions Anlyzed TechWise Reserch nlyzed four different cluster configurtions for this pper. All the clusters were two node clusters. They differed in terms of the server models, memory, nd storge. These configurtions were selected becuse they represent the mnufcturers' full rnge of entry-level nd midrnge servers. The specific server models in ech configurtion were selected becuse they represent comprble mchines in terms of performnce nd expndbility. The chrt to the right describes the first two configurtions Cluster Configurtions #1 nd #2 Configurtion #1: All hve 8GB RAM nd 292GB Storge IBM System p5 510Q Express running AIX 1.65GHz Power5+ processor, 36MB L3 cche, 2 chips/4 cores Integrity rx2660 running OpenVMS 1.4GHz Itnium 2 9020 processor, 12MB L3 cche, 2 chips/4 cores Sun Sun-Fire T2000 running Solris 1.0GHz UltrSPARC T1 processor, 3MB L2 cche, 1 chip/8 cores Configurtion #2: All hve 16GB RAM nd 513GB Storge IBM System p5 520Q Express running AIX 1.65GHz Power5+ processor, 36MB L3 cche, 2 chips/4 cores Integrity rx3600 running OpenVMS 1.6GHz Itnium 2 9040 processor, 18MB L3 cche, 2 chips/4 cores Sun Sun-Fire V445 running Solris 1.593GHz UltrSPARC IIIi processor, 1MB L2 cche, 4 chips/4 cores Quntifying the Totl Cost of Ownership of RISC-bsed Clusters 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. Published with permission from TechWise Reserch, Inc. Unuthorized use is strictly prohibited. tested. These two configurtions represent the entry-level clusters in the study. Some servers hve options for different CPUs. For this reson we included the specific CPU in our descriptions. Almost ll of the servers utilize dul core processors, technology tht ws not widely vilble when TechWise lst studied these clusters. In some cses it ws not possible to hve ll the servers configured with the sme number of processor cores. In these cses configurtion ws selected tht best mtched the desired trget. 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 5
Cluster Configurtions #3 nd #4 Configurtion #3: All hve 16GB RAM nd 1,168GB Storge IBM System p5 550Q Express running AIX 1.65GHz Power5+ processor, 36MB L3 cche, 4 chips/8 cores Integrity rx6600 running OpenVMS 1.6GHz Itnium 2 9040 processor, 18MB L3 cche, 4 chips/8 cores Sun Sun-Fire V490 running Solris 2.1GHz UltrSPARC IV+ processor-, 32MB L3 cche, 4 chips/8 cores The chrt to the left shows the other two configurtions studied. These mid-rnge clusters re configured with more memory nd storge thn the entry-level configurtions. Configurtion #4: All hve 64GB RAM nd 1,200GB Storge IBM System p5 570 running AIX 1.9GHz Power5+ processor, 36MB L3 cche, 8 chips/16 cores Integrity rx7640 running OpenVMS 1.6GHz Itnium 2 9040 processor, 18MB L3 cche, 8 chips/16 cores Sun Sun-Fire E4900 running Solris 1.95GHz UltrSPARC IV+ processor, 32MB L3 cche, 8 chips/16 cores Quntifying the Totl Cost of Ownership of RISC-bsed Clusters 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. Published with permission from TechWise Reserch, Inc. Unuthorized use is strictly prohibited. Findings Excluding Downtime In Configurtions 1, 2, nd 3, IBM offers the lowest cquisition costs of ll three cluster brnds. In these cses, the price to purchse the IBM cluster complete with three-yer service pln typiclly costs 10% to 30% less thn or Sun. The only exception to this is Configurtion #4 where the OpenVMS rx7640 cluster costs 5% less thn the IBM AIX 570 cluster nd 29% less thn the Sun Solris E4900 cluster. IBM's lower cquisition costs, however, do not tell complete picture of the cost of owning cluster. The reltive between the three brnds chnges when strt-up nd mngement costs re included in the nlyses. The chrt to the right shows the brekdown of these three components for Cluster Configurtion #3. All numbers hve been normlized to the cquisition cost of the IBM cluster. The blue brs on the chrt show tht both the Sun Solris V490 cluster nd the OpenVMS rx6600 cluster cquisition costs re lmost 140%, or 40% greter, thn the IBM