News - Built on Power

If you already have access to IBM Power hardware for your development efforts, great! But if not, we’ve compiled this list of IBM Power cloud, emulation, and on-prem options to help you get access to the development tools and resources you need to get started.

We’ll update the list as new resources become available. So, bookmark this page and check back often.

Cloud environments

This section provides details about the cloud environments that can enable you to get started.

IBM Power Virtual Server

IBM Power Virtual Server is a hosted infrastructure offering that allows you to quickly create one or more Power virtual machines (VMs) and deploy the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform for cloud-native development and app modernization. After you create your account, you’ll have access to an extensive container ecosystem for Power and IBM Cloud services.

Learn more and get pricing information.
Learn how to get started with Power Virtual Server.
Complete the series: Deploy OpenShift Container Platform on Power Virtual Server.

IBM Technology Zone for Systems

The IBM Technology Zone for Systems provides a user friendly, self-service portal with a robust catalog of IBM Power offerings for developing, porting, and functional testing on the platform, including Red Hat OpenShift on Power.

Maximum duration: Two weeks (extendable for an additional two weeks upon request).
Cost: Free, but you need to be an IBM PartnerWorld member for access.

Here is a quick reference list of available collections:

AIX, IBM i, and Linux Base Images
On-Prem Spectrum Scale on Power
OpenShift on Power Virtual Server
On-Prem OpenShift on Power and IBM Z Multi-Tenant Environments

Oregon State University – Open Source Lab

In partnership with IBM, the Open Source Lab (OSL) and the Center for Quantitative Life Sciences (CQLS) provide access to IBM Power processor-based servers for developing and testing open source projects. There are two clusters available, and access is free to qualified open source developers. A variety of Linux distributions are available.

The OpenStack (non-GPU) based cluster offers Power little endian (LE) instances running on kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) with access via Secure Shell (SSH) and/or through OpenStack’s API and GUI interface. This environment is one the best options for functional development and continuous integration (CI) work via the managed Jenkins service hosted on the cluster or as a node incorporated into an external continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline. Register for one or more GitHub repositories on the Jenkins server and configure the build process and the environment as needed.

Learn more
Request access to OpenStack cluster
Request access to Jenkins Power CI

The GPU-based acceleration cluster offers IBM Power8 and Power9 servers with NVIDIA P100/V100 GPUs connected via NVLink. This cluster is hosted by the CQLS.

Request access to GPU-based cluster

OpenPOWER Foundation hub providers

The OpenPOWER hub providers, listed below, provide free access to OpenPOWER hardware for development and testing on the platform. Each provider has specific configurations available. Choose the one that works best for your needs.

Oregon State University – Open Source Lab
Available resources: VM, Container, GPU
Request access

University of Oregon Exascale Computing Center
Available resource: VM, Container, GPU
Request access

Raptor IntegriCloud (USA)
Available resources: VM, Container
Request access

VanTosh OpenPOWER Hub (Belgium)
Available resources: VM, Container
Request access

Emulation methods

This section describes the various methods that you can use to emulate an IBM power environment.

QEMU

QEMU is a sophisticated emulation environment that allows you to run ppc64le applications or entire Linux on Power operating systems – from anywhere. Packages for QEMU emulation of IBM Power (ppc64le) are available with latest versions of Ubuntu, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), and Red Hat Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL). Learn more:

Run a full-system Linux on Power environment from Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows Subsystem for … containerized Linux on Power?

IBM Power Functional Simulator

Like QEMU, the Power Functional Simulator can emulate a Power system, allowing you to run complete Linux on Power operating systems on an x86 system. Power Functional Simulator can run the complete software stack, from firmware upwards. Learn more about the Power Function Simulator for:

Power10
Power9
Power8

On-prem hardware discount for ISVs

The IBM Hardware Mall discount offering is exclusively for qualified IBM independent software vendors (ISVs) and can be used for acquiring on-prem systems for developing, porting, and testing on the latest IBM Power systems and IBM Storage.

Notes:

ISV must be a PartnerWorld member to apply (any level)
This program is not available in all countries
Prices and discounts vary by country
Learn more

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Category: News

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Accelerate your open source development with access to IBM Power resources