Len,
Siemens and Intel are working together...
Summary of a Press Announcement on April 27, 1998
Siemens Nixdorf's long-term UNIX strategy: Choosing Intel's IA-64 technology and Solaris for IA-64 to create the world's leading UNIX Enterprise Solutions for the next decade
Siemens Nixdorf today announced its long-term UNIX server strategy for the year 2000 and beyond. The strategy will allow customers to move from today's best server technology to the best technology of the next decade as easily as possible and to take full advantage of these innovations. Siemens Nixdorf has selected the leading key technologies of the future for its RM server line. By combining the upcoming IA-64 Intel processor technology and the Solaris operating environment for IA-64 with its own proven Enterprise Computing experience, Siemens Nixdorf will be able to offer its customers worldwide the most highly scalable, reliable and secure environment for mission-critical applications of the future. Within the scope of a strategic technology partnership, Siemens Nixdorf and Sun's Solaris Software Division have agreed to work together on the further development of the Solaris operating environment and to incorporate the Enterprise-Class features of Reliant UNIX into future releases of Solaris. For today's IT requirements, the RM family with MIPS processors, the Reliant UNIX operating system and full 64-bit functionality offers outstanding scalability, performance and data center functionality, making it a leading server solution on the market. The road map secures customers' investments in today's technology. Innovations based on the next MIPS processor generations will enhance this server family with new models right up to the year 2002.
UNIX is and will remain a strategic core business of Siemens Nixdorf. With the future-oriented UNIX strategy for the Enterprise steps are being taken to ensure that Siemens Nixdorf can offer customers the best server solutions on the world market after the millennium. With this in mind, the best hardware and software technologies of the future are being integrated in the RM range and optimized for use in the enterprise. The strategy is focused on future customer requirements and protection of customer investments.
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The UNIX Scenario in 2000 and beyond
IT Analysts reckon that UNIX will still play the dominant role on the worldwide server market in the year 2000 and beyond. IDC forecasts that UNIX will grow rapidly and, with a sales volume of US $35 billion and a market share of 38 per cent , will still represent by far the strongest market segment in the server area in the year 2001 (Source: IDC 09/97).
Significant factors of the UNIX growth potential are increasing and new market requirements in the fields of Enterprise Computing with applications in the business-critical environment, Network Computing with Intranet, Internet and Electronic Commerce applications, Data Warehousing, Storage Management and server consolidation. These are sectors which open up new business potentials for customers and demand enormous improvements in performance from the information technology supporting them. Siemens Nixdorf is facing up to the new requirements and possibilities of the market in the way its customers demand and, with its UNIX Strategy for the Enterprise, is pointing the secure way for the future.
Without any doubt Intel will determine the new technology standard in the coming decade with its IA-64 architecture (IA-64= Intel Architecture 64-bit). In the experts' opinion these 64-bit processors will play the dominant role in the server world. The "Merced", the first processor of the new IA-64 range, is also redefining the course in the high-end UNIX sector. At the same time, the benefits of Intel as a "high-volume manufacturer" using excellent production technology are bringing benefits to the server market. The new 64-bit processor standards from Intel will also result in a consolidation of the UNIX operating systems on the market (UNIX on IA-64), which will also provide major benefits for customers and software vendors worldwide.
Choosing the Best Processor Technology for the Year 2000+: Full IA-64 Strategy for All Server Segments
Siemens Nixdorf has taken a strategic decision to choose the processor of the future and consequently for the use of IA-64. All server lines of Siemens Nixdorf will in future be equipped with IA-64 processors. This applies for NT servers of the PRIMERGY family, the UNIX servers of the RM family, and also for the open BS2000 mainframes of the SR2000 range. Siemens Nixdorf is thus the first IT vendor in the world to focus its strategy consistently on the future 64-bit processor line from Intel, and offers a uniform base technology from the workgroup server to the mainframe.
"We congratulate Siemens Nixdorf on their future-oriented strategy. The combination of Intel's future IA-64 processor architecture with Siemens Nixdorf's experience in delivering high-performance systems for the enterprise computing environment will provide excellent solutions for Siemens Nixdorf customers worldwide," said John Minor, Vice President and General Manager Enterprise Server Group, Intel Corp. Minor added: "The RM server systems, based on Intel's future IA-64 family of products will provide outstanding performance, reliability and scalability for the enterprise computing environment. We look forward to Siemens Nixdorf being one of the first companies worldwide using Intel's IA-64 technology on it's entire line of enterprise servers with a choice in operating systems. The ongoing relationship between Intel and Siemens Nixdorf will continue to provide an excellent platform for the future computing needs for the enterprise. Today's announcement from Siemens Nixdorf again demonstrates that the Intel Architecture is the unifying architecture for enterprise computing."
Merced - the first member of the IA-64 processor family - is expected to be out in the second half of next year and Siemens Nixdorf plans to introduce RM servers based on the next-generation Intel platform immediately after the availability of Merced.
