Zenith Data Systems late last week duly announced its multiprocessor 80386-based Unix machine, suggestions of which first surfaced here back in March (CI No 897). The new machine comes with up to six 80386s and, as reported (CI No 957) runs under the multiprocessor version of Xenix System V developed by Corollary Inc, Irvine, California as ATtain 386/mp. Zenith has had prototypes of the machine in beta test since February, and is describing the machine as a workgroup system capable of accomodating multiple users at both dumb terminals and a network of MS-DOS micros to create a system capable of running virtually any existing applications software written for Unix and MS-DOS. The launch was really a pre-announcement – needed because Zenith is bidding the thing for a major government contract – and prices and configurations will not be announced until early next year. But the company stressed that the machines will be built from standard personal computer components and will have an AT compatible bus, removable disk drives, an open backplane with multiple expansion slots, and a fault-tolerant power supply. The shared memory multiprocessor architecture was developed by Corollary, and consists of a high-speed bus and 386 co-processor boards. Corollary also developed a microprocessor-based terminal concentrator for the box, and worked with Zenith Data and The Santa Cruz Operation on the multiprocessor version of SCO Xenix System V it uses.
