Silicon Graphics Inc’s going to try and wrest back some of the high-performance internet ground its rivals have increasingly laid claim to by spending $500m over the next two years to create a new line of web servers designed for use by internet service providers and to power the so-called ‘webmonster’ media and entertainment supersites. For project Everest – a swipe at the codename Hewlett-Packard Co gave to a high-end graphics server it’s trying to sell to SGI’s most prized customers – SGI will tinker with Netscape Communications Corp’s http server code and embed it in a new version of Irix Unix to run on a family of servers derived from its existing Mips RISC-based WebForce line. SGI expects they will offer the highest scalability in the industry. The first of the boxes – which are as-yet unnamed – are due out by early next year tailored for ISPs. Other versions will follow, tailored for specific market segments. SGI will work with Netscape engineers to enhance the Netscape FastTrack server SGI already bundles, with a new version of Irix. SGI is currently working to merge versions 6.3 and 6.4 of Irix into a single 6.5 code base. That release will include some of the modular kernel and services work Stanford University has incorporated into a version of Irix which it calls Hive, technology SGI calls Cellular Irix. There’ll be a new release of the integrated Irix/FastTrack code around a year from now based upon Netscape’s FastTrack 3.0 code which supports http 1.1 and uses LDAP directory services. SGI will also sell a version of Netscape’s SuiteSpot developer tools that support its enhancements. SGI’s created what it’s calling an Internet Advisory Council to identify ways of solving internet server scaling and real-time problems. Initial members include webmonster types such as AT&T, CitySearch, Discovery Channel Online, Excite, GTE, Hiway Technologies, Imgis and Warner Brothers.
