IBM Power 520 (8203-E4A)
You have a Power 520 8203-E4A. Here's what that means in 2026: IBM's entry-level Power6 workhorse, out of standard IBM support since March 2019.
The Power 520 (8203-E4A) was IBM's entry-level Power6 server, the workhorse behind a large share of small and midsize IBM i deployments in the late 2000s and early 2010s. It is also, for the same reason, one of the most common systems we still hear about today from shops that never got around to replacing it.
Power 520 at a glance
Where it stands in 2026
Power 520 lifecycle status
| Milestone | Date | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| End of standard IBM support | March 31, 2019 | IBM no longer provides hardware maintenance, machine code updates, or security patches. |
| IBM i ceiling | Approximately IBM i 7.1 | Several releases behind current IBM i, with no OS upgrade path on this hardware. |
Dates per IBM Power6 end-of-service announcement letter 917-163.
See our maintenance page for third-party support options and our migration comparison for what a modern replacement actually looks like.
Sources
- IBM Inks In End Of Support For Power6 And Power7 Iron ... IT Jungle
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