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To: trendmastr who wrote (1137)	3/31/1999 12:57:00 AM
From: Douglas Nordgren	Respond to of 4808

NGIO vs. FIO Impasse Intel, server kingpins still at loggerheads over I/O architectures zdnet.com By Lisa DiCarlo, PC Week Online March 30, 1999 4:59 PM ET After months of negotiations, the two factions developing the next generation of server I/O technologies have reached an impasse. Next Generation I/O, backed by Intel Corp., and Future I/O, backed by server heavyweights Compaq Computer Corp., IBM and Hewlett-Packard Co., have been trying to resolve their disagreements over a myriad of issues. And while many of those have been resolved, one major issue remains, according to a source at one of the companies backing FIO. "On one level, [Intel] is expressing willingness to work together, but they are unwilling to free themselves from the schedule [to which] they've committed,'' said the source. The source is referring to the development schedule the Santa Clara, Calif., company has established for NGIO, which is being evaluated by a standards committee called the NGIO Forum. Intel has said to expect products based on NGIO next year. In contrast, the FIO spec will be ratified by year's end, with products due in 2001. Still talking Although the two camps have reached a stalemate, they continue to discuss ways to resolve the issues. ''We are still having discussions, and we'd very much like to get the sides aligned [but ] our objectives are not aligned,'' said Tom Macdonald, general manager of the NGIO division of Intel in Hillsboro, Ore. "We've reached agreement in many areas, but there have been stumbling blocks that we haven't been able to get over,'' Macdonald added, declining to comment on the continuing problem areas. "The channel for dialogue does remain open but I do not see us merging'' technologies, said Tom Bradicich, director of server architecture and technology at IBM in Research Triangle Park, N.C. He too declined to discuss specifics of the negotiations. If the two sides are truly at a permanent loggerheads, the losers will be server customers, who will be forced to maintain two incompatible I/O architectures that do not use standard add-in cards. "That's a possibility,'' Macdonald said. In addition to Compaq, HP and IBM, FIO was developed by Adaptec Inc. and 3Com Corp. Bradicich said that 65 companies have committed to building FIO products, although some will also build for NGIO. Two notable NGIO supporters are Dell Computer Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. "We've got two of the fastest growing companies in the industry on board. If [our partners ] are successful, it will be hard to sell a server that doesn't have NGIO,'' Macdonald said. Sticking to its guns The FIO camp, which collectively accounts for more than half of the Intel-based server market, doesn't see it that way. It is sticking to its guns even though NGIO servers will be available before its own solutions. "We can't come into a merger [of technologies and ideas ] with one company's pre-existing agenda,'' said the source. The controversy arose late last year when IBM, Compaq and HP let it be known they were secretly working on a next-generation I/O channel architecture without Intel's input. The trio was concerned about the chip giant's ever-growing control over the design of Intel-based servers. They also complained that Intel-designed standards leave little room for differentiation among system makers. Intel executives maintain there is plenty of room for differentiation and that the NGIO Forum is already working on several implementations.