AIX 550Q cluster. Strt-up costs, shown in ornge, re reltively minor component of. Mngement costs, shown in green, however, re significnt. The cost to IBM 550Q Sun V490 rx6600 Components for Configurtion #3 Acquisition, Strt-up, nd Three-Yer Mngement Costs Only 204% 0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250% 300% Reltive to IBM Acquisition Costs 236% Acquisition Strt-up 3 Yer Mngement 256% Quntifying the Totl Cost of Ownership of RISC-bsed Clusters 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. Published with permission from TechWise Reserch, Inc. Unuthorized use is strictly prohibited. OpenVMS' OpenVMS' is is 14% 14% less less thn thn Sun Sun nd nd 20% 20% less less thn thn IBM IBM when when strt-up strt-up nd nd mngement mngement costs costs re re tken tken into into ccount. ccount. mnge this IBM cluster three yers is more thn twice the costs to mnge the cluster. When ll three fctors re dded together, the OpenVMS rx6600 cluster hs lower thn the Sun Solris V490 nd IBM AIX 550Q clusters. The next sections ddress wht hppens when downtime is lso included in the nlyses. 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 6
The Vlue of n Hour In pst studies respondents rted how importnt nine different fctors would be in future cluster purchse decision. The two most importnt fctors included (1) the cluster's ll relibility, nd (2) how well the cluster softwre performs when there is filure. These two fctors were rted s more importnt thn ll performnce, security fetures built into the operting system, pplictions supported on the pltform, bility to dd more servers to the cluster, ese of mngement, nd disster tolernce bilities. The fct tht relibility nd cluster softwre re rted highest demonstrtes the ll importnce of vilbility to cluster users, nd further re-enforces the primry reson for estblishing cluster - to ensure tht pplictions re vilble to end-users 24x7. Distribution of Totl Hourly Downtime Costs 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% < $25K 71% $25K - $49K 8% $50K - $74K 7% Averge Averge hourly hourly downtime downtime cost cost is is $145,000. $145,000. $75K - $99K 1% $100K - $124K $125K - $149K 1% $150K - $174K 1% 2004 Cluster $175K - $199K Includes Includes four four firms firms with with costs costs of of $1 $1 million million or or higher. higher. 10% $200K - $224K 1% $225K - $249K $250K+ As reported in prior studies conducted by TechWise Reserch, ech compny hs unique sitution tht determines the finncil impct of downtime. For some, when primry pplictions re not vilble to end-users, the impct is lost sles. For others, it mens lost employee productivity or decline in mnufcturing production. Mny firms re ffected in multiple wys. TechWise Reserch sked ech respondent to quntify the finncil impct per hour of downtime. The chrt to the left shows the distribution of hourly downtime costs. Seventy-one percent of respondents sid their costs re less thn $25,000 per hour. Thirteen percent estimte their hourly costs t $125,000 or more. Four of the compnies surveyed indicted tht they lose $1 million or more per hour! On verge, however, respondents report tht ech hour of downtime costs their firm totl of $145,000 when the costs ssocited with lost sles, wges, nd production re considered. These downtime cost figures demonstrte the importnt role vilbility plys in clculting the true totl cost of ownership of cluster. 5 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 7
