Tandem Computers Inc launched its new Integrity S2 fault-tolerant Unix system at the company’s European headquarters in Amstelveen earlier this week (CI No 1,338), and confirmed that it is negotiating a significant deal with AT&T. However, it wouldn’t confirm the massive 40,000 figure mooted in October last year (CI No 1,279), to be used either for monitoring long-distance telephone lines, or as part of AT&T’s 3B Unix family (CI 1,332). Based on MIPS Computer Systems’ R2000 RISC, beta sourced from Integrated Device Technology Inc and manufactured by both Integrated and LSI Logic Corp, the new offering is expected by Tandem to constitute only a modest 5% of turnover – $100m, it suggests – over the next 12 months, despite several pre-launch orders and reseller agreements. The Integrity S2 has three processors, and if one differs from the other two, the maverick is switched off while diagnostic tests determine whether or not a fault has occured. Running under the NonStop-UX operating system, the S2 has duplicated memory and mirror disks, and the input-output subsystem and power supply are also doubled. The operating system is based on Unix System V.3 and Tandem says that it will implement System V.4 when it becomes stable. Other features are a fault-tolerant bus compatible with the VMEbus, the Berkeley Fast File System, and a global and local memory management system. Also included are the X Window System, Network File System, TCP/IP, databases from Oracle, Informix, and Ingres, and a dual-channel Mass Storage Cabinet with two 295Mb disk drives. The S2 comes in six configurations, and the entry-level offers 16Mb of main memory, a quarter inch tape drive, and two 295Mb disk drives sourced from Control Data Corp. The S202 and 212 have up to 40Mb capacity, and the S204 and S214 have SCSI channels for up to four Mass Storage Cabinets with 3835Mb in the two included cabinets. Nixdorf Computer AG has been appointed as a reseller, and intends to launch the S2 at the Hanover Fair as the Targon/3300, to be made available from May. Nixdorf says that it will target the Targon/3300 at the retail sector, and forecasts that it will be running under Unix V.4 by the third quarter. Tandem has signed a systems integrator agreement with Sagem SA in France, which has sold the S2 to six end users, and a value-added reseller agreement with GEC Plessey Telecommunications Ltd in the UK. The last has been running the system in a Coventry beta site since November last year (CI No 1,279), tying the computer to its System X and creating an intelligent network. Nokia Data has added the S2 to its Unix family, and signed an end user agreement with the Helsinki Telephone Company and two other unnamed users. In addition, Tandem has sold the system to Bayerische MotorenWerke AG, the German car manufacturer, which is using the S2 for production control and automated warehousing applications. Tandem says that the system was designed to meet immediate needs and is the first of a product line which will be upgraded as new processors become available. The company is targeting the S2 at manufacturing, telecommunications, government, and retail sectors, and expects European sales to be predominantly through third parties.
Content from our partners
