IBM Virtualization Engine, which integrates mainframe-partitioning technology with such features as workload management, systems provisioning, and grid services, will be able to divide up systems built on the IBM Power5 chip into as many as 10 partitions per processor. For instance, a four-way device could be divided into 40 partitions. IBM xSeries servers will get its partitioning technology from third party vendors, but will benefit from integrated management features in Virtualization Engine, says an IBM spokesman. iSeries will be the first line of servers to get Virtual Engine technology when it is upgraded with the IBM Power5 processor early in June 2004. IBM reports that the new systems will support IBM AIX in the third quarter, which, says an iSeries user who plans to purchase a new i5 system, is good news. The i5 will provide a migration path for a standalone UNIX server that could not previously be consolidated onto the iSeries. The virtualization technology will also obviate management difficulties related to monitoring of partitioned resources and enabling better utilization of the server overall. An analyst says the components of Virtualization Engine are expected to work well together, which is an improvement over current virtualization implementation that is based on one element or node at a time and lacks support for cooperation among virtualization tools.