Possible Resons for Crshes nd Downtime TechWise Reserch defines cluster crsh s ny event tht cused one or more of the cluster's primry pplictions to become unvilble to end-users. Some crshes result in only few seconds of downtime s the cluster softwre "fils " to nother node. Other crshes cn cuse pplictions to be down for minutes or even hours. As in pst studies, TechWise Reserch collected downtime informtion on ll crshes, no mtter how short or long in durtion. There re vriety of potentil cuses for crshes nd downtime. In this nlysis, TechWise Reserch included downtime from the following five different cuses: 1. Server hrdwre filure during norml cluster opertion: These re crshes cused when one or more servers filed, when no mintennce ws being performed on ny of the servers. 2. Server hrdwre filure during plnned server mintennce: This type of crsh occurs when one server filed while plnned mintennce is being performed on the other server in the cluster. In these cses, the cluster crshes despite its utomted fil configurtion. 3. Operting system or cluster softwre problems: These re ny crshes cused by the operting system or clustering softwre. 4. Softwre virus or worm: Hckers nd mlwre cn nd do cuse clusters to crsh. TechWise Reserch mesured how much downtime, if ny, ws cused by softwre viruses nd worms. 5. System mngement ppliction problem: This includes ny crsh cused by problem with ny of the system mngement ppliction(s) running on this cluster. In pst studies TechWise lso included crshes cused by end-user ppliction problems nd hrdwre filures in storge rry. Every cluster is running unique set of end user pplictions. Furthermore, virtully ll of these end user pplictions come from thirdprties or re custom written. Since ny crshes cused by third-prty pplictions re beyond the control of, IBM, nd Sun, these crshes were excluded from the nlyses. TechWise hs noticed tht n incresing number of cluster customers re using third-prty storge rrys, such s from EMC. Once ll the surveys were collected, there ws insufficient dt to nlyze the relibility of, IBM, nd Sun's own storge rrys. For this reson crshes cused by the cluster's storge rry were lso excluded from the nlyses. By using the bove fctors, the relibility nlysis is bsed exclusively on ech mnufcturer's controllble hrdwre nd softwre solutions. 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 8
Cuse of Downtime Averge Annul Downtime Hours All Downtime Fctors Integrity IBM System p5 Sun Sun-Fire Hrdwre Filure - Norml Opertion 1.59 1.37 2.57 Hrdwre Filure - Plnned Mintennce 0.18 0.48 1.99 Operting System or Cluster Softwre 0.19 0.58 1.23 Softwre Virus or Worm 0.00 2.87 2.16 System Mngement Appliction 0.00 0.91 1.58 TOTAL 1.96 6.21 9.53 Note: A cluster ws considered down when one or more of its primry pplictions ws not vilble for end-users. Best in clss results re highlighted in green. Quntifying the Totl Cost of Ownership of RISC-bsed Clusters 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. Published with permission from TechWise Reserch, Inc. Unuthorized use is strictly prohibited. Cluster Relibility Findings Ech respondent reported the totl number of hours per yer, if ny; their cluster s primry pplictions were offline due to ech of the five types of problems previously described. The tble to the left summrizes these findings by pltform. "Best in clss" findings for ech ctegory re highlighted in green. OpenVMS Integrity clusters verged the fewest totl number of nnul downtime hours of ll three brnds tested. 's verge downtime of 1.96 hours is 68% less thn IBM's System p5 clusters (6.21 hours), nd 79% less thn Sun's Sun-Fire clusters (9.53 hours). In four of the five ctegories, won best in clss. For the remining ctegory, IBM clusters won best in clss. The first two downtime ctegories listed in the tble bove re crshes cused by server hrdwre filures. For server hrdwre filures occurring during norml cluster opertion, IBM verged the fewest number of downtime hours followed closely by. For server hrdwre filures occurring during plnned mintennce, the results switch whereby verged virtully no downtime hours, followed closely by IBM. Combining these two ctegories show tht there is little difference between the relibility of Integrity nd IBM System p5 server hrdwre (1.77 hours nd 1.85 hours, respectively). Sun's Sun-Fire hrdwre is somewht less relible, verging more thn double the downtime (4.56 hours). Combining the lst three ctegories gives complete mesurement of the relibility of the three operting system/clustering softwre combintions. This