HP admits it still lags DEC’s AlphaServer performance by 10% to 20%, but claims it has the Maynarder beat on price at all points. HP’s EPS21 clustering configurations can accommodate up to 16 four-way K- or T-Class SMP servers; EPS31 up to 16 12-ways. The switch will be cascaded through next year to go to 32 then 64 nodes. EPS21 is available this quarter, EPS31 from the beginning of next year from $130,000. All D-, K- and T-Class servers can use the MC/ServiceGuard-based Enterprise Clustering. There are no upgrades for the older E-Class server and the, G, H and I systems will be taken off the price list towards the end of next year. HP’s new servers run HP-UX 10.20 now – the full-blown 64-bit release, HP-UX 11.0, is due mid-1997. HP has 8200 – due mid- October – and 8500 cuts of PA-8000 in hand to upgrade its server and workstations lines before the Intel Corp Merced processor arrives. HP says it’s still investigating upgrade paths and will go public with Merced system and upgrade details in six to nine months. Merced will run the 64-bit HP-UX; HP’s still promising binary compatibility with applications running on the PA-RISC- based HP-UX. It’s expected to deliver two sets of ABIs, for PA- RISC and for Merced, on the HP-UX CD -ROM.
