Compaq preps Alpha
By Michael Vizard and Michael Lattig
InfoWorld Electric
Posted at 3:46 PM PT, Apr 16, 1999
Compaq Computer during the next 12 months will push into the data center with an
Alpha-centric IT strategy for the enterprise, heavily leveraging technology it now owns
following the acquisitions of Digital and Tandem.
This summer Compaq will unleash the first Alpha servers to share a common component
base and systems management architecture with Compaq's existing line of ProLiant servers
built on Intel processors, code-named Wildfire.
For IT managers dealing with mixed environments, managing Alpha and Intel servers using a
common infrastructure will be critical.
Following the release of these two- and four-way servers, Compaq will move to address
holes in the high end of its lineup with Alpha-based servers targeted at data-center
applications.
Wildfire servers will offer 16-way, 32-way, 64-way, and ultimately 120-way configurations
based on an 800-MHz Alpha processor - the EV67 - as part of a concerted effort to
compete directly with IBM, Sun, and Hewlett-Packard.
OS support for these processors will initially come from Compaq's recently announced
Tru64 Unix, Version 5.0, which supports more than 100 CPUs, 100GB of memory, and
100 terabytes of storage.
In addition to greater power, the EV67 will allow IT managers to run multiple operating
systems on the same system. Compaq will make use of adaptive partition multiprocessing
technology that was originally developed for OpenVMS, allowing IT managers to
consolidate PC servers by running multiple copies of Windows 2000, Linux, or Digital Unix
on the same server system, according to Jesse Lipcon, vice president and general manager
of Compaq's high-performance server division.
Compaq's data-center push will also extend to the storage arena, where the company is
expected to deploy a more modular enterprise storage architecture based on Fibre Channel
technology that should help the company compete more aggressively against EMC.
Future Compaq storage solutions will leverage technology developed by Digital, including
external disk arrays, large-scale enterprise arrays, and storage management tools.
According to John Rose, senior vice president and general manager of Compaq's Enterprise
Computing Group, 64-bit Alpha technology will be critical as demands for processing power
escalate in the age of the digital economy.
"As the world moves to an Internet ecosystem, 64-bit computing will be critical," Rose said. |
