Compaq, IBM Prep Enhanced
Win NT Servers
(03/16/99, 2:49 p.m. ET)
By Mary Hayes with Tom Davey, InformationWeek
Compaq and IBM are competing for
leadership in the development of more
powerful Windows NT servers. Both
vendors are working with Microsoft on
projects for advancing clustered server
technology, and both have solidified plans
for eight-processor Wintel servers that are
expected to ship this summer.
By June, IBM said it plans to deliver a
Microsoft-certified extension to Microsoft Cluster
Server that lets users cluster up to eight IBM Netfinity
systems for load balancing, data sharing, and failover
using a Fibre Channel interconnect, sources said.
Compaq and Microsoft signed a clustering
co-development agreement last fall; next month, they'll
disclose a road map for delivering advanced clustering,
company sources said. But that agreement focuses on
standard technology to be made available to all server
vendors.
Meanwhile, IBM is planning an eight-way Pentium
Xeon system that corrects up to 8 bits of memory at a
time, reducing the risk of crashes because of memory
failures. Houston-based Compaq is designing a
rack-mounted eight-way server. Both vendors' units will
support up to 16 gigabytes of memory.
This week, IBM and Compaq will also unveil four-way
servers using the 550-MHz Pentium III Xeon, which
Intel is debuting along with a 500-MHz Xeon CPU.
IBM's 5500M20 starts at about $8,500, and its
high-end 7000M10 is priced at about $10,500.
Compaq will offer the 550-MHz chip in up to four-way
configurations in its ProLiant 6000, 6500, and 7000
models; starting prices range from $9,943 to $21,193.
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