Itanium 2 system on the way from IBM
By Ashlee Vance
August 14, 2002 05:19 PM
SAN FRANCISCO -- IBM used the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo here this week to flex its 64-bit computing muscle, showing off a system running on Intel's Itanium 2 processor and a version of its DB2 database for Advanced Micro Devices's Opteron processor.
IBM has said it will support Intel's new Itanium 2 chips but has yet to announce what its systems will look like. Users at the LinuxWorld conference, however, could sneak a peak at one new server that will arrive later this year -- a system that can house 4 or 8 processors dubbed the x450, which was on show at IBM's booth.
IBM also showed a 64-bit version of its DB2 database running on SuSE Linux AG's distribution of Linux and AMD's 64-bit Opteron processor, which is due to appear in servers early next year.
The demonstration of 64-bit products based on Intel and AMD chips marks IBM's adoption of some of the freshest technology in the server world. Like its rivals Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard, IBM has long sold 64-bit servers that run on RISC (reduced instruction set computer) processors and the Unix operating system. IBM is now adding the new 64-bit technology from Intel and AMD to its arsenal.
The x450 was connected to a cluster of IBM servers running DB2 in a demonstration here. IBM would not provide the speeds of the Itanium 2 chips or provide further details about its Itanium 2-based systems. A spokeswoman did say that, "IBM will support Itanium 2 across its product line."
IBM joins HP, NEC, Unisys, and others with a working Itanium 2 server. Dell Computer is the lone major Intel-backer not to have announced a server based on the chip, but one analyst said the company is likely to soon join the fold.
"Everybody except Sun will have an Itanium 2 box by the end of the year or early next year, even Dell," said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst with the consulting company Insight 64 in Saratoga, Calif. |
