IBM also introduced a new line of System x servers based on the second generation of IBM's Xtended Design Architecture (XDA), said Stuart McRae, Worldwide Manager for IBM System x. The new systems, including the x3650, x3550 and x3500, feature the latest in dual-core processor technology and three times the memory expansion of earlier systems, IBM said.

"Our dual-core announcement of Intel is not specific news for us, but it's a tremendous performance opportunity for customers," McRae said. "So, for us we're excited because the new platforms deliver 90 percent better application performance and 74 percent better performance per watt. Power cooling is the No. 1 challenge for customers' data center environments -- the more servers they pack in, the hotter they are. So their pain point is really moved to getting enough actual electricity and cooling to the servers in the data center."

The introduction of IBM PowerExecutive onto the mainstream dual-socket servers is also important, McRae said. IBM PowerExecutive, an extension to IBM Director systems management software, allows clients to "meter" actual power usage and trend data for any single physical system or group of systems. Developed by IBM Research, PowerExecutive utilizes IBM-developed monitoring circuitry to determine how much power is being used and the temperature of the system. The software is available across the System x servers introduced today, as well as IBM's BladeCenter line of systems.

"PowerExecutive is all about managing the power consumption of your server resources -- getting good information and allowing customers for the first time ever on a day-to-day basis to know how much power their servers are consuming and then giving them the ability to control the amount of power their servers are consuming," he said. "Think of it as a cruise control for the power consumption of servers. Customers will be able to set the maximum power consumption for their servers and then PowerExecutive will manage the power ... so if its set to 400 watts per server that server will never consume more than 400 watts."

Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group Inc. in Beaverton, Ore. said the most interesting piece of IBM's news is the PowerExecutive.