ICL plays the two rival superscalar Sparcs off against each other in its DRS 6000 line
ICL Plc, which last week unveiled an array of new models in its DRS 6000 Unix line (CI No 2,149) has prototype machines, complete with 66MHz HyperSparcs, at its US development headquarters in Irvine, California and its UK office in Bracknell, Berkshire – the systems are not available until the third quarter. ICL claims 782 performance will top 240 TPC-A transactions per second – some 10% more transactions per dollar than the existing four-processor 764 SuperSparc box can offer. 780 and 480 performance marks are estimated at 170 transactions per second. Between the slimline deskside 400 series and the 240 desktop machine comes a new Level 300 series of low-end servers designed in conjunction with ICL parent Fujitsu Ltd. Each can accommodate up to 128Mb RAM and 30Gb disk. The model 340 uses a standard 40MHz Sparc, the 360 and 370 have single 36MHz and 40MHz SuperSparcs respectively, while the 372 has a pair of 40MHz parts. Prices for the 300 series start at UKP8,700, rising to UKP45,000 at the top-end – all are available from June. Performance is rated at between 40 and 120 transactions per second across the range. From May, ICL Unix boxes will come with DRS/NX Server version 7, its implementation of Unix System Laboratories Inc’s Unix System V.2 operating system with a choice of Open Look or Motif interfaces. DRS/NX 7, which comes pre-bundled with the Series 300 models, can run binary SunSoft Inc Solaris 2.X applications unchanged, has a multiprocessing option, and it is compliant with the X/Open Co Ltd Portability Guide release 4.
HyperSparc DRS 6000 models feature ICL’s two processors to a board design
The new HyperSparc models use boards manufactured by ICL according its CPU 2 – two processors to a board – design. CPU2 also features on the existing multiprocessor SuperSparc models 450, 750 and and 752, all of which are upgradable to use the new Cypress Semiconductor Corp HyperSparc chips. This doesn’t mean that ICL has given up on the Texas Instruments Inc Sparc line, simply that it can now pick and choose from the two superscalar implementations on offer, says Mike Coote. Coote, who replaced Andy Roberts as mid-range boss at the beginning of April, says the decision to use HyperSparc was taken only three months ago. No further expansion at the desktop level is planned, but a new series of high-end DRS boxes due next year and built around Pyramid Technology Corp’s R bus technology could use either processor, depending on which is offering the best price-performance at the time, he says.
ICL’s DRS 6000, 3000 turn into a British export success story
ICL’s mid-range DRS 6000 and DRS 3000 business grew 30% by value and 73% by volume in 1992 compared with the previous year, generating UKP340 ($511m) of revenue, which (including the applications) amounted to some 20% of ICL’s overall business last year. Research and development spending was spend was UKP70m. The mid-range unit has 1,250 staff spread across operations in Bracknell and Kidsgrove, in the UK; Irvine, California and Reston, Virginia in the US; Linkping in Sweden and Dublin, Ireland. The division has OEM relationships with Fujitsu Ltd, Acer Group and C Itoh & Co which market its kit across the Pacific Rim but it is keen to sign a major US distributor.
Oracle next up for the CAFS search accelerator treatment
With Ingres Corp and Informix Software Inc already won over to CAFS Content-Addressable File Store-based database Search Accelerator hardware, ICL says that Oracle Systems Corp has now signed to implement a version of its database for the system, while Sybase Inc is waiting in the wings to follow suit.
ManageWare is ICL’s new middleware management bundle
ICL’s new ManageWare is a bundle of middleware applications designed for client-server implementations. ManageWare is available across the DRS 6000 and 3000 Unix ranges, includes a network system access manager, a transaction processing development environment called Dialogue Manager that can integrate multiple t
ransation services, the Tuxedo transaction processing manager, a PowerManager for managing networks of OfficePower systems, a range of disk and file management systems, a print manager, and also Egshel – an enhanced graphical shell which integrates the windowing Korn shell with ICL’s GraphicsPower development tool kit.
OfficePower is now into its seventh iteration
As well as its development centre in Irvine, California, ICL has its Computer Consoles Inc acquisition to thank for its OfficePower software, which is now into version 7. The new release comes with Windows, Open Look or Motif front-ends, client-server implementations of for popular personal computer packages, offers links to Microsoft Corp’s Mail, Lotus Development Corp’s cc:Mail and ICL’s TeamOffice, X400 mail to UK MHS ’88 standards and has a new management system.
ICL’s Technology sets out to bring new DRS Unix systems to the mass market with telesales
Meanwhile ICL’s UK, Warrington-based distributor, Technology Plc, will be offering the new DRS 6000 series 300 models as part of its volume Technicl product line, the first time it has handled a Unix box as a commodity item. Each 300 model will have a parallel Technicl equivalent in the UKP10,000 to UKP50,000 price range. They’ll be offered in fully-configured arrangements according to customer requirements, with shrink-wrapped software. The user-installable systems will be delivered within 48 hours of order. Without the usual ICL handholding and consulting, they will come out at around 10% cheaper than ICL’s list price. Technology will sell the boxes via direct mail, catalogue and telephone sales to end-users and both ICL and non-ICL value-added resellers. Technology chairman Derek Lewis expects sales in the hundreds rather than thousands in the first year, but is aiming for between 5% and 10% of the UK Unix market thereafter. Lewis denies that there will be conflict with the other Unix systems it offers. He says Technology does not sell Sun Microsystems Inc kit to end users, sells Digital Equipment Corp Unix boxes only on an account-by-account basis and describes the Data General Corp, Groupe Bull SA and Hewlett-Packard Co lines it has on its books as subsidiary ranges. – William Fellows
