News & announcements

September 1998

Two Weeks ending 25 September, 1998

'Screamer' board claims 8,000-Mips throughput

"Clearly not destined for garden-variety apps, the Screamer 264DP motherboard from Microway packs two 500- or 600-MHz Alpha 21264 microprocessors, each able to access its own 4 Mbytes of cache at 3.2 Gbytes/second. The company claims an "aggregate throughput" of 8,000 Mips."

 

» Compaq to move Tandem Himalaya servers to Alpha

» Tandem Commits To Alpha -- Compaq unit plans long-term migration

» Intel's Merced schedule was seen as a 'risk' for Tandem system -- Server rift widens as Compaq chooses Alpha

"The rift between Intel Corp. and high-end computer makers seemed to widen last week as the Tandem division of Compaq Computer Corp. said it will use the next-generation Alpha processor in its future fault-tolerant NonStop Himalaya systems. The move suggests that Tandem gives the EV7 version of Alpha an edge in performance and time-to-market over Intel's Merced processor."

----

"Industry analysts said the choice is a good one.

"It's certainly a statement that Merced is not perceived as stable enough for Tandem to make the migration from MIPS to Merced," said Jerry Sheridan, an analyst at Dataquest Inc. in San Jose, Calif.

"At least we know Alpha works," added Jim Johnson, an analyst at The Standish Group in Dennis, Mass. "All the mission-critical systems now aren't on Intel. That should say something.""

 

Compaq's Commitment -- VARs Fret Over Digital Alpha Future

"High-end VARs, loyal to the digital Alpha line, have begun to express some concern about the future of Digital Equipment Corp.'s products under Compaq Computer Corp.'s stewardship.

But Jan Smith, Compaq's vice president of Eastern regional channel sales, disagrees. She says Compaq assured ... VARs in a recent meeting that no changes will be made before the end of this year."

 

» Intel to axe nearly half of workforce at Alpha fab

» Eliminating 675 Positions -- Intel to cut jobs at ex-DEC plant

"Intel Corp. plans to cut about 675 jobs over the next 14 months at its chip plant in Hudson, Mass., company executives said.

The Santa Clara-based company acquired the plant, which now employs 1,600 people, from Digital Equipment Corp. earlier this year. Products made at the facility include the Alpha and StrongArm processors, as well as networking products."

 

Compaq Streamlines For Profit

"Most PC and server vendors that don't primarily sell direct have been struggling to reduce inventory and streamline their supply chains. For Compaq, with its $38 billion girth and maze of indirect channels, this is even more difficult. The company must clean not only its own huge house, but also those of its friends and neighbors...

Compaq is throwing its weight behind the 64-bit Digital Alpha processor for both Digital Unix and Windows NT machines. The company reasons that customers looking for a 64-bit platform prior to the launch of Intel's Merced chip will turn to Alpha. Compaq says it will also sell Alpha chips to other vendors."

 

Workstation War

"The love-hate relationship between PC OEMs and Intel Corp. is heating up at the high end, as component suppliers and workstation makers map out the architecture for tomorrow's workstation and server platforms...

 

Although the Alpha chip from Samsung Semiconductor and Alpha Processor continues to compete against Intel's forthcoming Merced and Sun Microsystems' UltraSparc 64-bit microprocessors, AMD has yet to license the Alpha from Compaq's Digital Equipment Corp. division after five months of negotiations, said a company spokesman in Cupertino, Calif."

 

Compaq, AMD continue to squeeze Intel

"AMD will tomorrow release a 300MHz mobile K6 part aimed at the notebook market. At the same time, sources said that the K7, which was taped out four weeks ago, as reported here, will be interchangeable with Alpha devices. "

 

Linux looms large: Intel, Netscape slap NT, will invest in Red Hat

"On Tuesday, long-time Microsoft ally Intel Corp. and rival browser maker Netscape Communications Corp. will announce an investment in Red Hat Software Inc., a distributor of the alternative operating system Linux, according to a source familiar with the deal.

