IBM's new Power11 server chips are focused on two things: AI and ransomware

It can be easy to forget that x86, Arm, and RISC-V aren't the only instruction set architectures on the planet. IBM today offered its periodic reminder that its Power ISA exists with the announcement of new Power11 hardware that, among other things, promises to help minimize disruptions related to attempted ransomware attacks.

"Power11 is designed to be the most resilient server in the history of the IBM Power platform, with 99.9999% of uptime," IBM said. "Together with zero planned downtime for system maintenance and less than one-minute guaranteed ransomware threat detection with IBM Power Cyber Vault, Power11 sets a new bar for business continuity, addressing both planned and cyber-incident-related downtime."

There is a caveat: IBM said in a footnote that "this guarantee covers only the displaying of an alert in less then one minute" and that "remediation is in the form of drive replacement up to the cost of the Covered Product." (The same "terms and conditions apply" disclaimer used by pretty much every company on Earth is also present.) It's up to IBM's customers to act on that alert before the ransomware attack continues.

But that doesn't mean they'll be left in the lurch. IBM said that its Power Cyber Vault feature also provides "protection against cyberattacks such as data corruption and encryption with proactive immutable snapshots that are automatically captured, stored, and tested on a custom-defined schedule."

This is a critical aspect of responding to ransomware attacks. There are times when ransomware is straight-up destructive, whether it's because the "ransom" aspect is simply cover for a nation-state's intentional sabotage or because the group deploying the ransomware unintentionally caused more damage than expected, but these attacks typically focus on denying an organization's access to critical information.

That means organizations can mitigate the potential impact of a ransomware attack by having reliable backups they can use to restore critical data without figuring out how to buy the cryptocurrency du jour and transfer it to whoever's extorting them. But establishing a reliable backup infrastructure is easier said than done--especially when it has to be set up in a way that doesn't allow the ransomware to affect the backups too.

Cyber Vault essentially lays the groundwork for a ransomware-resistant network. Notifying an organization of an ongoing attack within a minute is critical; Splunk said in 2022 that "the median ransomware variant can encrypt nearly 100,000 files totalling 53.93GB in forty two minutes and fifty-two seconds." New variants are probably even faster, so it's critical for defenders to be alerted to an attack as soon as possible.

IBM said its new Power11 servers, including the E1180, E1150, S1124, and S1122, will be available starting July 25. Prices start at "if you need to ask, you can't afford it," and additional information is available via the company's website. More details about Cyber Vault can also be found in a pair of presentations (PDFs) from 2020 and 2025.

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