{
  "name": "IBM Power7 to Power8/Power9/Power10/Power11 Migration Comparison Dataset",
  "description": "Structured model-tier comparison chain mapping each IBM Power7 model tier through its Power8 and Power9 predecessors-in-sequence to its Power10 and Power11 successors, IBM's currently shipping generation.",
  "sources": [
    "https://www.ibm.com/products/power",
    "https://powersystemsadvisors.com/guides/ibm-power-end-of-life",
    "https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/planning-upgrade-ibm-i-76-hardware"
  ],
  "updated_at": "2026-08-15",
  "table": {
    "caption": "Power7 model tier to current-generation replacement chain",
    "headers": ["Tier", "Your Power7 Model", "→ Power8 Step", "→ Power9 Step", "→ Power10 Step", "→ Power11 Step (current)", "Power7 Lifecycle Status", "Workload Fit"],
    "rows": [
      ["Entry, single-socket (smallest)", "710 / 720 Express (8231-E1x / 8202-E4x)", "S812 (8284-21A)", "S914 (9009-41A)", "S1014 (9105-41B)", "S1112 (9242-21B)", "IBM support ended 2019; IBM i 7.3 support ended 2023", "Branch/edge, smallest IBM i shops"],
      ["Entry, single-socket (mainstream)", "730 / 740 Express (8231-E2B / 8205-E6x)", "S814 (8286-41A)", "S914 / S924", "S1014", "S1112 / S1122", "IBM support ended 2019; IBM i 7.3 support ended 2023", "Small-to-midsized IBM i, AIX, Linux"],
      ["Scale-out, dual-to-4-socket", "750 / 755 / 760 (8233-E8B, 8408-E8D, 9109-RMD)", "S824 (8286-42A)", "S924 (9009-42A)", "S1024", "S1122 / S1124 (9824-22A / 9824-42A)", "IBM support ended 2019-2020; IBM i 7.3 support ended 2023", "Growing IBM i, AIX, Linux consolidation"],
      ["Enterprise, modular mid scale-up", "Power 770 (9117-MMB/MMC/MMD)", "E850 (8408-E8E)", "E950 (9040-MR9)", "E1050", "E1150 (9043-MRU)", "IBM support ended 2019-2020; IBM i 7.3 support ended 2023", "4-node private-cloud consolidation"],
      ["Enterprise, large scale-up", "Power 780 (9179-MHB/MHC/MHD)", "E870 (9119-MME)", "E980 (9080-M9S)", "E1080", "E1180 (9080-HEU)", "IBM support ended 2019-2020; IBM i 7.3 support ended 2023", "Large multi-node enterprise consolidation"],
      ["Enterprise, flagship", "Power 795 (9119-FHB)", "E880 (9119-MHE)", "E980 (9080-M9S)", "E1080", "E1180 (9080-HEU)", "Withdrawn Feb 2015; IBM support ended Dec 2020; IBM i 7.3 support ended 2023", "Largest mission-critical consolidation"]
    ],
    "note": "Power8, Power9, and Power10 are shown as the intermediate steps IBM actually shipped between Power7 and the current Power11 generation. IBM i 7.6, the current release, requires Power10 (firmware FW1060+) or Power11 -- Power9 tops out at IBM i 7.5 and Power8 tops out at IBM i 7.4.",
    "footnote": "Model mappings reflect IBM's published tier structure across generations (entry single-socket, scale-out, and enterprise modular/large/flagship). Confirm exact processor feature codes and configuration limits with a sourcing vendor before finalizing a quote."
  },
  "efficiency_notes": [
    "This is the widest generational gap covered anywhere in this portfolio: Power7 predates four full IBM Power generations. A direct Power7-to-Power11 or Power7-to-Power10 jump is usually the more efficient path versus stepping through Power8 or Power9, since those intermediate generations are themselves already past or approaching their own end-of-support windows.",
    "IBM i 7.6 requires Power10 (minimum firmware FW1060) or Power11 hardware -- it does not run on Power9 or Power8. Neither a Power7-to-Power8 nor a Power7-to-Power9 migration reaches the current IBM i release.",
    "Every step in this chain moves off Power7's DDR3 memory architecture onto DDR4 (Power8/Power9) or DDR5 (Power10/Power11), changing memory pricing and density substantially.",
    "Per-core performance has grown dramatically across four generations -- see our sizing guide before assuming you need an equivalent or larger core count on the replacement.",
    "IBM Power Virtual Server offers a non-hardware path off Power7 entirely, running the workload on IBM Cloud-hosted Power infrastructure instead of new owned hardware."
  ]
}