is becuse ny crsh cused by softwre virus or worm is likely due to vulnerbility in the operting system or clustering softwre. Furthermore, TechWise designed the survey to differentite between third-prty nd OEM system mngement pplictions. This nlysis focused only on downtime cused by the mnufcturers' system mngement pplictions. OpenVMS clerly seprtes itself from AIX/HACMP nd Solris/Sun Cluster. OpenVMS verges only 0.19 hours of downtime due to the operting system nd clustering softwre. This works out to 99.998% vilbility. IBM's AIX nd HACMP verge 4.36 hours (99.950% vilbility) while Sun's Solris nd Sun Cluster verge 4.97 hours (99.943% vilbility). These differences my seem smll. However, they re in fct significnt in cses where downtime costs re mesured in tens of thousnds of dollrs. In summry, when ll five types of crshes re considered, IBM System p5 clusters verged 4.25 more downtime hours per yer thn Integrity OpenVMS clusters. Furthermore, Sun Sun-Fire clusters verged 7.57 more downtime hours per yer thn Integrity OpenVMS clusters. Downtime costs vry from compny to compny. For ech $10,000 of hourly downtime costs, 's totl Avilbility Advntge TM IBM nd Sun trnsltes into $127,500 nd $227,100, respectively, three yers. 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 9
Detiled Findings: Relibility-Adjusted TM for Configurtion #1 Three-Yer Relibility-Adjusted TM Cluster Configurtion #1 - Hourly Downtime Rte of $10,000 IBM 510Q Express Sun T2000 rx2660 $288 $578 $542 $0 $200 $400 $600 $800 $1,000 in Thousnds of Dollrs Quntifying the Totl Cost of Ownership of RISC-bsed Clusters 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. Published with permission from TechWise Reserch, Inc. Unuthorized use is strictly prohibited. hs hs $290,000 $290,000 dvntge dvntge IBM, IBM, nd nd $254,000 $254,000 dvntge dvntge Sun. Sun. clusters nd $254,000 Sun Solris T2000 clusters. The chrt to the left summrizes the Three-Yer Relibility- Adjusted TM for the three entry-level clusters studied. The brs represent the totl cost of owning ech cluster including cquisition, service, instlltion, trining, mngement nd downtime three-yer period. Downtime costs were clculted by pplying rte of $10,000 per hour. The OpenVMS rx2660 cluster hs the lowest. Over three-yer period, 's dvntge is $290,000 IBM AIX 510Q Express The ppliction of $10,000 per hour downtime rte my be too low for some firms, or too high for others. For this reson, TechWise Reserch provides more detiled grph below. This chrt summrizes the three-yer Relibility-Adjusted TM for the three clusters studied t vrious hourly downtime rtes. In cses where there re no costs ssocited with downtime, there is little difference between this OpenVMS Integrity cluster nd the comprble Sun Solris Sun-Fire cluster. However, s the cost per hour of downtime increses, 's cluster develops cler dvntge. At lower hourly downtime rtes the key drivers to re cquisition nd mngement costs. The IBM AIX 510Q Express $1.2 cluster hs the lowest cquisition cost of the three clusters. $0.9 However, this is more thn offset by the high cost to mnge the $0.6 IBM cluster on n ongoing bsis. IBM's high mngement costs re $0.3 why the IBM cluster hs the highest t low hourly downtime rtes. Once the hourly downtime rte exceeds $15,000 this IBM cluster hs lower thn the Sun cluster. This is thnks to the fct tht IBM clusters re, on verge, more relible thn Sun clusters. Three-Yer for Cluster Configurtion #1 Integrity rx2660, IBM System p5 510Q Express, & Sun Sun-Fire T2000 in Millions of Dollrs $0.0 $0K $5K $10K $15K $20K $25K Hourly Downtime Cost in Thousnds of Dollrs Quntifying the Totl Cost of Ownership of RISC-bsed Clusters 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. Published with permission from TechWise Reserch, Inc. Unuthorized use is strictly prohibited. Sun IBM 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 10
