IBM Corp is apparently unafraid it will jinx its chances by code naming a series of entry-level PowerPC machines after Digital Equipment Corp’s ill-fated Rainbow personal computer. Defying fate perhaps, it has designated an entry-level RS/6000 the Rainbow 3+, an entry-level technical workstation the Rainbow 4, and an entry-level commercial (server) system, the Rainbow 5. All the machines, developed in Austin, Texas, presumably out of the Personal RISC Systems division, are based on 80MHz 601 PowerPC chips and run both AIX 3.2.5 and 4.1. The Rainbow 3+ is a diskless upgrade to the RS/6000 220, 230 and 250 line, which started with single-chip Rios models and moved up to the first PowerPC implementation in the 250. It will include from 16Mb to 256Mb RAM using PS/2 single in-line memory modules, Ethernet and SCSI-2 ports, two Micro Channel slots, a dedicated two-dimensional graphics slot, a storage bay and an optional 3.5 drive. The desktop Rainbow 4, which also has a Rainbow 4L2 partner with second level cache, is an expandable client machine that measures 17.5 by 4.5 by 18. It is configured similarly to the 3+, but includes entry two-dimensional and three-dimensional and technical two-dimensional graphics options and perhaps an audio port. It also includes two storage bays and a media bay. The Rainbow 5 and Rainbow 5L2 are commercial servers packaged in a compact mini-tower design measuring 7.5 by 16 by 16. The machine will be upgradable to the 604 PowerPC chip in future and will also come with a future 1Mb level 2 cache option. It will apparently be available with two 3.5 disk bays, two 5.25 media bays, a 3.5 floppy bay and four Micro Channel slots, one designated for a connection board. All the machines are said to be based on 250 architecture, which used 66MHz 601s, but they are not expected until well into next quarter. Meanwhile, an 80MHz 601 PowerPC box looks ready to creep into the RS/6000 line in April under the Model 370 Rios system as the C10 – a 16Mb-to-1Gb internal machine that includes a CD-ROM and offers 115 transactions per second, with four slots and two bays for disk memory. In April, IBM’s RS/6000 division will also reportedly introduce a bunch of RS/6000 uniprocessors based on its more traditional Power2 architecture. Above the 370, the company will slot in a 59MHz Model 380 with 32Mb to 1Gb disk and CD-ROM, which is rated at 195 tps, and the 390, good for 235 tps. Both will come with four slots and two disk bays. The Model 500s will likely be topped with a 71.5MHz Power2 system, performing at up to 330 tps, with eight slots and and six disk bays – the same chip will feature in a 16-slot R20 rack-mount enclosure that will sit beneath the existing Model 990. Two other rack-mounts are slated, the low-end R10 using a 50MHz Power with 32Mb to 1Gb RAM and eight slots doing 129 tps and a high-end R24 with 16 slots doing 330 tps.
