IBM claims a 20%-30% efficiency improvement with its latest
processor technology compared with existing chips. The
silicon-on-insulator technology uses a glass insulating layer
between the transistor and the silicon on the processor to prevent
current leaking from the chip's circuits. This lowers power
consumption, increases efficiency and allows higher processor
speeds, IBM said. The AS/400e 800 server, which features the new
technology, will be available in August.
A range of mid-range Unix servers using copper
microprocessor technology has been announced by IBM. The RS/6000
M80, H80 and F80 use processors with a coating to reduce cross-talk
between the copper wires on the chip and increase performance. IBM
is to manufacture Alpha processors for Compaq using the copper
technology, but may later use silicon-on-insulator. Hewlett-Packard
is expected to license silicon-on-insulator for its own
processors.
Intel unveiled a high-end processor this week that it
says will speed up large Web sites and boost the performance of
e-business applications by up to a half. The Intel Pentium III Xeon
chips will be used in high-end, four- and eight-way multiprocessor
servers. The chip has 2Mbytes of memory, 140 million transistors
and will run at 700MHz. Intel also announced a 933MHz Pentium III
processor for PCs. A Xeon version will also be available.
Fujitsu Siemens has brought out three Intel-based servers
in its Primergy range. The four-way servers use 550MHz Pentium III
Xeon processors and support Windows 2000 and Linux. The Primergy
N400 is designed for server farm and datacentre implementation. The
Primergy H400 is being promoted as a scalable enterprise server for
business-critical applications and the Primergy K400 is a
stand-alone server with a 432Gbyte hard drive for high volume
applications such as databases. Fujitsu Siemens has also
reorganised all its enterprise servers, using the Primepower brand
for Unix-based servers and Primergy for Intel-based servers.
Compaq's Nonstop Himalaya server now provides support for
the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition. The company has also
unveiled the new S74 range of the performance, high availability
NonStop Himalaya series.