The move is a major symbolic blow to Microsoft Corp., which has been pushing Windows NT server as a solution for Internet Service Providers."

 

Intel network scheme means war with Microsoft

"Is Intel now at war with Microsoft? A read of the small print of the company's "Thin Server Appliance Strategy," announced earlier this week, makes it abundantly clear that the two companies are on a collision course."

 

 

Barrett plays down Compaq competition

"The CEO of Intel today attempted to play down competition from Compaq's Alpha platform and said that Eckhard Pfeiffer's firm was still committed to Merced."

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Week ending 4 September, 1998

Why all the fuss over Intel's Merced? Look at the Alpha

"In his Aug. 10 column (see "Wolfe's Den," page 50), Alexander Wolfe talks about the technical aspects of Merced that have emerged from behind Intel's shroud of secrecy, as well as about Merced's schedule slipping till mid-2000.

Why all the bother about a chip that has yet to ship and may never do so? I've heard about another Intel chip in development to replace the Merced. If Merced slips even more, it may never come to market."

 

Multiple CPUs make it tough

"If a microprocessor can't cut it in a multiprocessing system, it can't really cut it at all. Unfortunately, myths and ignorance about multiprocessing are spreading throughout the technical community...

 

As Intel readies Merced, the competitive battleground will heat up. For example, Compaq will be working on a next-generation Alpha that will support 64-way systems."

 

Updated: MS and Compaq agree on NT/DUX integration"

"As revealed here on August 20 ( SCO ducks as Compaq lets fly), Compaq has struck a deal with Microsoft to make NT and Digital Unix work together.

 

A source close to Compaq's plans now suggests that the punt we took that Alpha would displace Merced in its affections was probably true."

 

» Microsoft and Compaq Announce Breakthrough Initiative

» Compaq to Unify Windows NT and UNIX Interoperability

» Compaq wants inside track on NT

"Compaq Computer effectively elbowed past its competitors in corporate computing today via a technology alliance with Microsoft, giving the Houston-based PC vendor a stake in the future development of Windows NT.

 

Under a technology sharing and development deal unveiled earlier today, Compaq and Microsoft will work on a variety of engineering efforts that will culminate in a future version of Windows NT containing components of technologies that Compaq acquired from Digital Equipment and Tandem."

 

Omnicomp Graphics Raises the Bar in 3D Graphics Acceleration: The New !!! 3DemonTM twin-GMX8/20

"Omnicomp Graphics Corporation reaches unparalleled performance levels with the new 3Demon^TM twin-GMX8/20-PCI, a new high-end graphics accelerator designed to meet the demanding requirements for MCAD, Digital Content Creation, and visualization applications. The accelerator will support Windows NT on Digital Equipment Corporation (Boston, MA) (NYSE: DEC - news) Alpha^TM based workstations and both Windows^TM NT and Windows 95 on Intel^TM Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC - news) Pentium^TM class systems."

 

» Industry First 512MB Memory For AlphaServer 1200

» DATARAM First To Take DIGITAL Server 5300 to 4GB Of Main Memory

"Dataram Corporation [AMEX: DTM] a leading provider of gigabyte-class memory for high-performance workstations and network servers, today announces the industry's first 512MB memory for Compaq's DIGITAL Server systems."

 

Samsung plans fast silicon-on-insulator chips

"Samsung Electronics will announce on Monday that it has completed development of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology that will boost the speed of its Alpha processors by 25 percent.

With fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) technology and 0.25-micron processing, Samsung expects to produce CPUs with operating speeds of 1 GHz or faster. With FD-SOI, copper interconnects, and a 0.18-micron process, Samsung expects to deliver CPUs that operate at 1.5 GHz or faster."

