A System/88 Blitz – And Not A Bargain To Be Found

If IBM isn’t trying to discourage customers from using fault-tolerant machines, the whole fault-tolerant market must be filled with crooks. So says one wit on the latest System/88 announcements. The company wants $20,000 for a 1.4Gb disk drive, which, in all fairness, is worth maybe one-tenth that price. Perhaps IBM would rather users bought two redundant RS/6000s, put them on a network with some clever programming and left Stratus out of the bargain? Regardless, IBM’s new fault tolerant systems, sourced as ever from a long-suffering Stratus Computers Inc, kicks off with the System/88 4596 models. They form the entry point into the 80860 RISC processors and come with OS Release 11.5 or FTX 2.1 or 2.2 Unix. The recently announced 5.25 disk subsystem comes as standard, enabling up to 13Gb of duplexed storage, and the cabinet comes packaged with one chassis and one pair of subsystems. Additional subsystems have to be configured in a 4577 Expansion Cabinet. IBM claims a performance of up to one to 1.5 times that of the 4579 Model 7XX series. The 4596 supports current Input-Output Processor storage products but the enhanced link controller board feature; the half inch reel-to-reel tape drive; half inch cartridge tape drive features; the Token-Ring IOA feature; and the X.21 IOA feature are not supported under FTX. FTX requires a minimum of 665Mb duplexed disk storage. The systems come with one pair of memory boards, either 32Mb, 64Mb or 128Mb and one pair of Enhanced Link Controller boards under OS. They support up to six storage subsystems with a maximum of 18 disk drives; a maximum of three 4577 Expansion Cabinet Models can be attached; and a maximum of one 4577 Model RNP to house eleven asynchronous 16-port IOA package 1 features with rack-mounted distribution panels is supported under OS. The 4596 models 1XX, 2XX and 3XX will be available August 28 while the 4596 Models 6XX and 7XX ship October 30, 1992. Costs range from $119,900 for the model 110 to $337,900 for the model 731 and monthly maintenance goes from $1,035 to $1,645. The Enhanced Link Controller is $7,630; the 5.25 disk is $10,680, $14,610 and $19,620 for 319Mb, 665Mb and 1.4Gb versions. The tape input-output adaptor is $7,960.

4597 Mid-Range Processors

The RISC-based 4597 models are the System/88 mid-range additions and come with memory ranging from 32Mb to 256Mb, and both processor and memory upgrades. As with the entry-level systems, the seven systems run under OS Release 11.5 or FTX 2.1 and 2.2. The System/88 4597 models, with up to 18Gb storage, have between two and seven times the system performance of the System/88 4576 Model 910, according to IBM, and it provides a single system image when operating under OS with other systems in local and remote networks. Models 1XX are available August 28, October 30 for models 2XX and 3XX in the US. The 80860XR model 110 with 32Mb memory is $174,400 with monthly maintenance of $1,130; the 80860XR model 120 with 64Mb memory costs $245,250, $1,500 for monthly maintenance, and the 80860XR model 130 with 128Mb is $348,800, $1,785 for maintenance. The 80860XP 320 twin processor with 64Mb memory costs $403,300, $1,545 for maintenance; and the 80860XP 320 twin processor with 128Mb costs $506,850, with $1,840 a month for the maintenance.

80860XR and 80860XP High-End Models

The 16 high-end models use the Intel 64-bit RISC 80860XR and 80860XP microprocessors and provide memory ranging from 32Mb to 512Mb. IBM says that they provide up to twice the performance and a reduction in cost per transaction over the current System/88 4576 Model 9XXs. The 4598 models, with up to 58Gb of disk storage, offer two to 16 times the system performance of the System/88 4576 Model 910. Compared with the 4576 and 4579 systems, the Model 220 is priced slightly lower than a 4576 Model 91X but is claimed to deliver over two and a half times the performance, and the Model 530 is priced lower than a 4576 Model 964, but delivers approximately twice the performance of a 4576 Model 98X. One pair of

80860XR or 80860XP RISC Processor boards is supported, as are up to three pairs of 80860XP twin RISC Processor boards. Each system accommodates a maximum of eight pairs of input-output processor boards and a maximum of 112 input-output adaptors with eight pairs of input-output processors. A maximum of 56 input-output adaptors are supported under FTX 2.2 while there can be a maximum of four pairs of memory boards and a maximum of 512Mb of duplexed memory under both OS and FTX. Two pairs of Enhanced Link Controller Boards are supported under OS only along with eight IOA chassis, one of which is standard in the 4598 package. Only four IOA chassis are supported with FTX software, and again, one is standard in the 4598 package. As with the lower-end systems, the following products are not supported by FTX: the Enhanced Link Controller board; the half inch Cartridge Tape Drive; the Token-Ring input-output adaptor board; the X.21 input-output adaptor board; and the half inch Reel-to-Reel Tape Drive. The 4598 models 110, 120, 130, 140, 220, 230, 240, 320, 330, and 340 ship October 30; and Models 430, 440, 450, 530, 540, and 550 are available December 18. The 80860XR Models 110 to 140 with between 32Mb and 256Mb memory cost from $267,050 to $441,450. Monthly maintenance is from $1,800 to $2,850. The 80860XP models 220 to 240 with 64Mb to 256Mb of memory are from $408,750 to $724,850, and maintenance is between $1,570 and $2,885. The 80860XP Twin Processor Model 320 with 64Mb is $539,550, $1,650 for maintenance, the 80860XP Twin Processor Model 330 with 128Mb costs $643,100, $1,945 for the monthly maintenance, and the 80860XP Twin Processor Model 340 with 256Mb is $855,650 with $2,960 monthly maintenance. The two processor 80860XP Models 430 to 450 with 128Mb to 512Mb memory go from $866,550, to $1.4m, with maintenance between $2,475 and $5,525 a month. The three processor 80860XP Twin Processors with between 128Mb and 512Mb of memory go from $1m to $1.5m, monthly maintenance from $2,400 to $3,525.

1.4Gb Disk Drive That Isn’t Cheap At The Price

The System/88 Disk Subsystem with the SCSI IOA board supports the new 1.4Gb 5.25 Disk Drive. The 1.4Gb Disk Drive requires the High-Performance IOP Board feature and the IOA Chassis feature. Each subsystem accommodates up to three of the drives in any combination, and a second subsystem, mirroring the first one, must be configured to provide a duplexed environment. Available August 28, the tray assembly, IOA board, cable, and 1.4Gb of storage costs $29,430, $49,050 with two disks, $68,670 with three, and an additional 5.25 drive is $19,620.