Power Systems 8203
| Introduced: | August 1, 1997 |
|---|---|
| Discontinued: | August 2, 2002 |
| Architecture: | POWER6 |
| Bus: | PCI, PCIe |
| Minimum OS: | IBM i5/OS V5R4 |
| Maximum OS: | IBM i 7.1 |
The Power Systems 8203 model E4A, also confusingly known as the Power 520, is the first post-merge Power System server. It is capable of running i5/OS, AIX, and Linux simultaneously.
Software Compatibility
The Power Systems 8203 is the final system in which an operating system can be installed bare-metal. However, it is strongly preferred that Logical Partitions and a Hardware Management Controller are used.
If using a Hardware Management Controller, HMC versions x.x.x.x through x.x.x.x must be used.
Hardware
The Power Systems 8203 came with x GB of Main Storage in its base configuration, and could support a maximum of x TB. It can support a maximum of X TB of disk storage across 6 DASD (unprotected), with support for a RAID controller. It can also support more DASD when connected to an Expansion cabinet. The 8203 is the first system to support SAS disks, although it can still use older SCSI disks when placed in an expansion cabinet.
A tape drive was not usually optioned with an 8203, but when one was ordered it was usually an LTO drive.
This is the final machine that can directly drive a twinaxial workstation using the 8-port workstation adapter (FC xxxx). However, the twinaxial workstation adapter cannot be used as the system console, a LAN console must be used.
