Although the machine has already appeared at shows, DEC is formally launching its 80486 Unix server with Corollary Inc’s symmetric multiprocessing extensions to Santa Cruz Operation Inc Unix today – and next week will follow up with a VAX 6000 Model 500 to bolster its competitiveness in the mid-range. The new VAXes are reckoned to be 40% to 50% more powerful than the present biggest 6000s, and although they will be field-upgradable, they will require new 128Mb memory boards and an enhanced XMI bus with at least twice the throughput of its predecessor, and a duplexed Computer Interconnect Interface. They will come in six models – 510 to 560, costing $300,000 to $900,000 according to Computerworld, which says that existing VAX 6000 prices have been cut 26% to 35% in Europe. The machines are said to deliver 13 MIPS to 70 MIPS with main memory going to 512Mb, plugging the gap below the VAX 9000. Bearing the unlikely name of applicationDEC, the 80486 machine is rated at 20 MIPS by DEC in uniprocessor configuration, but is designed to take up to six CPUs. Base price is $17,500 with a typical 16-user system costing $22,885, seen as cheaper than the Compaq Systempro and Hewlett-Packard’s Vectra 486 with which it is designed to compete. DEC gets its personal computers from Tandy Corp in the US – Ing C Olivetti & Co in Europe – but this machine is being built by the company – in Taiwan, and will be sold to small business via value-added resellers.
