Microsoft Corp wants to queer the pitch of Oracle Corp and its nCube Corp ally with software that will enable an array of iAPX-86-based personal computer motherboards to be used as video-on-demand servers, the Wall Street Journal reported. Microsoft calls the thing Tiger, and has been demonstrating it in a locked laboratory at its Redmond, Washington headquarters, and claims that it can deliver computerised video and interactive multimedia programming for one-tenth the cost of rival video server technologies being developed by the likes of Oracle Corp, Silicon Graphics Inc, Digital Equipment Corp and the no-hoper mainframe video server from IBM Corp. Microsoft contends that servers of almost any size can be assembled by stringing motherboards together. The theory here is that personal computers are the cheapest thing out there, but that is a corrupt theory, James Barton, vice-president and general manager of Silicon Graphics’ media systems division told the paper. They can’t do it, roared Larry Ellison, chief executive of Oracle: it’s impossible to build a cheaper system than we have. Supporters of the Microsoft approach say that small local servers might be more cost-effective than big remote ones for the likes of retailers that want to enable their customers to browse their stock. The Tiger software operates in conjunction with Microsoft’s Windows NT operating system and requires advanced networking hardware in addition to a personal computer. In the demonstration, 80486-based machines were reportedly seen delivering digitised film to dozens of television receivers simultaneously. The company expects the software to be used in market trials this year.
