IBM Power System E950 (9040-MR9) Technical Product Summary

The IBM Power System E950 (9040-MR9) is an enterprise-class, 4-socket 4U rack server powered by IBM POWER9 processors. Designed for mid-to-large enterprise data centers, it delivers exceptional compute density, memory bandwidth, and scalability for data-intensive workloads, in-memory databases (such as SAP HANA), and enterprise cloud deployments.

1. Executive Specifications

Feature	Specification Details
Machine Type / Model	9040-MR9
Form Factor	4U Rack-mount enclosure
Processor Technology	2 to 4 IBM POWER9 Single Chip Modules (SCM)
Maximum Cores	Up to 48 cores per system (SMT8 per core)
Memory Capacity	128 GB minimum to 16 TB maximum DDR4
Memory Bandwidth	Up to 230 GB/s per processor socket
Internal Storage	8 x 2.5″ SFF SAS HDD/SSD bays + 4 x NVMe U.2 bays
I/O Expansion	Up to 10 PCIe Gen4 slots + 1 PCIe Gen3 slot (System Unit)
Virtualization	Built-in IBM PowerVM Hypervisor
Supported OS	IBM AIX, Linux (RHEL, SLES)

2. Detailed Technical Specifications

Processor & Compute

• Processor Architecture: IBM POWER9 architecture featuring Simultaneous Multithreading up to 8 threads per core (SMT8).

• Processor Configurations:

  • 8-Core Modules: Up to 32 cores per system (Typical 3.6 – 3.8 GHz max).

  • 10-Core Modules: Up to 40 cores per system (Typical 3.4 – 3.8 GHz max).

  • 11-Core Modules: Up to 44 cores per system (Typical 3.2 – 3.8 GHz max).

  • 12-Core Modules: Up to 48 cores per system (Typical 3.15 – 3.8 GHz max).

• Socket Population: Minimum of 2 processor modules installed (installed in pairs); scalable to 4 processor modules.

Memory Architecture

• Capacity: 128 GB to 16 TB using Industry Standard DDR4 ISDIMMs.

• DIMM Slots:

  • 2-Processor configuration: 64 ISDIMM slots.

  • 4-Processor configuration: 128 ISDIMM slots.

• DIMM Capacities Supported: 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB, and 128 GB DDR4 1600 MHz ECC ISDIMMs.

• L4 Cache: Up to 128 MB Off-Chip eDRAM L4 Cache per SCM module.

• Advanced Memory Features: Active Memory Expansion (AME), Active Memory Mirroring (AMM) for Hypervisor.

Storage & I/O Subsystem

• Internal Drive Bays:

  • 8 x Small Form Factor (SFF 2.5-inch) SAS bays for HDDs or SSDs driven by integrated PCIe3 SAS RAID controllers (#EJ0K).

  • 4 x NVMe U.2 drive bays for high-speed local solid-state storage.

• External Storage Expansion:

  • Supports up to 1,536 additional SFF-2 bays with up to 64 EXP24SX or EXP12SX I/O drawers.

• PCIe Slots:

  • Up to 8 x PCIe Gen4 x16 slots.

  • Up to 2 x PCIe Gen4 x8 slots.

  • 1 x PCIe Gen3 x8 slot (reserved for default Ethernet adapter).

  • Scalable up to 48 additional PCIe slots using external PCIe I/O Expansion Drawers.

• USB Ports: 2 x USB 3.0 front ports, 2 x USB 3.0 rear ports.

Operating Systems & Virtualization

• Built-in Virtualization: IBM PowerVM Enterprise Edition included by default, supporting Micro-Partitioning, Live Partition Mobility (LPM), and Dynamic LPAR allocation.

• Supported Operating Systems:

  • IBM AIX 7.1, 7.2, or later.

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES).

3. Physical, Electrical & Environmental Specs

Physical Dimensions

• Width: 448 mm (17.6 in)

• Depth: 902 mm (35.5 in)

• Height: 175 mm (6.9 in) — 4 EIA Units (4U)

• Weight: ~69 kg (152 lb)

Power Supplies & Electrical

• Power Supply Units: 4 x Redundant Hot-swap Power Supply Units (IEC 320 C20 inlet).

• Input Voltage: 200 to 240 V AC at 50 or 60 Hz (Single Phase).

• Maximum Power Consumption: 4,220 W (4.3 kVA).

• Maximum Thermal Output: 14,403 BTU/hr.

Operating Environment

• ASHRAE Class: A2 (Fourth edition)

• Operating Temperature: Recommended 18.0°C – 27.0°C (64.4°F – 80.6°F); Allowable 10.0°C – 35.0°C (50.0°F – 95.0°F).

• Airflow: Front-to-back.