Wow, 19 cents, that's great. I still haven't been able to find the news
release yet, but while looking for it, I stumbled across this release about
I20 at Comdex. Sounds like a lot of big names are jumping on the I20 bandwagon:
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 18, 1996--Leaders in the
enterprise computing market today began showing first full system
implementations of the I2O (Intelligent I/O) architecture here at
COMDEX/Fall.
Demo participants include server vendors Compaq Computer and
Hewlett-Packard; networking and storage companies Adaptec, 3Com and
Symbios Logic; and operating system providers Microsoft, Novell and
SCO.
A number of I2O Special Interest Group members also
announced I2O-ready products, including servers, motherboards,
SCSI controllers and software, that will be available
beginning immediately.
"The IT manager, as he grapples with the integration of
multi-vendor topography, is attempting to reduce the costs of
ownership in moving his environment forward," said Brad Day, vice
president senior analyst, GIGA Information Group. It is clear that
the I2O initiative value proposition is to support a common I/O
framework eliminating the disparate approach that multiple vendors
take in solving the I/O bottleneck problem within enterprise
computing environments."
OS Vendors Announce Support
In addition, three network operating systems companies announced
support for the I2O architecture in upcoming releases of their
products. Microsoft will support the intelligent I/O standard in its
Windows NT 5.0 release second half 1997 with an I2O architecture DDK
scheduled for first quarter 1997. Novell announced it plans to
support the I2O architecture in its IntranetWare as NetWare Loadable
Modules (NLMs) that will be available Q2 1997. For UNIX users, SCO
will make available I2O architecture support in its Gemini next
generation UNIX product, mid-1997. By mid-1997, I2O- ready server
cards will be compatible with three-fourths of the standard
high-volume server operating system environments.
"Since the I2O Special Interest Group was announced nine months
ago, the group has tripled membership to represent more than 75
percent market share in each key ingredient in enterprise computing
hardware and software," said Scott Goble, chairman, the I2O SIG.
"Here at COMDEX, these first full system implementations of actual
hardware and software based on the I2O architecture show the
performance, interoperability and technology integration benefits
promised by the I2O architecture as an industry-standard I/O
solution." Hardware, Software Products To Begin Shipping for I2O
Support
A number of SIG members also announced plans to begin shipping
software and hardware products in support of the I2O architecture in
the enterprise. These announcements include:
--Adaptec is demonstrating its PCI SCSI host adapters for the I2O
architecture.
--Award Software, a new SIG member and developer of system
management software, will begin shipping its EliteBios PC System BIOS
to support the I2O architecture in second half 1997.
--ByteStream is showing an I2O-ready PCI RAID controller for
high-speed I/O processing.
--Cheyenne Software, another new SIG member and leading supplier of
distributed enterprise solutions, plans to incorporate I2O
architecture support in its storage management products with
availability beginning first quarter 1997.
--Compaq Computer Corporation has announced I2O architecture support
for its industry-leading ProSignia and ProLiant server family. The
I2O-ready ProSignia 300, 500 and ProLiant 1500, 2500 and 5000 series
servers are available today.
--Dell is demonstrating its I2O-ready PowerEdge 6100 servers with
the Xpoint I/O acceleration solution, BusBIOS.
--Digital Equipment Corporation announced I2O-ready Pentium Pro
processor-based servers including the Prioris ZX6000 series, four-way
mission-critical servers, and the brand-new Prioris HX6000 series
two-way SMP application servers. Both product lines are available
today.
--Distributed Processing Technology is announcing its plans
to release in early 1997 entry-level, fault-tolerant firmware for
RAID on the motherboard supporting the I2O architecture with the
Intel i960 RP I/O processor.
--Hewlett-Packard is showing I2O architecture solutions for I/O
intensive applications.
--Initio, which joined the SIG earlier this month, announced it is
developing a family of I2O-ready UltraSCSI and UltraWide SCSI host
adapters, based on Initio 9000 series of bus-mastering PCI-to-SCSI
host adapters. These products will ship in first quarter 1997.
--Micronics Computers, Inc. announced its I2O-ready M6DPi
motherboard with dual Pentium Pro processors and intelligent
subsystem based on the Intel i960 RP I/O processor implementing the
I2O architecture. The motherboard will be available first quarter
1997.
