Tandem Computers Inc is offering a ServerNet Development Kit to OEMs and, in the first half of 1997, will add a routing switch to facilitate more than the current two-node set up. In the past few months Cupertino, California-based Tandem has struck individual licensing deals with Compaq Computer Corp, NEC Corp, Dell Computer Corp and 14 others (CI No 3,000) for its ServerNet interconnect technology, but yesterday was the first time the product was available to OEMs as a packaged product in the form of half-size PCI cards to implement System Area Networks on Windows NT servers. Tandem claims ServerNet is be coming the de facto standard for high-speed, high-availability movement of data between system nodes when integrated with the upcoming NT clustering software, codenamed Wolfpack, which Tandem is helping develop. But with third-party Wolfpack-based products not expected to ship until early 1997, users won’t be able to take advantage of the failover capability for another three months or so. Tandem was quick to point out that ServerNet could still be used for other purposes until that time, such as distributed database computing. The ServerNet routing switch will use the same routing technology that will be embedded in Tandem’s new Himalaya and NT lines due out before the end of this year. The development kit carries a suggested retail price of $2,000 for a single card and associated software.
