Paul, >IBM has billed the x440 as a 16-way server, but until July 2002 the x440 will only be available running up to eight processors at a time, according to IBM.
This disappoints experts such as Joseph Zhou, a senior analyst with D.H. Brown and Associates, in Port Chester, N.Y., who praised IBM for being first to market with an eight-way Xeon-based server for the mid-range market, but expected more from IBM with this first Xeon MP-based product launch.
"In this release, the x440 only goes up to eight-ways in single-node configuration, and that is not what the industry expected," Zhou said. "We expected more scalable configurations up to 16-way." Zhou added that IBM's Enterprise X chip set architecture was "supposed to scale up to 16 ways."
"IBM was supposed to have the 16-way chip set in the first half of this year, and they were supposed to have it in this release, so us analysts are a little disappointed," Zhou said.
Well, when they do get the 16 way out, it will probably still be the first from a major OEM outside of Unisys.
Tony |
