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IBM Power Systems vs Oracle SPARC Servers comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 22, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Power Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.5
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Oracle SPARC Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 9.1%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle SPARC Servers is 3.8%, down from 4.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Omobolaji Olaloku - PeerSpot reviewer
Extremely stable, good ROI, and scalable
The most valuable feature of our machines is their ability to replace faulty parts without causing any downtime. Our servers are equipped with advanced technology, making it possible to replace defective parts without having to bring down the servers. This is crucial, as any disruption to our services would result in inconvenience to our customers. Therefore, being able to service the machines and replace parts without causing any downtime is highly beneficial.
Abdul-Salam - PeerSpot reviewer
A rock-solid OS and rich virtualization features for hosting many VMs on one box
Oracle doesn't have a good roadmap for the solution because they are moving to the x86 platform. Oracle is focusing on the cloud platform with a PCA and standard x86 architecture. Linux is their other OS and is mostly in the cloud. We don't see much development happening on Solaris even though it came as an acquisition from Sun Microsystems. Eventually, the solution and its platform will die because there has been no new development on the Solaris end and we haven't seen new servers in the last five years. At this point, we are pretty sure there is no real roadmap or future for the solution. There is a shortage of expert engineers because Oracle is not pushing the technology. It is hard for us to find engineers because the number of people supporting us has considerably reduced.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"From a reliability standpoint it has provided us with excellent performance."
"Power Systems' best features include its user-friendliness and self-checking/self-healing abilities."
"What we like the most is the ability to upgrade the scaling of the system itself. Whenever we need extra storage, we can do that. Whenever we need extra memory, we can do that as well. It's fast and it's available."
"Some of the most valuable features are the processing power, stability, and security."
"Active Memory Expansion allows you to compress your memory on the run time to allow you to have less physical memory available, but provision more memory to your partitions, as everything will be compressed on the fly."
"The performance is the solution's most valuable asset. It has one of the highest levels of performance I have ever seen. It's quite remarkable, in that sense."
"Power Systems is like a dream solution for every IT person because it has redundancy, and it doesn't stop. It doesn't get affected easily. I don't see any weaknesses in this solution. At the moment, we have Power8. It is stable and runs smoothly. We have a big load, and it is working very well. It can be customized based on our needs. Flash copy is helping us amazingly. We have virtualization for vDisks, which is again very helpful. We are working on this virtualization technology, and we have a team that is working on redundancy and architecture."
"The initial setup is simple and straightforward."
"The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that Oracle Database functions very well with Oracle SPARC Servers."
"The processor is very helpful and the licensing is very flexible."
"The operating system is rock solid and the best I have ever used."
"The Oracle server is very powerful. They are more powerful and durable compared to Intel hardware. Which has been a benefit to our organization."
"I have found the LDAP facilities most valuable. In addition, I like the CPU."
"The performance is the best feature."
"Our customers are happy with many features in Oracle SPARC Servers, like the automatic ASR feature."
 

Cons

"Technical support and documentation need to be improved."
"Everyone likes speed. Not that speed has been an issue up until now but you can never be too fast."
"IBM systems are old technologies. I couldn't renew and get to use IBM Power Systems, and it offers users very expensive support."
"IBM Power Systems could improve by having a cloud feature."
"IBM should provide a platform where users can learn about the storage and security of IBM Power Systems."
"I would like to see the scaling model improved so it's not just either tiny or huge."
"Power Systems' price could always be lower."
"I would like to see IBM Power Systems integrate with all cloud types."
"The solution could improve by giving a clear roadmap about the future. I'm not seeing a lot of improvements on the OS side of the software. They need to work more on the operating system."
"They need some sort of modeling because IBM has different types of models."
"Oracle doesn't have a good roadmap for the solution because they are moving to the x86 platform."
"They have declared the end of life of the hardware."
"I would like to see a reduced price point."
"Like IBM, Oracle SPARC Servers should be able to run other open operating systems like Linux."
"Oracle SPARC Servers should be fine-tuned well enough to work with the other servers and software products in the market, as it is an area where Oracle SPARC Servers lack."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Power Systems is very cheap and provides good value for money."
"The price of IBM Power Systems is expensive and could improve."
"I give the cost a one out of ten."
"Its price depends on the sizing."
"Power Systems is a bit more costly than other products in the market, but in terms of ROI and the longevity, performance, and reliability that Power Systems provides, it's worth it in the long run."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"IBM Power Systems is very expensive."
"IBM Power Systems is a really expensive product."
"The application running on it is very important to us and this makes the price worth it."
"The hardware is expensive but it has very rich virtualization features that make it economical."
"Oracle SPARC Servers are expensive to manage, this is because after five years Oracle will increase the support charges for the hardware. The licensing policy for Oracle is different for Intel and Sparc. It will cost you less if you use your Oracle hardware with Oracle SPARC Servers."
"The licensing is flexible."
"My company makes yearly payments toward the licensing costs attached to the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
25%
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Power Systems?
IBM Power Systems provides very good performance and stability compared to other brands or processors.
What needs improvement with IBM Power Systems?
IBM should provide a platform where users can learn about the storage and security of IBM Power Systems.
What is your primary use case for IBM Power Systems?
In my company, we use the system for the data center and our IBM Cloud Pak System.
What do you like most about Oracle SPARC Servers?
The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that Oracle Database functions very well with Oracle SPARC Servers.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle SPARC Servers?
My company makes yearly payments toward the licensing costs attached to the solution. My company's clients, who have paid for the licensing costs attached to the solution, have also engaged with so...
What needs improvement with Oracle SPARC Servers?
Oracle products are usually fine-tuned with the software of other Oracle products, like Oracle WebLogic Server Services, Oracle Database, and Oracle Core Banking Software and Solutions, as all the ...
 

Also Known As

IBM OpenPOWER LC
No data available
 

Learn More

Video not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cipher
University Hospitals Leuven, B&H Photo, Tuscon Electric Power, IS Nordic, Siemens
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Power Systems vs. Oracle SPARC Servers and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.