Detiled Findings: Relibility-Adjusted TM for Configurtion #2 The second cluster configurtion studied involved the rx3600, Three-Yer Relibility-Adjusted TM Cluster Configurtion #2 - Hourly Downtime Rte of $25,000 IBM 520Q Express, nd Sun Sun- Fire V445 servers. The chrt to the right summrizes the Three- Sun V445 $1,049 Yer Relibility-Adjusted TM for these three clusters. A higher hourly downtime rte of $25,000 IBM 520Q $891 Express ws used for these clusters. As seen before, OpenVMS Integrity clusters hve the lowest rx3600 $421. 's is $628,000 less thn Sun Solris Sun-Fire $0 $500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 clusters nd $470,000 less in Thousnds of Dollrs thn IBM AIX System p5 Quntifying the Totl Cost of Ownership of RISC-bsed Clusters 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. Published with permission from TechWise Reserch, Inc. Unuthorized use is strictly prohibited. clusters three-yer period. The chrt below hs hs $628,000 $628,000 dvntge dvntge Sun, Sun, nd nd $470,000 $470,000 dvntge dvntge IBM. IBM. summrizes the three-yer Relibility-Adjusted TM for these three clusters studied t vrious hourly downtime rtes. Compred to Configurtion #1, these clusters hve higher cquisition nd service costs. However, despite the higher cquisition costs, the findings re little chnged thnks to the impct mngement nd downtime costs hve on. Three-Yer for Cluster Configurtion #2 Integrity rx3600, IBM System p5 520Q Express, & Sun Sun-Fire V445 in Millions of Dollrs $2.0 $1.5 $1.0 $0.5 $0.0 $0K $10K $20K $30K $40K $50K Hourly Downtime Cost in Thousnds of Dollrs Quntifying the Totl Cost of Ownership of RISC-bsed Clusters 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. Published with permission from TechWise Reserch, Inc. Unuthorized use is strictly prohibited. Sun IBM Agin, t ll downtime rtes the OpenVMS rx3600 cluster hs the lowest of the three brnds studied. In this scenrio, Sun Solris V445 clusters bet IBM AIX 520Q Express clusters for second plce in situtions where downtime costs re below $10,000 per hour. At higher downtime rtes IBM's Avilbility Advntge Sun mkes their clusters less expensive thn Sun. In situtions where there re no costs ssocited with downtime, the differences between the three clusters is reltively smll t $164,000. This figure includes ll cquisition, set-up, nd mngement costs. As downtime costs increse, the difference between the brnds grows to s much s $1.2 million. In this configurtion, the system cost (hrdwre, softwre, nd service contrct) for ll three brnds is pproximtely $100,000. Another wy to look t these findings is tht for every $5,000 in hourly downtime costs, compnies cn sve enough money with the OpenVMS rx3600 cluster to purchse nother two-node cluster complete with three-yer service contrct. 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 11
Detiled Findings: Relibility-Adjusted TM for Configurtion #3 Three-Yer Relibility-Adjusted TM Cluster Configurtion #3 - Hourly Downtime Rte of $50,000 Sun V490 IBM 550Q Express rx6600 $712 $1,454 $1,913 $0 $500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 $2,500 in Thousnds of Dollrs Quntifying the Totl Cost of Ownership of RISC-bsed Clusters 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. Published with permission from TechWise Reserch, Inc. Unuthorized use is strictly prohibited. Express cluster. hs hs $1,201,000 $1,201,000 dvntge dvntge Sun, Sun, nd nd $742,000 $742,000 dvntge dvntge IBM. IBM. The chrt to the left summrizes the Three-Yer Relibility- Adjusted TM for Configurtion #3. Given tht this configurtion involves more expensive midrnge systems, these findings were clculted using higher hourly downtime rte of $50,000. As with the other two cluster configurtions, OpenVMS Integrity clusters hve the lowest. The three-yer of the OpenVMS rx6600 cluster is $1.2 million less thn the Sun Solris V490 cluster nd $0.7 million less thn the IBM AIX 550Q The chrt to the right summrizes the three-yer Relibility-Adjusted TM for these three mid-rnge clusters t vrious hourly downtime rtes. These three clusters hve very similr