Greg - Re:"How significant do you or others view this information for intc?"
Very significant - EVERY MAJOR PLAYER in the PC box arena has announced and is shipping a server based on multiple Pentium Pro processors.
The NEC announcement is just the latest. Compaq, Dell, HP, IBM. ALR, Tricord, Data General, Intergraph, Netpower, Netframe, Sequent , etc. etc. are on the list of Pentium Pro Server manufacturers.
Intel has helped this along by the multiprocessor support that is included in the architecture of the Pentium Pro. Also, their chip sets (Orion - old and buggy, Natoma - Newer version) support up to four processors in symmetric multiprocessor configuration.
Windows NT supports multiprocessors directly - although I believe it tops out at 8 maximum (Windows NT V. 4.0).
Intel's high volume server boards max out at 4 CPUs per board. NCR has announced a hardware innovation that COUPLES TWO Intel 4 CPU boards to gether to make an 8 CPU multiprocessor system. Corollary is working on their own version of an 8 way CBUS .
The significance for Intel is - more volume in the higher end/higher margin business (always good for Intel and shareholders). Further, it permits Intel's presence in the Internet/Intranet business to grow on the SERVER side.
Paul |
