In mid-June, IBM’s Personal Systems Group, which controls the Netfinity server line as well as PC desktops and workstations, bought a company that supplies X86-based thin servers, Whistle Communications. IBM wanted Whistle for its tweaks to the FreeBSD Unix, Apache web server and Sendmail email server to create a thin server appliance as well as the WhistleWare management software the company had developed for FreeBSD to manage racks of its thin servers.
Last week, however, IBM went to Randolph, Massachusetts-based Network Engines Inc to provide the building blocks for new generations of rackmounted NetFinity servers designed for internet and application service providers. IBM also has plans to develop thin servers based on its 32-bit RS/6000 workstations, code-named Pizzazz, and expected to be announced on September 14.
It looks as if the Whistle products will be for very thin servers for cost-sensitive ISPs and ASPs, while the boxes it buys in from Network Engines will be for those who want to run more costly (and presumably more powerful) thin servers using the latest Intel processors and Windows NT or Linux software. And, of course, Pizzazz will be aimed at those customers who want a real Unix solution, IBM style.
