RE: Rebranding

[Lurton Keel <LKeel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here are the new brands IBM has chosen for its eserver lineup:
iSeries-This name, which has also been used to promote certain ThinkPad
laptop models, covers what used to be called the AS/400. The name will be
backcast to Model 270 and 8XX servers, which use IBM's copper-based PowerPC
processors. IBM has added a copper-colored stripe for the iSeries, as well
as a new nameplate for the little black boxes. IBM says that the "i" in
iSeries stands for "integration" and "innovation," two of the hallmarks of
the former AS/400 line and the current iSeries line. IBM is also stressing
that the iSeries is a flexible machine in that it can support Java, TCP/IP,
Windows 2000 (through the Integrated xSeries Server), and a slew of
standards today and will support Linux and other emerging standards
tomorrow.
pSeries-IBM is combining RS/6000 and NUMA-Q UNIX server lines under a single
brand; these machines will continue to use distinct processor
technologies-PowerPC, Power3, and Power4 for the RS/6000 and Intel IA-32 and
IA-64 chips for the NUMA-Qs-and will gradually merge operating systems as
IBM introduces AIX-5L, formerly known as Monterey/64, next year. The "p" in
pSeries stands for "performance."
xSeries-Formerly known as the Netfinity PC server line-Netfinity was a brand
name IBM acquired when it bought Tivoli Systems-IBM's Intel-based PC server
line is now the xSeries. The "x" refers to IBM's X-Architecture initiative,
whereby technologies developed for S/390, AS/400, and RS/6000 servers have
been gradually ported to the Intel hardware platform.
zSeries-Say goodbye to the historical "System" in an IBM product brand name.
The venerable System/390--heir to the Enterprise System/9000, the Enterprise
System/3090, the System/370, and the grandfather of all mainframes, the
System/360--is now simply the zSeries. The "z" in zSeries refers to "zero
downtime," something that an S/390, with the appropriate logical
partitioning and Parallel Sysplex clustering technology activated,
approaches very closely.
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