IBM Power7 Entry Server

IBM Power 720 Express (8202-E4B / E4C / E4D)

You have a Power 720 Express. Here's what that means in 2026: IBM's entry single-socket tower/rack Power7 box, out of IBM hardware support since 2019, running on borrowed time on IBM i 7.3.

Machine type: 8202-E4B / 8202-E4C / 8202-E4D Software tier: P05, P10

The Power 720 Express (8202-E4B, later E4C and E4D on the POWER7+ refresh) was IBM's mainstream entry single-socket Power7 server: a tower or 4U rack-capable chassis offering 4-, 6-, or 8-core processor features and up to 128 GB of DDR3 memory. It remains one of the more commonly encountered Power7 models still occasionally found in small IBM i shops.

720 at a glance

Machine Type8202-E4B / E4C / E4D
Sockets1
Max Cores8 (3.6 GHz)
Max Memory128 GB DDR3

Where it stands in 2026

720 lifecycle status

MilestoneDateWhat It Means
End of standard IBM supportSeptember 30, 2019IBM no longer provides hardware maintenance, machine code updates, or security patches.
IBM i ceilingIBM i 7.3 onlyIBM i 7.4 dropped Power7 support entirely -- there is no OS upgrade path on this hardware.
IBM i 7.3 standard support endedSeptember 30, 2023Paid Service Extension available through September 30, 2028; no IBM support path after that.

Dates per IBM's Power7 end-of-service documentation and IBM i support lifecycle announcements.

A 720 still running production IBM i workloads in 2026 is a genuinely common situation at small shops. See our maintenance page for third-party support options and our migration comparison for what a modern replacement actually looks like.

IBM no longer sells the 720 new. Used and refurbished units, replacement parts, and memory remain available through IBM i and AS/400 hardware resellers such as Midland Information Systems; third-party maintenance contracts extend hardware support 3-5+ years past IBM's own EOS date.

Related

IBM Power 710 Express (8231-E1C / 8231-E1D)

You have a Power 710 Express. Here's what that means in 2026: IBM's smallest Power7 rack server, out of IBM hardware support since 2019, running on borrowed time on IBM i 7.3.

IBM Power 730 Express (8231-E2B)

You have a Power 730 Express. Here's what that means in 2026: a dual-socket entry Power7 box, out of IBM hardware support since 2019, running on borrowed time on IBM i 7.3.

IBM Power 740 Express (8205-E6B / E6C / E6D)

You have a Power 740 Express. Here's what that means in 2026: a dual-socket scale-out Power7 box, out of IBM hardware support since 2019, running on borrowed time on IBM i 7.3.

IBM Power 750 Express (8233-E8B / 8408-E8D)

You have a Power 750 Express. Here's what that means in 2026: a 4-socket midrange Power7 box, out of IBM hardware support since 2019-2020, running on borrowed time on IBM i 7.3.

Related Reading

What IBM Power7 End of Support Actually Means

End of support is not a shutdown switch. Here is exactly what changed -- and what didn't -- when IBM Power7 passed its own end-of-service dates in 2019 and 2020.

The IBM i 7.3 Ceiling: What It Means for Power7

IBM i 7.4 dropped Power7 support entirely, making IBM i 7.3 a hard software ceiling -- and that ceiling itself lost standard support in September 2023.

Third-Party Maintenance (TPM) for Power7, Explained

TPM keeps Power7 hardware running past IBM's own support window, at a fraction of OEM cost -- but it cannot restore IBM's firmware or IBM i patch stream.