Elmer & Intel Investors - This company has developed add-on software and hardware for greatly improving the reliability of Windows NT server systems (ergo, Intel-based servers !!).
Intel should be buying up this company !
Paul
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Takes a licking, keeps ... computing
By Shammi Gill, eWEEK
September 10, 2000 9:00 PM PT
URL: zdnet.com
Marathon Technologies Corp.'s Endurance 6200 Release 3.0 provides Windows shops with an effective way to group Windows NT 4.0 servers in a high-availability cluster.
The company said that its combination of software and interconnects for clustering NT servers into arrays provides 99.999 percent uptime (5 minutes of unplanned downtime per year). In eWeek Labs' tests, the product performed admirably, failing-over to a secondary server within just a few seconds when we disconnected test machines from a cluster.
The Endurance 6200, which started shipping priced at $50,000 in July, includes management software, four MICs (Marathon Interface Cards) and an MIC cable; and link crossover cables for the servers that are used as I/O processors. In addition to the Endurance 6200's purchase price, users will need four NT servers as well as client licenses for running a LAN or WAN.
The support for dual-processor servers (new in this release), point-to-point fiber connects and remote management capabilities make this a solid high-availability package for securing e-business ventures in a Windows environment.
Many companies now provide clustering technology to produce high availability. Tandem Computers, Sun Microsystems Inc. and Stratus Tech nologies Inc. have very competitive products for the Unix environment, which has long been known for its reliability and scalability. However, companies with Windows client/server environments do not have as many options.
Marathon officials said that an Endurance 6200 array provides nonstop processing, continuous data access, uninterrupted connectivity and disaster tolerance using standard NT and shrink-wrapped applications. It also can run cluster-enabled applications for Microsoft Corp.'s Microsoft Clustering Services, its chief competitor as a high-availability package for NT systems.
An Endurance 6200 array consists of four NT systems; two of these are what Marathon calls "compute elements," on which all Endurance server applications are installed, and two are I/O processors that provide I/O resources, I/O processing, data storage and network connectivity.
Failover is quicker with Marathon's product than with Microsoft's because the Endurance 6200 works as an array. When something goes wrong with one server, users don't see a difference in performance and, after the problem is fixed, the two servers performing as compute elements mirror each other to capture changes in data.
Fine at failure
In tests of endurance 6200, we focused on its failover capability and the reliability of data exchanges. We tested the array on four dual-processor servers with the four MICs connected with fiber-optic cables and with Gigabit Ether net connections with standard crossover cables.
We installed Microsoft's SQL Server 7.0 and ran looping queries of information from a client machine connected to the test network. We then reset the system and disconnected various wires to interrupt services through the I/O processor as well as the compute element while continuously transmitting data through I/O processes. When we did this, we did not notice any performance lag or failure on the client system.
When we performed the same tests with video and audio streams, the only nuisance we noticed was that, when the system rebooted, it caused a gap in sound as well as a freeze of video for approximately 1 second. This was caused by resynchronization of data when the compute element was brought back up. We verified that no data was corrupted by checking the NT log files in the NT Event Viewer, which showed no application error messages, and through the use of the user-friendly Endurance GUI (see screen) with its event log utility.
The Endurance Manager tool has both a GUI and a command-prompt interface. It can be installed remotely so that administrators can manage the Endurance servers from a remote workstation using Windows 95, Windows 98 or NT 4.0.
The Endurance software features device driver transparency, which allows use of off-the-shelf devices and drivers without modifications. Optimized automatic resynchronization restores the context of the array and resynchronizes application processing once a server has been repaired or replaced.
Fault monitoring optimizes fault handling by logging, tracking and comparing the status and failures of major array components. Marathon's No Touch Recovery feature automatically assimilates new components into an array, restoring full redundancy without operator intervention. These software features are transparent to users.
Technical Analyst Shammi Gill can be contacted at shammi_gill@ziffdavis.com.
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eWeek Labs Executive Summary: Endurance 6200 Release 3.0
Windows shops that need to keep applications running nonstop will be pleased with the reliability, flexibility and ease of management of Marathon Technologies' Endurance 6200 Release 3.0 software and interconnects for creating a high-availability array of Windows NT 4.0 servers.
Short-Term Business Impact: Ease of installation and implementation will let companies get an Endurance 6200 array up and running quickly.
Long-Term Business Impact: The high availability of applications can allow companies to expand their operations by allowing continuous data access and providing fault tolerance.
Pros: Supports dual-processor servers; works with standard server components and off-the-shelf NT applications.
Cons: Not as scalable as Unix-based clustering systems; requires four NT servers. usability A
capability B
performance B
interoperability B
manageability A
Marathon Technologies Corp., Boxboro, Mass.; (800) 884-6425; www.marathontechnologies.com |
