It’s no secret that the tech world loves its acronyms, and it can be a challenge to keep them all straight, especially when comparing IBM solutions like PowerVS and IBM i.
Have no fear—CloudFirst is here to spell out the differences between these two popular IBM tools, ensuring you can make informed choices and avoid getting lost in the alphabet soup of IT and cybersecurity.
The two solutions we’re covering today are PowerVS and IBM i.
IBM PowerVS (Power Virtual Server) is a cloud infrastructure solution that supports a streamlined cloud adoption experience for IBM i, AIX, and other Power Systems through modern innovations—such as AI—and uses those tools to optimize your data center.
IBM i is an operating system that can run on top of IBM PowerVS, an on-prem server, or other cloud providers such as CloudFirst’s ezHost service.
Though these two solutions can work together, it’s important to understand what they do and how they do it to make sure you have what you need to maintain business continuity and reduce risk when using one or the other (or both!).
Now that you understand the basics of IBM i vs. PowerVS, let’s dig into the other differences that affect why and how you would use them.
Key differences between PowerVS and IBM i
The key differences between PowerVS IBM Cloud and IBM i fall into two main categories:
- type of tool/functions
- use cases/results
What is the difference between cloud infrastructure platforms and operating systems?
As we mentioned, IBM PowerVS is a cloud infrastructure platform; how is that different from an operating system?
According to IBM, a cloud infrastructure platform, or Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), “is a form of cloud computing that delivers on-demand IT infrastructure resources such as servers, virtual machines (VMs), compute, network and storage to consumers.”
Many companies have already moved their infrastructure to the cloud, and those that haven’t are planning their moves. A 2023 McKinsey survey found that enterprises with more than $1B in revenue had about 20% of their workload in the cloud, with plans to more than double that share by 2026.
If you’re on the fence about cloud computing, now is the second best time to stay on pace with the tech landscape to keep from falling behind. The best time was yesterday.
With an IaaS model, a cloud service provider (such as CloudFirst or IBM) maintains and manages physical infrastructure components such as:
- servers
- patching
- networking hardware
At the same time, when you adopt IBM Cloud PowerVS, you remain in control of installing, configuring, and managing your own software applications. That includes security.
PowerVS exists in the virtualization level of your tech stack, which means you are responsible for managing anything on top of that. While it’s not technically bare metal hardware, it’s closer to a physical server than a production-ready solution.
An operating system (OS) is software that, after being loaded into the computer, manages a computer’s resources and controls the flow of information into and from a main processor (the brain of the computer).
IBM i is an OS that’s known for stability, security, and running mission-critical applications like Db2 databases.
The OS handles tasks such as:
- memory management
- control of displays and other input/output peripheral devices (internal or external hardware components that connect to a computer to stretch what it’s capable of)
- networking and file management
Basically, the OS helps applications function smoothly, including providing interfaces for user/computer interactions. A cloud infrastructure platform can provide the servers on top of which operating systems build their processes.
What are the use cases for PowerVS and IBM i?
CloudFirst specializes in helping enterprise companies leverage PowerVS and IBM Power Systems like IBM i. For more information on IBM PowerVS cloud options, please visit Cloud Migration Options: IBM Power Virtual Server or CloudFirst ezHost?
PowerVS is known for streamlining the cloud adoption process. Here’s how it helped a digital information management company called Ricoh USA.
A long-standing customer of Ricoh came to them with a request. This insurance company had two data centers in Europe where Ricoh was managing the insurer’s IBM i applications on IBM Power Servers.
To save costs and increase efficiency, the insurance company planned to shut down its data centers and move its workloads to the cloud.
By leveraging IBM PowerVS Cloud, Ricoh achieved up to 40% in potential savings by eliminating annual data center operating costs for their client, plus four hours of possible reduction in customers’ daily data backup time.
PowerVS also assists with migrating to a hybrid cloud model. This was the case with University of Fukui Hospital, where PowerVS reduced the number of on-premises servers by 70% and lifted operational burdens for staff.
IBM i, on the other hand, is a reliable and trustworthy operating system that runs on Power Systems. It can help with:
- distribution
- logistics
- hospitality management
- government management
- legal case management
- and more
From Costco to FedEx to the United States Department of Defense, IBM i is used widely to handle logistics and manage countless applications.
How do PowerVS and IBM i work together?
CloudFirst makes using multiple tools easier by offering customizable IBM Cloud Support packages, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.
The main perk of using IBM i on PowerVS is, of course, that they come from the same provider and are naturally compatible.
Let’s look at this tech stack in basic terms, written out as: hardware > virtualization > operating system > application.
PowerVS fits into the virtualization layer and IBM i fits into the operating system layer. Virtualization is “a process that allows for more efficient use of physical computer hardware and is the foundation of cloud computing,” according to IBM.
PowerVS and IBM i work together to ensure your system is running as smoothly as possible from the foundation up. Once you build your applications on top of IBM i (and technically on top of PowerVS) you have a pretty well-oiled group of processes.
That means when your company wants to make the switch to the cloud, the process doesn’t have to be messy or expensive.
PowerVS is a cloud-based solution that increases flexibility and allows you to focus on building innovative software solutions for IBM i rather than worrying about managing hardware.
PowerVS can eliminate 100% of your on-prem hardware, so you can avoid paying expensive extended support costs. It also gives you the flexibility to continue building new IBM i software solutions.
These tools are a dynamite dynamic duo. Running IBM i on PowerVS offers flexible configuration options and capabilities that may not be available with other similar services.
Because PowerVS is a pay-as-you-go service, users can plan accordingly and don’t need to pay for more than they need. That, paired with the reliability and duality of IBM i, provides a clear reason for stacking these two tools.
What are the technical perks of adopting PowerVS and/or IBM i?
With CloudFirst’s help, businesses of all sizes can migrate their IBM i workloads to the cloud.
PowerVS from a technical perspective boasts a few main sought-after components, including but not limited to:
- modern global data centers with on-site staff and infrastructure
- configuration variety in system, cores, storage, network, OS, and management
- fast provisioning to get workloads up and running on demand
- essential, cost-free 24-7 customer support in chat and on the phone
- infrastructure customization for things like number of virtual server instances, number of cores, data volume size and type, network interfaces, and amount of memory
It’s important to note that none of this includes security for the applications you put on top of PowerVS. PowerVS itself is secure, but you are responsible for securing and managing any applications from there.
That said, IBM i offers five different levels of security you can choose from to protect your applications.
IBM i also includes:
- full-stack integration
- object-based architecture
- simplified systems management
- cloud deployment options
What are the business perks of adopting PowerVS and/or IBM i?
PowerVS is a budget-friendly option due to its pay-as-you-go payment structure that allows you to grow at your own pace. PowerVS also supports the health of your company through:
- business continuity planning
- data center optimization
- operational excellence
- access to AI via IBM watsonx
The returns from IBM i are well documented. Forrester Consulting reports that clients deploying IBM i on-prem or in the cloud experienced—on average—a 191% return on investment.
IBM i also supports healthy business development through:
- lower total cost of ownership
- secure mission-critical workloads
- flexible licensing
- modernizing application development
- simplified security and availability with new Db2 for IBM i features, options, and tools
CloudFirst can help you manage all those moving pieces (without the headaches)
If you choose to adopt PowerVS and/or IBM i, CloudFirst can help you manage everything from migration to security.
With our IBM i Security solutions, you can build the perfect defense for your mission-critical applications on top of PowerVS once your migration is complete.
CloudFirst is also home to ezAutomate, a single console for all your cloud needs. Request a quote for managed services for your PowerVS deployment today and never worry about another acronym again.
