Apple Computer Inc has boosted the power of its high-end network server line by using the 200MHz PowerPC 604e chip – and demonstrated its first ever symmetrical processor with two 604e chips, at the Seybold Publishing conference in San Francisco this week. The new Apple Network Server 700/200 runs IBM Corp’s AIX Unix and joins Apple’s existing AIX-based network servers introduced back in February (CI No 2,862). Like those, it will be tailored for print and electronic publishing applications. P rices start at $16,130 for a system with 1Mb Level 2 cache, 48Mb RAM (expandable to 512Mb), six PCI slots, and 9Gb Fast and Wide SCSI-2 drives, as well as 8mm Exabyte Corp tape drive and eight times speed CD-ROM. AIX, however, isn’t included, and costs an extra $1,500. Upgrade CPU boards will also be available. While the 700/200 should be available from next month, the dual processor version will not emerge until early next year. It’s expected to provide performance increases of up to 1.8 times running suitable, processor-intensive server applications. Apple already has a dual-processor desktop system, the PowerMac 9500/180 MP, but the Mac OS operating system it runs currently runs only in asymmetric mode. The 604e chip has also been used to upgrade the performance of Apple’s 8550 Workgroup server running Mac OS, and Apple upgraded the peripheral options on its 7250/120 model.
