InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
November 17, 1997
Ramp Up To Eight-Way
Eight-processor servers from NCR and Data General will handle larger databases
The vendors are responding to demand for more-powerful servers and improved scalability of server software. Windows NT "has matured to where it's being pushed into the enterprise and it needs more horsepower," says Bob Westerkamp, NCR's director of midrange computing.
BLMS Ltd., a subsidiary of Bass PLC in London, uses single-processor and dual-processor 4300 NT servers from NCR to run development and a small data warehouse. It's discussing a possible expansion of that data warehouse to hold as much as 100 Gbytes of historical data, and NCR is one v
endor being considered. "NCR can introduce scalability for NT in areas we wouldn't have used it in the past," says Andy Harrod, IT service delivery manager for BLMS.
The servers from NCR and Data General are the latest in a series of announcements from makers of Intel-based servers that are moving to eight-way technology. Intel recently agreed to acquire multiprocessor technology vendor Corollary Inc., while Hewlett-Packard is expected to announce an eight-way system next month.
With the eight-way 4380, NCR says it will be able to run larger databases from Oracle and Informix. "Oracle and Informix seem to scale well through eight processors but SQL Server runs out of gas at six," says NCR's Westerkamp. Data General presents a similar message for its eight-way NT server, which is based on Axil technology.
Data General's AV 8600 supports up to eight Pentium Pro processors, each with up to 8 Gbytes of ECC memory, in a rackmounted chassis. The server can be used with Fibre Channel disk arrays from
Data General's Clariion subsidiary. Data General will offer a "cluster in a box" solution that combines the server and storage with clustering and new systems-management software features. "We want to focus on the enterprise market," says George Lyras, Data General's director of Aviion marketing, "so we put some hooks in there for high availability and diagnostics."
ata General Corp. and NCR Corp. are joining the trend to eight-way servers. Data General is expected to announce an eight-processor server based on technology from Axil Computer Inc. at Comdex/Fall in Las Vegas this week. NCR is also expected to announce an eight-way server at Comdex.
Featured Microsite
