BigRed,
>>>> The NT/Intel boxes are really beginning to scale and in several years NT scalability shouldn't be an issue (compared to Unix).
This is very true and what's going to make that a reality is the Merced chip, which is being developed jointly by Intel and HP. It will be able to run either NT or HP-UX (hp's UNIX), although not both at the same time, at least not the first generation. With HP's experience building UNIX boxes (our biggest here is a 12 way T600), and Intel's experience building boxes that run NT, you have a deadly combination.
I have an article in my hand from this past fall which states "...Merced, which HP will buy from Intel...will ship by the end of the decade. The chip should debut at 500 MHz and will be scalable to more han 4GHz." It also says that "Microsoft has promised that 62-bit Window NT will be ready in time for Merced."
By the time this happens, SQL Server will be mature enough to scale to a size this type of machine can handle, and then we'll really have some competition. Until then, they are moving the necessary steps along the path of scalability to get there. Remember too that NT has it's own scalability problems. Both Microsoft products need to evolve and grow to be able to handle the requirements of larger systems.
In the meantime, put yourself in the shoes of the IT or Accounting executive. Do you wait until the Bill to produce a product that meets my needs? I doubt it. For a company that is ready to buy in the next 12 months, they aren't going to wait, certainly not for the first generation of a product, from a manufacturer who is known in the industry for bringing products to market riddled with bugs for the sake of timing. Too big a risk. For a small system maybe, but the whole point of scalability is for use with large systems, typically mission critical, or rapidly growing.
I don't think it will be too big a threat for the next 12, but after that, keep a close eye on things.
Big Red, if you are using NT 4.0 now, have you seen 5.0? What is the scalability of that like?
Are you back into IFMX now? It wasn't clear.
Michael G. |
