PC Servers Move Up In Weight Class
by: hlpinout
46562 of 46562
By Ed Scannell and David Pendery
InfoWorld Electric
Posted at 4:06 PM PT, Dec 18, 1998
Heavy hitters in the server arena will ring in the new year with a slew of servers and
workstations powered by 450-MHz Pentium II Xeon processors from Intel as well
as Alpha
processors from Compaq.
With new systems from IBM, Compaq, Dell, and NEC lined up for January, the first
quarter
appears to be a good time to shop for next-generation PC servers. However, for
those
customers who can wait, Intel plans to release a 500-MHz processor, code-named
Tanner, in
July.
IBM will take the wraps off its 450-MHz Xeon-based Netfinity systems in
mid-January,
propelled by Intel's latest server-specific NX chip set, which Intel is expected to
announce on
Jan. 5.
The chip sets are the first NX chip sets paired with 450-MHz processors, featuring
a
100-MHz front-side bus and as much as 2MB of Level 2 cache.
"With that level of cache you can do a lot more in memory. And with transaction
processing,
that's crucial," said James Gruener, a senior analyst at the Aberdeen Group, in
Boston.
IBM has also made improvements to the system's motherboard design to make it
significantly
easier to snap in faster processors as they become available in 1999, sources
close to the
company said.
Meanwhile, Compaq on Jan. 4 will also announce not one but four different
four-way Intel
systems that are anchored by the new Xeon processor, including an upgraded
ProLiant 5500
model.
"We will have models [using the 450-MHz Pentium II Xeon] from across our entire
enterprise line. We hope to give corporate users a choice,'' a source close to the
company
said.
At the same time, Compaq is readying for a January announcement its Alpha
DS20 server,
as well as a long-awaited XP 1000 workstation.
The dual-processor DS20 servers will be powered by 500-MHz Alpha processors
with
access to as much as 4GB of memory. They will house 128GB of storage and
sport six
64-bit PCI slots, according to Compaq representatives. Owners of Digital Alpha
1200 models
can even now purchase a box upgrade to the DS20 architecture, said one source
familiar
with the development.
The near-simultaneous release of Intel and Alpha servers presents a conundrum for
Compaq,
an obstacle once faced by Digital Equipment, Gruener said.
"It will be a hurdle for Compaq to position the servers," Gruener said. "They need to
figure
out in which markets Intel and Alpha servers work, and where they don't."
Compaq's Alpha-powered XP 1000 workstation will also be released by the end of
January -
first available in a 500-MHz model - with three drive bays, allowing for 54GB of
storage
capacity, according to a Compaq representative. The uniprocessor computer will
be priced
from $8,000 to $12,000, according to the representative.
Dell will also join the parade announcing in early January its 450-MHz Pentium II
Xeon NX
server, which likewise can handle four processors. Like the IBM systems, users
will have a
choice between tower or rack-mount configurations.
Not to be outdone, NEC is releasing on Jan. 4 a new unit in its Express5800 server
line, the
HX4500, powered by as many as four of the latest Xeons.
The unit will support as much as 4GB of memory and will utilize a dual channel
Ultra-Wide
SCSI controller, with storage capacity to 216GB. The NEC Express5800 HX4500
will be
available in January, with pricing starting at $11,594 for a uniprocessor machine. |
