October 4, 1999

New Netfinity

Workgroup server replaces 5500 line

By Paul McDougall

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Network Computing Netfinity 5500 Is First Among Equals

BM is targeting the application-server market with its latest Netfinity product. The Netfinity 5600, which replaces the Netfinity 5500 workgroup server, is a two-processor server designed for general business, E-mail, Web serving, or file and print applications.

Among the features that IBM says make the Netfinity 5600 easy to manage are its screwless access and automatic diagnostics. Available now and starting at $3,990, the Netfinity 5600 is available in an open-bay configuration, meaning that hard-disk drives are priced separately, beginning at $550 for a 9.1-Gbyte drive. The base price includes one 550-MHz Intel Pentium III CPU and 128 Mbytes of RAM. The Netfinity 5600 has three open 64-bit Active PCI slots and room for six hot-pluggable drives.

The launch of the Netfinity 5600 was not affected by Intel's delaying production of its 820 chipset due to problems with 133-MHz front side bus technology from Rambus Inc. The Netfinity 5600 supports a 133-MHz front-side bus architecture using Reliance Corp.'s LE 3.0 chipset and PC 133 SDRAM. "We expect the Netfinity 5600 to be one of the first servers using the 133-MHz technology available on the market," says Brendan Paget, IBM's worldwide Netfinity marketing manager.

The Netfinity 5600 is the latest in a series of recent launches from IBM, and observers say the company wants to bolster its share of the PC server market, which stands at about 15%. "They are doing a good job in terms of constantly updating the product line," says Walter Winnitzki, an analyst at Hambrecht & Quist.

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