IBM Corp duly announced its new multiprocessor personal computer servers as the PC Server 720 and PC Server 320 – but they are far from being all its own work: the company turned to Irvine, California-based Corollary Inc for its Corollary C-bus II architecture for the PC Server 720. The server is based on the 400M-bytes per second C-bus II technology and chip set, a fully symmetric multiprocessor bus architecture optimised for the Pentium. The one or two processor-based PC Server 320 is pitched as a network management system for entry-level corporate users, and is $4,800 to $8,500. The PC Server 720 is designed to manage databases supporting up to 1,000 networked personal computers, and takes one to six processors. The 320 is to be widely available next month; the 720 will be available in volume in July, and starts at $16,000 for a uniprocessor model, going to $38,000 for a four-processor model. The six-processor model, not yet priced, is set for the fourth quarter. All ship with IBM’s NetFinity network management software. IBM also cut prices up to 22% on the new PC 300 and 700 Series and Performance Series and up to 17% on some IBM Server 95 and PC Server 300 models.
