AIX enhancements; DB2/6000 2.0 in beta
All the new RS/6000 systems run the existing AIX 3.2.5 servers prices are with a two-user licence – tweaked enough to have been touted by some IBM partners as 3.2.5.1 in early spec sheets; thankfully IBM balked at this naming scheme. New is an enhanced File Storage Facility which doesn’t now require special server software. FSF/6000 supports RS/6000s and SunSoft Inc Solaris 2.2 clients in any Network File System environment. File Storage Facility keeps important and often used files on the client and puts other files away on the server – all transparently from the user. It costs from $150. Version 4 of Legato Systems Inc’s NetWorker backup software is now up under AIX starting at $2,000. RS/6000 users accessing System/370 or /390 applications over SNA or TCP/IP can now do so from the AIXwindows 1.2.4 graphical user interface with new AIX 3270 Host Connectivity Program/6000 1.3.2, from $1,200. AIX 5080 Emulation Program/6000 1.1 provides enhanced RS/6000 access to S/370 and S/390 CAD-CAM applications, from $2,500. There’s a new pricing and licensing structure for AIX/600 and DB2/6000 2.0 is now in beta, and includes IBM’s Distributed Relational Database Architecture model.
DB2 on Hewlett-Packard, Sun – NT too?
In the midst of the announcements IBM made last month, there are also versions of the DB2/6000 relational database for Hewlett-Packard Co’s HP 9000 family and the Sun Microsystems Inc’s Solaris Open Environment, the first DB2 offerings for non-IBM systems. These new members of the DB2 family are functionally equivalent to the DB2/6000 relational database offering on the IBM AIX system. DB2, for the HP 9000 series 700 and 800 workstations and servers running HP-UX Version 9.0, will be available in this month. Sun workstations and servers running Sun’s Solaris V2.3 operating system will have to wait until September at the earliest. Versions 2 of DB2/2 and DB2/6000 were also announced, available October, offering support for text, speech and image data objects, reducing access time to data with the SQL optimiser, and increasing operational capacity by enabling the division of the database into tablespaces. The new version includes the Distributed Relational Database Architecture Application Server capability, enabling DB2, and DB2/400 host applications to access data located in DB/2 and DB2/6000 databases while the Data Replication products can replicate from multiple sources including DB2, DB2/400, IMS and VSAM into DB2/2 and DB2/6000 databases. DB2 v2 will support Distributed Computing Environment, Open Data Base Connectivity and Apple Computer Inc’s Data Access Language. As for DB2 for NT, software business manager Dave Pullin says DB2 development is well under way and when NT sells we will be on it.
New communications options
There are also a bunch of new communications options. The 7319 Model 100 Fibre Channel Switch 16/266 comes with from eight to 16 optical input-output ports at 266M-bits per second which will rise, IBM says, to 1Gbps. It provides links for nodes up to 6,000 feet apart. The Fibre Channel Adaptor takes one Micro Channel slot in the Power-based 300, 500, 900 and RXX RS/6000s and supports Micro Channel bus speeds up to 80Mbps. The Switch is $29,500, the adaptor $6,400, both from end-July.
Parallel version of DB2 for RS/6000
There was also a demo of IBM’s new parallel relational database, DB2 Parallel Edition for AIX, to act in harness with Powerparallel SP2. It promises to optimise the parallelism of IBM’s hardware, reducing response time for complex queries and supporting more transactions. The parallel DB2 will make the RS/6000 a much more attractive product for high-end users needing to process tens to hundreds of Gb of data, and were wary of capacity limitations of the RS/6000, IBM claims. DB2 Parallel Edition claims linear scalability to 64 nodes: a 32-node Powerparallel system with the parallel DB2 performed queries against a 15Mb database in under 13 minutes, and doubling the number of nodes and Gb added only a 2% delay in respo
nse time, IBM says..
Corollary wins its place in the sun
The 7318 serial communications network server – models P10 and S20 – are re-configured, re-packaged and IBM-manufactured versions of Corollary Inc’s Connection Station terminal server and multiporter technology. The housing has been re-designed and the software converted to AIX. The things provide 16 serial and two parallel ports – the S20 comes with TCP/IP and Kerberos V.5 security (which Corollary got from its Lachman Technologies deal). Both can detect network failures and switch to standby Ethernet interfaces. They come with 3270 emulation communications, presumably for migration from CICS. The idea of the terminal server is to be able to soak up lots of users without taking up lots of Micro Channel slots. IBM will be offering two versions of the software – IBM opted not to take Corollary’s Santa Cruz Operation Inc Unix support software. The P10 is $2,450, the S20 is $3,450, both this month. Corollary thinks the IBM deal could as much as double its bottom line to $20m. There are two new Ethernet terminal adaptors for up to 256 and 2048 sessions at $4,500 and $7,500 respectively. Last is the S/390 Escon Channel Emulator Adaptor for attaching RS/6000s or PowerParallels to S/390 tape subsystems which needs two Micro Channel slots – it costs $17,500. A Network File System network co-processor for RS/6000s, the 4727NC, which starts at at $6,000, comes from Dallas-based Interphase Corp: it is the third member of Interphase’s Network CoProcessor line, after the original VMEbus one, and a new SBus one.
Don’t expect any new TPC-A numbers from IBM: it’s moving exclusively to the complex transaction processing TPC-C performance suite * * * The existing Model 25T workstation has been upgraded to an 80MHz PowerPC 610 * * * Other new stuff announced includes SCSI-2 fast/wide adaptors in two versions, the 7134 high density SCSI subsystem, the 7204 external disk drive model 315, RAID storage and tape drive enhancements * * * IBM says software up on Power-based RS/6000s will run on the Power2 boxes unchanged, but concedes recompilation with its latest XL compilers is required for additional performance * * * IBM reckons 55% of RS/6000 sales are now new business wins, 36% competitive replacements (including legacy systems) 19% all new; IBM mainframe, RT and other migrations account for 14%, migration from other RS/6000s is 26%, other is 5%; it claims strong first quarter growth and is aiming for one to two weeks delivery * * * As it starts to get serious about commercial rather than technical accounts, IBM will soon begin to detail turnkey PowerParallel SP2 offerings running DB2 Parallel Edition for AIX as PowerQuery for SP2. – William Fellows