 

Bringing Alpha Microprocessor Technology to NonStop Himalaya Servers

Compaq's decision to incorporate its Alpha 64-bit microprocessor technology into its NonStop Himalaya S-series family of servers establishes the future development strategy for NonStop servers. The new Alpha based NonStop servers will continue to incorporate fault tolerance, scalability, data integrity, and parallelism--fundamentals that have made the NonStop Himalaya server the platform of choice for the world's most demanding applications.
[Adobe Acrobat]

 

Investing in the Future of the NonStop Himalaya Server

This paper examines the factors that are driving the market in the area of availability and looks at the requirement for NonStop computing. Further, it addresses the importance of the products and solutions from the Tandem Division of Compaq, and stresses the fundamental capabilities that are brought to the marketplace with these NonStop technologies.
[Adobe Acrobat]

 

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Week ending 4 September, 1998

Alpha And Mysterious Merced: Rumors Abound

"Although it's spitting up ever-faster Pentium IIs, Intel is still keeping mum about the due date for the still vaporous Merced. This has prompted Compaq to publicly denounce the unseen Intel processor in favor of its own 64-bit baby, claiming that its upcoming EV6 Alpha will not only outperform Merced but will be about 50 percent cheaper as well. Naturally, this has spawned some dark rumors."

 

Scalability SomeDay -- Microsoft Acquires Load-Balancing For NT-Based Web Servers, But Its Own Clustering Software Is Delayed

"Microsoft's acquisition of Valence Research Inc., a company that specializes in load-balancing software for Windows NT, is a welcome move among companies with busy Web sites running on NT servers. The deal, disclosed last week, gives Microsoft the technology to support clusters as large as 32 servers, providing an infrastructure for Web sites that manage more than 1 million hits a day...

 

...NT 5.0, due in the first half of next year, will also include significant improvements. The operating system upgrade will support up to 16 processors, double the number supported by NT 4.0, and 64 Gbytes of memory when run on 64-bit processors such as Compaq's Digital Alpha chip. In mid-October, Compaq plans to demonstrate a fully 64-bit version of NT running on the Alpha processor at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference, say sources close to the companies. Early next year, Compaq's Digital unit is scheduled to deliver an NT-based server that can be equipped with up to 32 Alpha processors."

 

» DIGITAL Capacity Planner Analyzer V4.0 for Windows

» DIGITAL Capacity Planner Monitor V4.0 for Windows NT

This is almost too embarassing to be real. Could this be a plant from Intel? To wit: herein is described a set of tools to collect and anlyze the performance of a system to assist in the sizing of system expansion. The system requirements include "Any Intel machine running Windows NT or Windows 95" and "Any Alpha machine running Windows NT (FX32! required)" (sic). Performance monitoring? FX!32? Get real. They can't even spell FX!32 right.

 

Enorex Microsystems and Matrox Networks Join Forces

"Matrox Networks and Enorex Microsystems today announced an agreement, under which the Master VAR will resell Matrox Networks’ full line of network products throughout its channels in the USA and Canada."

 

Compaq plots Alpha comeback

"Compaq, seeing opportunity in Intel chip delays, is preparing to turn up the volume on the beleaguered Alpha processor.

In recent weeks Compaq officials have indicated that the company will reduce prices on several Alpha-based servers, bring out new generations of the processor for several years, and integrate the processor into its existing ProLiant line of servers.

That is encouraging news to users who are looking for RISC-based hardware performance for their Microsoft Windows NT applications."

 

Computer Makers Propose New PCI Design

"IBM, Compaq, and Hewlett-Packard have created a design for a new high-speed Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus they want Intel to adopt.

The proposed bus, called PCIX, is reportedly twice as fast as the current interface, which runs at 66 MHz." (sic) " PCI is the bus that devices such as disk controllers and network cards use to communicate with memory, the CPU, and other devices.

The companies are trying to persuade Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel (company profile) to endorse the concept in place of a technology Intel is developing, which the companies fear could require royalty payments to the chip maker, according to a report in Friday's Wall Street Journal."

NOTE: 33 MHz PCI at 32 bits wide yields 132 MB/sec maximum throughput; 64 bit PCI at 33 MHz and 32 bit PCI at 66 MHz both yield a theoretical throughput of 264 MB/sec; 66 MHz 64 bit PCI yields a theoretical maximum of 528 MB/sec.

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