Sequent Computer Systems Inc hints that it has a project up its sleeve to counteract all the hype about massively parallel commercial systems from rivals at ICL Plc, NCR Corp and Unisys Corp – but it’s not quite ready to talk about it. Sequent’s current symmetric multiprocessing architecture is unlikely to expand beyond 32 processors due to the bus bottleneck, although clusters of Sequent systems linked via fibre optics are available for customers needing to expand in the short term. The pre-requisites for any Sequent technology along these lines, says new UK marketing manager Chris Elliot, is to have a well-balanced system, sufficient support from peripheral sub-systems such as back-up units, no applications re-writes and a smart way of commoditising the technology. While some hot tin announcements will follow this year, Sequent says that it hopes to make a gradual transition towards architectural selling, where its hardware is a key element in enterprise-wide messaging and workflow installations, part of a decision support and professional services package. To support these types of applications, it is currently three to five months into a search for client-server framework software, including object libraries, the company reports.
