The four new servers range from a single-processor system to one that can support up to 64 processors. The systems are priced from US$11,995 for the low-end Model 520 to the million-dollar range for the high-end Model 595, said Jim Herring, director of product management and business operations for the iSeries.

Jean Bozman, an analyst at Framingham, Mass.-based market research company IDC, said users are increasingly using the iSeries to manage networks of iSeries and Windows- and Linux-based xSeries machines.

"What they are doing is leveraging the system management capabilities of this thing and using it to manage multiple Windows workloads," said Bozman.