They tried this before
IBM's old PS/2 line (not Playstations, you little snot-nosed brat) tried pulling in mainframe technology. The Microchannel architecture was a direct swipe and downsizing of the bus they used in mainframes. It was a very good design, and if IBM hadn't been such proprietary assholes with their licensing terms…but that's a wide-spread disease. Had it not been for that disease, we could all be hating Digital Equipment for monopolizing the world with CP/M 32.
I.B.M. Plans to Build Servers That Act Like Mainframes
By STEVE LOHR
Published: April 28, 2004
I.B.M. plans today to announce new server computers that behave more like mainframes and are priced as low as $1,500. The servers will be able to run as many as 10 operating systems on a single machine. One processor can divvy up the workload - packing the capability of several machines into one - by building several virtual machines that run on the underlying hardware. It is a technology that has existed for decades in the mainframe market long ruled by I.B.M.
The first of the server computers, which uses I.B.M.'s virtualization engine technology, will begin shipping next month, and the prices of some models will range up to $1 million. The machines, I.B.M. said, are the result of a three-year research and development effort.
"Much of the technology is harvested from our mainframe business," said William Zeitler, senior vice president of I.B.M.'s computer systems group.