cquisition costs s the differences between them re less thn $100,000. However, s the cost per hour of downtime increses, there is significnt difference in their three-yer. As with the other two configurtions studied, the OpenVMS rx6600 cluster hs the lowest no mtter wht hourly downtime cost is used. Three-Yer for Cluster Configurtion #3 Integrity rx6600, IBM System p5 550Q Express, & Sun Sun-Fire V490 in Millions of Dollrs $3.0 $2.0 $1.0 $0.0 $0K $15K $30K $45K $60K $75K Hourly Downtime Cost in Thousnds of Dollrs Quntifying the Totl Cost of Ownership of RISC-bsed Clusters 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. Published with permission from TechWise Reserch, Inc. Unuthorized use is strictly prohibited. In virtully ll cses, IBM's AIX 550Q Express cluster hs the next lowest followed by Sun's Solris V490 cluster. At the highest downtime rte nlyzed, $75,000 per hour, the Sun Solris V490's is more thn triple the of the OpenVMS rx6600 cluster while IBM's AIX 550Q Express cluster costs more thn double the OpenVMS rx6600 cluster. 's dvntge IBM nd Sun with these clusters will only get bigger s the cost per hour of downtime increses. Sun IBM 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 12
Detiled Findings: Relibility-Adjusted TM for Configurtion #4 The finl configurtion studied Three-Yer Relibility-Adjusted includes mid-rnge systems tht TM Cluster Configurtion #4 - Hourly Downtime Rte of $100,000 re one step below enterprise clss. All three clusters, the OpenVMS rx7640, IBM AIX 570, Sun E4900 $4,578 nd Sun Solris E4900 hve cquisition costs exceeding $1 million. Certinly these milliondollr clusters re usully IBM 570 $3,338 deployed in instnces where downtime is importnt. For this reson, TechWise used rx7640 $1,806 $100,000 hourly downtime rte when clculting the Three-Yer $0 $1,000 $2,000 $3,000 $4,000 $5,000 Relibility-Adjusted TM shown in the chrt to the right. The OpenVMS rx7640 in Thousnds of Dollrs Quntifying the Totl Cost of Ownership of RISC-bsed Clusters 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. Published with permission from TechWise Reserch, Inc. Unuthorized use is strictly prohibited. hs hs $2.8 $2.8 million million dvntge dvntge Sun, Sun, nd nd $1.5 $1.5 million million dvntge dvntge IBM. IBM. cluster hs three-yer tht is $2.8 million less thn the Sun Solris E4900 cluster nd $1.5 million less thn the IBM AIX 570 cluster. Three-Yer for Cluster Configurtion #4 Integrity rx7640, IBM System p5 570, & Sun Sun-Fire E4900 in Millions of Dollrs $5.0 $4.0 $3.0 $2.0 $1.0 $0.0 $0K $20K $40K $60K $80K $100K Hourly Downtime Cost in Thousnds of Dollrs Quntifying the Totl Cost of Ownership of RISC-bsed Clusters 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. Published with permission from TechWise Reserch, Inc. Unuthorized use is strictly prohibited. Sun IBM 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 13 The chrt to the left summrizes the three-yer Relibility- Adjusted TM for these "million-dollr clusters" t vrious hourly downtime rtes. This chrt shows tht for some clusters t higher downtime rtes the cquisition costs cn represent less thn 25% of the totl. The differences in cquisition costs re gretest in this configurtion. There is nerly $500,000 difference between Sun nd. However, unlike ll previous studies conducted by TechWise, the cluster is less expensive thn the Sun cluster in terms of system nd service pricing. In ll previous studies the OpenVMS cluster consisted of AlphServers which tended to hve higher system prices thn IBM nd Sun. trnsitioned its OpenVMS business from AlphServer to Integrity. One of the resons for this trnsition ws to be more price competitive with Sun nd IBM. It is cler from the bove tht hs met this gol with this configurtion. 's significnt dvntge Sun (nd IBM too) only grows s downtime costs increse. In this configurtion it cn be sid tht choosing the OpenVMS rx7640 cluster IBM AIX 570 cluster nd Sun Solris E4900 cluster cn sve compnies millions of dollrs the long-term.
