To: Paul Engel who wrote (72956 ) 2/5/1999 1:00:00 AM From: Paul Engel Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 186894
Intel Investors - IBM will use Copper Metallization in a Merced Chip Set ! This article discusses some neat software and hardware that IBM is adding to its Pentium II & XEON-based Netfinity servers to improve UPTIME.... But it also mentions a new chip set that IBM is developing internally for their upcoming 8-way SMP Merced servers ! And it will use their copper metallization process !"IA64 architecture: A chip set under development for Netfinity servers, based around the Merced 8-way symmetric multiprocessor, that contains copper wiring for significantly faster processing. " Paul {=============================}infoworld.com IBM to guarantee server uptime By Ed Scannell InfoWorld Electric Posted at 3:35 PM PT, Feb 3, 1999 Trying to gain an edge in the voraciously competitive PC-based server market, IBM on Thursday will launch its Netfinity 99.9 Percent Availability Program that guarantees corporate users 99.9 percent uptime on selected servers. The company will also announce an array of services from its Global Services division. Corporate customers buying selected configurations of the Netfinity 5500 M10 and Netfinity 7000 M10 servers running Microsoft Windows NT clustering software are eligible for the program, which kicks off in the United States on Mar. 1. Details on pricing and the terms of the program will be released at that time as well, according to a company spokesperson. IBM officials said the company is able to make these reliability assurances for its PC-based server line because key technologies have been borrowed from its higher-end servers and X-architecture. ''We have brought a number of system-critical technologies to Netfinity from our high-end server lines: Redundancy, high availability, hot-plug PCI, LightPath diagnostics, and some clustering capabilities,'' said Tom Bradicich, director of IBM's server architecture and technology, in a statement. IBM's perpetual "coopetitor'' Microsoft believes the program is good for spurring interest in Windows NT. "IBM's Netfinity server guarantee is proof of the growing demands of Windows NT in the high availability server market,'' said Edmund Muth, enterprise marketing group manager at Microsoft. "Users of Windows NT will benefit from IBM's expertise in building enterprise high availability servers." To further bolster user confidence in the program IBM officials will lay out its plan for introducing other high-end features and capabilities over the next couple of years. Interconnect: A multi-node Netfinity server clusters that can use interconnect technologies from the RS/6000 SP. OnForever: A feature which is intended to extend the high availability capabilities of Hot PlugPCI to processors and memory offering online real time diagnostics IA64 architecture: A chip set under development for Netfinity servers, based around the Merced 8-way symmetric multiprocessor, that contains copper wiring for significantly faster processing. The selected configurations of the two Netfinity servers that form part of the program can be rack-mounted and hooked together through FibreChannel RAID between the nodes and the storage system, company officials said. Some of the services available as part of the program will include installation help; an around the clock warranty upgrade which includes a two hour on-site response time; and project management a spokesperson said. IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., can be reached at www.ibm.com Ed Scannell is an InfoWorld editor at large. Go to the Week's Top News Stories Please direct your comments to InfoWorld Deputy News Editor, Carolyn April Copyright © 1999 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.