Siemens Computer Systems (SCS) yesterday took the wraps off a new line of its shiny new eight-way Primergy servers, which run Intel Pentium III Xeons but use the German company’s own interconnect solution, not Intel’s ProFusion chipset. The new line ranges from an entry-level product to a high-end box designed to be coupled to a separate storage subsystem, developed specifically for the purpose. Siemens hopes the 870-80 model will give it a leap on the ProFusion vendors, which won’t be shipping systems until later this summer.
SCS, which is shortly to become Fujitsu Siemens Computers, opted not to wait for the ProFusion chipset, preferring instead to develop what it calls a third-level cache, which requires a separate board to be included into the server. Enterprise server product manager Philip Baker said the logic behind this was to protect the investments made by customers over the last year in the four-processor version of the 870, making it possible for them to upgrade their machines rather than have to invest in an entirely new box. Keeps them locked in, too, of course.
SCS had hoped to have announced 870-80 at the CeBIT fair in March. There were delays in developing the third-level cache, however, which put it back until now, and indeed, the box will actually be available only in August. Thus, the market advantage over the ProFusion-based alternatives has been sorely reduced.
Its longevity is also under the microscope as Fujitsu, into which the Siemens AG conglomerate is pouring its IT business, is itself readying a ProFusion-based eight-way. SCS UK marketing manager Alan Norman admitted that the exact positioning of both products will need to be worked out, though there is a strong commitment to both product roadmaps.
SCS also introduced a mid-range 670-40 server, designed to scale from a single, floor-standing machine through to a rack-mounted series of boxes, and the 170, SCS’s uni-processor machine. Given the price sensitivity at the low end of the market, the latter server is available in two formats, one with and one without hot- swap disk arrays.
SCS also ventured into the dedicated appliance market with a N70- 40 cut of the 870 which runs only the Windows NT or SCO UnixWare operating systems and is designed to be used in server and web farms.