Choosing the Best Enterprise UNIX: Solaris as the Future UNIX Standard for IA-64
IT Analysts expect a consolidation of UNIX around Intel's 64-bit microprocessor offering ("Merced") and Solaris has emerged as the leading enterprise operating environment in the consolidating market. Solaris is expected to become the UNIX-Intel standard and the prevailing 64-bit Enterprise-Class operating environment for Merced. Siemens Nixdorf licenses Solaris as the strategic UNIX operating environment for its future IA-64-based RM server family and will offer full support for Solaris.
Technology Agreement with Sun Incorporates Siemens Nixdorf's Enterprise UNIX Features into Solaris
Siemens Nixdorf and Sun's Solaris Software Division have agreed a strategic technology partnership for the further development of Solaris. This agreement provides Sun with access to the Enterprise-Class features of Reliant UNIX which will be incorporated into future releases of Solaris. The enhancements Siemens Nixdorf will bring to Solaris will include advanced high-availability and clustering features of Reliant UNIX, data center management features, extending the scalability of the operating system and the latest X/Open standard UNIX98. Siemens Nixdorf will join Sun's Solaris System Partners Business Council, which sets directions for future enhancements to the Solaris operating environment, and will cooperate in the SunDevelopment Framework. Siemens Nixdorf will also move its value-added layered software to Solaris. RM servers will function as reference systems for Solaris on IA-64.
"We are very pleased to ally with Siemens Nixdorf on the Solaris operating environment -- the best enterprise platform in the world," said John McFarlane, president of Sun's Solaris Software Division. "The Solaris operating environment continues to outstrip the competition because we are not too proud to include best of class technology contributions from our industry allies. Siemens Nixdorf will be providing us key technologies like the proven enterprise class high availability of Reliant UNIX to be included in the Solaris operating environment. This will make its world class RAS features even better."
World's Best Choice of Leading Software Applications
Solaris has momentum and is the first choice of developers. Solaris on Intel - in particular on the future IA-64 architecture - will enjoy broad support from Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and thus offer customers a large number of applications. ISVs that lead the market, such as SAP, Oracle, Informix, Baan and others are strongly committed to offer their products for Solaris on Intel.
Solaris is the traditional development environment for ISVs. More than 4000 applications are already available for Solaris on Intel - and the number is rising. Siemens Nixdorf and Sun's Solaris Software Division will offer support for the ISVs in porting products to Solaris on Intel through joint Porting and Tuning Centers. This cooperation ensures that applications for IA-64 technology will be optimized quickly and will further strengthen the recognition of Solaris on IA-64 as an excellent development platform. Joint partner programs will make the operating system even more attractive to users.
The Best Future for Customers and Secure Investments for Today and Tomorrow
Today Siemens Nixdorf is taking the right steps to ensure that the customer receives the best technologies for efficient and long-term support of his business activities, both now and in the new millennium. The combination of the world's best technologies with the enterprise computing competence ensures that Siemens Nixdorf offers its customers the best possible range of UNIX products available.
Leading-Edge Technology for Today's IT Requirements: 64-bit RISC-based RM Servers
The RM system line from Siemens Nixdorf is one of the best UNIX server families in the world, providing outstanding performance and innovative features for enterprise computing. Highly innovative technologies like ccNUMA, 64-bit architectures, or clustering as well as storage management solutions in the petabyte range (1000 Terabyte) and the unique scalability of the entire line, attest to the top performance and technology leadership found in these servers. In terms of performance the MIPS processor today is one of the strongest processors in the market. The 64-bit Reliant UNIX operating system, with proven high-availability and security functions, and with highly regarded data center functions, is ready to handle today's most demanding computing requirements in the enterprise segment. All of these outstanding features make RM servers the platform of choice for today's server projects. Siemens Nixdorf is currently implementing numerous major projects with RM servers, for example the world's largest R/3 project for the Deutsche Telekom, the world's largest Oracle Finance installation or complex data warehouses for European and American customers.
Road Map for MIPS-based RM Servers up to the Year 2002
Siemens Nixdorf will continue to support and enhance its MIPS-based RM server line which is highly optimized for business enterprise environments. The road map for the RM family and the Reliant UNIX operating system outlines the next server models and innovation steps based on the next MIPS processor generations. The road map secures the investment of customers for today's technology. Powerful versions of the next MIPS-RISC processors will be integrated in the server line. In parallel the functionality of the Reliant UNIX operating system will be enhanced in the coming years. The MIPS processor road map shows the next generations with R12000 and R14000, which will be incorporated in the next RM server generations. In addition, the systems will be maintained on the basis of MIPS processors until 2008.
Secure Investments Today and Tomorrow
The customer's current and future investments are secure. This is demonstrated not only by road maps, but especially by Siemens Nixdorf's smooth transition path, which is unique in the world. The move from today's best technology to the best technology of the next decade will be made as easy as possible for our customers. Siemens Nixdorf will ensure that Reliant UNIX applications will run on the new IA-64 basic technology and Solaris for IA-64 without the need for any adjustments. Present applications can be run "native" (source code compatibility) or binary compatible without any changes via the DOCT technology (Dynamic Object Code Translation). DOCT offers an Application Binary Interface for the current programs and is a proven technology. Its effectiveness is already demonstrated on SR2000 Open Mainframes from Siemens Nixdorf for running BS2000/OSD applications on standard microprocessors. |
