Hitachi Data Systems is sticking to its shipment date for the next generation of Skyline mainframe computers, according to Chris Douglas, Systems Manager for HDS Europe. Japanese newspaper reports had suggested that due to performance pressure from new mainframes released by IBM Corp and Amdahl Corp this year, HDS was planning to bring forward the release date of the new skyline and would have the new machine out by the end of this year. However, Douglas said that he was unaware of any changes in the release schedule and said the new machine would be released in 1999 as planned. He also refuted the claim that HDS was feeling the heat from IBM and Amdahl machines, saying that the release was determined by customer requirements. However, he did admit there had been some repositioning of the top gun in performance terms and that HDS was keen to regain what he claimed was its two to two and a half times greater MIPS performance position. He confirmed that HDS would be ramping up the performance of the ACE technology – combining CMOS and ECL on a processor chip – which is the basis of its current machine but could not comment on whether the maximum scalability of the system would be increased from 8 to 12 processors.