--Mylex is announcing I2O-ready scaleable RAID technology.
--NetFRAME is supporting the I2O architecture with its new I2O-ready
ClusterSystem 9000 platform.
--QLogic is announcing its QLA 1040 PCI to Ultra SCSI adapter as
I2O-ready, offering throughput up to 10,000 I/Os per second.
--SuperMicro has introduced a new I2O-ready motherboard with dual
Pentium Pro processors, the i960 RP I/O processor with the Wind River
IxWorks RTOS to enable the I2O architecture, 8 PCI slots and 3 ISA
slots. It's available December 5, 1996.
--Symbios Logic is announcing an I2O-ready Fibre Channel protocol
controller with availability in 1997.
--TMC also is announcing an I2O-ready motherboard, the AD6NF9,
featuring dual Pentium Pro processors, the 440FX PCIset and the Intel
i960 RP I/O processor.
--V3 is making available I2O-ready dual and single-bridge PCI bridge
controllers supporting the Intel i960 RP I/O processors as well as
several other processor architectures. These chips will be designed
into server cards and other hardware.
Demonstrations Show I2O Architecture Benefits
A total of six I2O architecture systems are on display in the I2O
SIG space, LS33, Las Vegas Convention Center to show enterprise-class
performance, interoperability among devices, and ease of integration
of networking and storage technologies.
Demo participants include server providers Compaq and
Hewlett-Packard with Microsoft, Novell and SCO. To show the simple
integration of new technologies enabled by the I2O architecture,
these demos will include Fibre Channel running on all three operating
systems using a common interface. Other networking and storage
interfaces will be demonstrated on a server with a single I2O
architecture interface.
As an example of the demonstrations, Hewlett Packard will
demonstrate Windows NT operating system with SCSI and Intel network
interface cards in a Web-based on-line transaction processing
application. This application shows that fewer CPU cycles are
necessary with the I2O-ready system, allowing it to support
additional queries, users or applications. Hewlett-Packard also
will have other demonstrations in the SIG space.
Compaq Computer Corporation will be demonstrating three full
system technology demonstrations of the I2O architecture on Compaq's
I2O-ready ProLiant servers. These demonstrations illustrate the
future benefits of the architecture across critical enterprise
functions such as networking and storage and enable new I/O
capabilities.
Extending the I2O Architecture
Extensions to the I2O architecture will be made available to SIG
members this week. These extensions include support for Fibre
Channel, peer-to-peer, system management and tape storage. Future
extensions to the specification will incorporate support for emerging
clustering standards and ATM/WAN.
Compliance Workshop Planned for December
Novell will host an I2O SIG compliance workshop December 12-13 at
its headquarters in Provo, Utah. This workshop will allow SIG
members to evaluate their products, such as servers and adapter
cards, for compatibility with the I2O architecture. For more
information, contact the SIG web site, i2osig.org.
The I2O SIG
The I2O SIG is chartered to provide an extensible, abstract I/O
architecture that is independent of both the specific hardware device
being controlled and the host operating system. The I2O architecture
greatly improves I/O throughput and overall system performance by
relieving host resources, such as the CPU, memory and system bus, of
interrupt-intensive I/O tasks.
The I2O architecture provides support for single processor,
multiprocessor, and clustered systems, providing better system
scalability. Finally, the I2O architecture provides an open,
standards-based approach for I/O subsystems. This approach is
complementary to existing drivers and provides a framework for rapid
development of next-generation intelligent I/O solutions.
The current implementation of the I2O architecture addresses LAN
and storage issues for servers, providing a more efficient way to
manage I/O transactions in systems handling digital video, audio and
3-D graphics; complex database queries; and Web transactions.
The I2O SIG is a working association of members committed to the
design, promotion, maintenance, extension and certification of the
intelligent I/O driver architecture. The I2O architecture is an
operating system and hardware-independent specification that
enhances performance and reduces maintenance costs of PC-based
systems and network servers. The I2O SIG is headquartered at 688
Fourth Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94118. Phone (415) 750-8352. Fax
(415) 751-4829. Worldwide Web site at i2osig.org.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
I2O-ready refers to those products designed with the capability to
implement the I2O architecture and which provide a commitment date
for OS compliance where appropriate by product type. |