Differences between Short nd Long-Term Evlutions The nlyses on the previous pges show how three-yer vries depending on the cluster configurtion nd the costs incurred per hour of downtime. A three-yer period ws chosen for severl resons. First, mnufcturers offer three yer service contrcts when purchsing new server cluster. These service contrcts cn be extended, of course. Out of wrrnty support costs, however, re more difficult to obtin nd frequently chnge. In ddition, it is difficult to predict wht mnufcturers will chrge four yers in the future for service for server purchsed tody. The second reson for choosing three yers is tht TechWise hs seen in pst studies tht fter three yers mny compnies hve chnged the number nd/or types of servers in their cluster. Not ll compnies, however, look beyond the first yer or two when compring server clusters on cost nd. TechWise Reserch conducted dditionl nlysis on Cluster Configurtion #3 to see how vries time. It is interesting to note tht when simply looking t cquisition costs (purchse price plus service contrct), the reltive pricing between the OpenVMS Integrity, IBM AIX System p5, nd Sun Solris Sun-Fire clusters is not lwys the sme. In Configurtion #1 IBM hs the lowest cquisition costs followed by Sun then. In Configurtions #2 nd #3, IBM hs the lowest cquisition costs followed by then Sun. In Configurtion #4 hs the lowest cquisition cost followed by IBM nd Sun. The chrt to the right shows how the for Cluster Configurtion #3 chnges time. A $25,000 per hour downtime cost ws used in this nlysis. At the time of purchse the only costs incurred re cquisition nd strt-up costs. The IBM AIX 550Q Express cluster is more thn 20% less expensive thn the OpenVMS rx6600 nd Sun Solris V490 clusters. This sitution chnges, however, fter one yer of mngement nd downtime costs is included in the nlysis. After one yer, the OpenVMS rx6600 cluster's is 20% Cumultive for Configurtion #3 by Yer Integrity rx6600, IBM System p5 550Q Express, & Sun Sun-Fire V490 in Thousnds of Dollrs $1,500 $1,000 $500 $0 $301 $332 $235 Using Using $25,000 $25,000 per per hour hour downtime downtime rte. rte. $486 $389 $621 $477 $738 $910 $565 $989 Purchse Yer 1 Yer 2 Yer 3 Yer from Purchse Dte $1,198 Quntifying the Totl Cost of Ownership of RISC-bsed Clusters 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. Published with permission from TechWise Reserch, Inc. Unuthorized use is strictly prohibited. rx6600 IBM 550Q Sun V490 lower thn the IBM AIX 550Q Express cluster nd 37% lower thn the Sun Solris V490 cluster. These differences become more pronounced fter two yers where 's is 35% nd 48% lower thn IBM's nd Sun's, respectively. This nlysis shows the dnger of looking strictly t cquisition costs when evluting clusters on finncil perspective. Bsed on cquisition costs it ppers tht the IBM cluster will cost 20% less thn nd Sun. After one yer the IBM cluster still does cost 20% less thn Sun. However, the cluster costs 20% less thn the IBM cluster. As shown before, looking strictly t cquisition costs cn gretly misled compnies bout the true costs of owning cluster. 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 14
Conclusion This study focused on the three-yer totl cost of ownership for three different server clusters: OpenVMS Integrity, IBM AIX System p5, nd Sun Solris Sun-Fire clusters. Four different costs were fctored into this nlysis including the cquisitions costs, strt-up costs (i.e., trining nd instlltion), mngement, nd downtime costs. Most of the clcultions were bsed on three-yer time period. The cluster configurtions used in the nlysis were selected to represent the mnufcturers' entry-level nd midrnge product lines. Four different cluster configurtions were nlyzed. Comprble server models from ech mnufcturer were selected to use for the nlysis (see section entitled Configurtions Anlyzed). Acquisition costs lone, nmely the list prices of the cluster nd relted service greements, represent only portion of the true Totl Cost of Ownership. Mngement costs, which include ny fees pid to externl prties nd the time IT stff spends mnging the cluster on n