Lenovo System x


System x is a line of x86 servers produced by IBM – and later by Lenovo – as a sub-brand of IBM's System brand, alongside IBM Power Systems, IBM System z and IBM System Storage. In addition, IBM System x was the main component of the IBM System Cluster 1350 solution.
In January 2014, IBM announced the sale of its x86 server business to Lenovo for $2.3 billion, in a sale completed October 1, 2014.

History

Starting out as IBM PC Server, rebranded Netfinity, then eServer xSeries and now System x, these servers are distinguished by being based on off-the-shelf x86 CPUs; IBM positions them as their "low end" or "entry" offering.
Previously IBM servers based on AMD Opteron CPUs did not share the xSeries brand; instead they fell directly under the eServer umbrella. However, current AMD Opteron-based servers fall under the System x brand.

IBM PC Server

PC Server range

Not to be confused with a different IBM product with a similar name, NetFinity.

Netfinity range

The numbering scheme started off similar to that of the IBM PC Servers, but additional ranges were added, like the entry-level 1000 model later on. Models ending with an R, are rack-mount.

KVM Cabling scheme

Some Netfinity servers used IBM's C2T cabling scheme for Keyboard/Video/Mouse.

IBM eServer

IBM eServer range

was a marketing effort to put all of the diverse IBM server platforms under one header. The AS/400 became the IBM eServer iSeries, the RS/6000 became the IBM eServer pSeries, the S/390 mainframe became the IBM eServer zSeries and the Intel processor based IBM Netfinity servers became the IBM eServer xSeries.
A few exceptions were however made
For marketing reasons the AMD processor based e325, e326 and e326m and the BladeCenter which supports non-Intel processor products were not branded xSeries, but were instead placed directly under the eServer brand. The xSeries brand was limited to only Intel-based server products.
From a numbering perspective the AMD servers did fit into the xSeries range, under the similar x335 and x336 Intel processor products. These numbers were not re-used in the xSeries range to prevent confusion.

IBM eServer xSeries

xSeries range

Many xSeries servers used IBM's C2T cabling scheme for Keyboard/Video/Mouse.

IBM System x range

These systems are effectively the same as the previous IBM branded models, but with a Lenovo badge.
Lenovo also had its own ThinkServer family of Intel servers. This family is technically less advanced than System x. At the time of this writing, System x is being discontinued and replaced by the Lenovo ThinkSystem family of Intel servers.

Enterprise eX5 architecture

Enterprise X4 architecture

Numbering scheme

2nd digit increments to show capability
3rd digit is a 0 for tower models, and 5 for rack-mount
4th digit is a 0 for Intel processors, and 5 for AMD Opteron.
Models with a T at the end are meant for Telco purposes.

iDataPlex

System x iDataPlex, introduced in 2008, was used by many TOP500 supercomputers, including SuperMUC and Stampede. Other smaller installations included SciNet Consortium's General Purpose Cluster
It is an unusual form-factor in that you have two columns of 19" rack servers side-by-side in a single rack. This rack, unlike traditional racks, however was very shallow which is where the space saving came from for large installations. As such it only supports specially designed shallow servers. It was typically deployed in combination with a Rear Door Heat Exchanger to cool the exhaust heat with water.
It was replaced with IBM NeXtScale in 2014.