Silicon Graphics Inc has now confirmed what always seemed likely (CI No 2,961) and says it is getting rid of Cray Research Inc’s high-end Sparc-based Superserver 6400 line, either by spinning it off or finding a buyer for the technology. The Superservers, which come under Cray’s business systems division, don’t fit into to the pair’s plans for the future, which involve a unified scalable architecture based on Silicon Graphics sibling MIPS Technologies Inc’s processor technology by 2000. An obvious suitor for the Superserver line is Amdahl Corp, which already takes the line OEM and also takes low-end symmetric multi-processor Sparc boxes direct from Sun Microsystems Inc. The Sunnyvaler said there is interest there, but we’re unable to say anything more at this time. Amdahl is known to have a sizable war chest primed and available to purchase technology or companies. The other natural home for it would be Sun Microsystems Computer Co itself. The timetable for the spin- or sell-off is likely to be short, and an announcement is expected in the next few weeks. This comes despite the fact that the 6400 line was, and still is, a fast- growing business for Cray.
