IBM’s Power11 servers are set to deliver enormous bandwidth for AI workloads. In addition, a 99.9999 percent uptime promise and zero need for planned downtime comprise the main promises around IBM’s latest enterprise hardware.
The new servers include on-chip AI acceleration for inference workloads, delivering on an enormous bandwidth far exceeding what x86-based systems deliver. To put some numbers on the page: bandwidth per socket is up to 1,200 GB/s, far beyond Epyc 9004’s 460 GB/s and Intel’s Xeon 6’s top speed of 614 GB/s.
Scalable performance
This positions Power11 as IBM’s first server platform designed from the ground up for AI workloads. The company notes that the architecture can scale to handle mission-critical AI applications through integration with Red Hat OpenShift AI and various open-source toolkits.
Power11 will support IBM’s Spyre Accelerator, a system-on-chip specifically designed for AI inference tasks, when it becomes available in Q4 2025. According to IBM’s roadmap, watsonx.data will be available on Power11 before year’s end, while watsonx Code Assistant for i will help developers extend existing RPG applications.
99.9999% uptime promise
IBM positions Power11 as its most resilient server platform yet. The promise for Power10 revolved around a 99.999 percent uptime, allowing for ten times more unforeseen outages. Even then, the allowance is miniscule: run these machines for a year without pause and they are allowed to experience a downtime of less than an hour.
The zero planned downtime capability, on the other hand, relies on autonomous patching and automated workload movement technologies. These features allow maintenance operations to proceed without taking critical applications offline, IBM explains. The company suggests this could free IT teams from routine maintenance planning to focus on innovation. This is the typical play. Usually, this maintenance reduction just ends up saving money.
Power11 also integrates IBM Power Cyber Vault, which IBM claims can detect ransomware threats in under one minute. The system uses NIST-approved quantum-safe cryptography and provides automated responses to cyber threats through proactive immutable snapshots.
Given Power11 will likely be supported into the quantum computer era (assuming current estimates are correct, it being 2030-2035ish), this quantum resilience is a necessary addition. Of course, it will have to actually be proven in the real world at some point. IBM also builds quantum chips, so they might be the first to find out the security of this type of cryptography anyway.
Performance gains and energy efficiency
IBM claims Power11 delivers up to 55 percent better core performance compared to Power10 systems, which launched back in 2021. The servers also offer up to 45 percent more capacity through higher core counts in entry and mid-range configurations. Add both of them up as well as a large budget, and your organization will have far more scale on the same footprint than before.
Even when utilizing the same workloads, there’s a big bonus to be had. The company emphasizes energy efficiency improvements, stating Power11 provides twice the performance per watt versus comparable x86 servers. A new Energy Efficient Mode delivers up to 28 percent better server efficiency compared to Maximum Performance Mode on the same hardware.
For the first time, IBM is launching high-end, mid-range, and entry servers simultaneously alongside IBM Power Virtual Server in IBM Cloud. This unified approach represents a departure from IBM’s traditional staggered release strategy.
Customer perspectives
Some early adopters have already had their hands on the new hardware. William Allarey from GuideWell expressed interest in the automated maintenance capabilities, noting they could help maintain server security and stability without planned downtime.
Jasmine Kaczmarek from MR Williams said the company’s AI capabilities, stating that watsonx Code Assistant helped her complete a task in 20 minutes that previously required six hours. In other words: an 18x improvement.
While IBM presents these customer testimonials as evidence of Power11’s capabilities, the real-world performance will of course depend on implementation and specific use cases across different enterprise environments. We suspect an 10x+ gain is a little fanciful.
Broader enterprise context
Power11 may yet arrive at a great time for big sales. Enterprises are facing increasing pressure to modernize their infrastructure for AI workloads. IDC predicts one billion new logical applications will hit the globe by 2028, creating complexity challenges that IBM hopes to address through simplified operations.
The platform targets organizations in banking, healthcare, retail, and government sectors, which are traditional IBM Power strongholds. These sectors often run mission-critical, data-intensive workloads that require high availability and security.