ongoing bsis, re significnt contributors to. However, in mny cses the most importnt driver of is relted to vilbility. Every compny hs different costs ssocited with n hour of downtime. Respondents reported tht their verge cost per hour of downtime ws $145,000. Nerly hlf indicted tht their cost per hour of downtime is $10,000 or greter. In situtions where downtime costs re not trivil, downtime costs re the single biggest fctor of. Given the impct of downtime costs, the Relibility-Adjusted TM ws clculted for ech of the four cluster configurtions t severl different hourly downtime rtes. This wy, reders hve the bility to pply the results to their compny's unique sitution by selecting the pproprite hourly downtime rte. Downtime hours were nlyzed for five different cuses of downtime. When ll five cuses of downtime re considered, OpenVMS Integrity clusters verged the fewest totl number of nnul downtime hours (1.96), followed by IBM AIX System p5 clusters (6.21), then by Sun Solris Sun-Fire clusters (9.53). cluster's hve significnt Avilbility Advntge TM IBM nd Sun. Much of this dvntge is thnks to the relibility of OpenVMS. Isolting crshes cused by operting system nd clustering softwre showed tht OpenVMS verges only 0.19 hours of downtime compred to 4.36 hours for IBM AIX/HACMP nd 4.97 hours for Sun Solris/Sun Cluster. For ll four configurtions studied, OpenVMS Integrity clusters offer the lowest regrdless of the cost ssocited with n hour of downtime. This represents chnge from pst studies where Sun clusters offered the lowest when there re no costs ssocited with downtime. 's emergence s the cler leder in in ll scenrios is thnks to their trnsition from AlphServer to Integrity. The Integrity servers hve much lower cquisition cost thn the AlphServers they replce. This study showed tht despite the lower price point, Integrity servers re every bit s relible s AlphServers. OpenVMS Integrity servers offer the combintion of low cquisition costs nd best-in-clss relibility. These two fctors contribute to 's ledership. In ll but Configurtion #4, Sun Solris Sun-Fire clusters offer lower thn IBM AIX System p5 clusters t low downtime hourly rtes. Once the cost per hour of downtime exceeds certin level, IBM's better relibility compred to Sun gives IBM lower thn Sun. Cluster Configurtion #4 represents the lrgest systems studied in this pper. These clusters, which re one step below enterprise-clss clusters, hve price tgs $1 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 15
million. In this configurtion, Sun clusters hve the highest regrdless of the cost per hour of downtime. The differences in between these three cluster brnds cn be quite significnt. Over three-yer period the cost of owning one brnd of cluster my be hundreds of thousnds of dollrs less thn nother brnd. The OpenVMS Integrity clusters consistently offered the lowest. Applying typicl hourly rtes for downtime costs, OpenVMS Integrity cluster's cost between $290,000 nd $1.5 million less thn IBM AIX System p5 clusters three-yer period. Similrly, 's dvntge Sun rnges from $254,000 to $2.8 million three yers. Severl fctors outside the scope of this study re lso importnt in the purchse decision for entry-level nd mid-rnge clusters. These include cluster performnce, softwre fetures, ppliction vilbility, nd qulity of service nd support. However, when compring clusters from finncil perspective, it is criticl tht IT mngers fctor in mngement costs s well s the cost of downtime when clculting the. TechWise Reserch is n independent primry mrket reserch firm tht specilizes in the computer industry. If you hve ny questions regrding this reserch, plese contct us t: 2007@TechWise-Reserch.com. AlphServer, Integrity, nd OpenVMS re trdemrks of Hewlett-Pckrd. System p5, AIX, nd HACMP re trdemrks of IBM. Sun-Fire, Solris, nd Sun Cluster re trdemrks of Sun Microsystems. Intel nd Itnium re trdemrks of Intel. Relibility-Adjusted, Avilbility Advntge, nd TechWise re trdemrks of TechWise Reserch. For more informtion bout TechWise Reserch, visit our website t: http://www.techwise-reserch.com. 2007, TechWise Reserch, Inc. 2007 Pge 16