| + MICROSOFT PLANS TO COMBAT NT SCALABILITY SKEPTICISM
On May 20 Microsoft Corp plans to prove the Windows NT really
is suitable for higher-end systems, by announcing Scalability
Day, at New York's Equitable Building, hears our sister
newsletter CliENT Server News. The company plans to unveil a
raft of new scalability-related software and technology, at
least some of it still in early development. Microsoft is also
expected to announce plans to create an Enterprise NT Server,
starting with NT 5.0. Redmond has been mulling over exactly
what will be in Enterprise Server, an unplanned NT packaging
variant that corporate users have been asking for. So far it's
said to have decided that its Wolfpack clustering, Viper
transaction server and SQL Server software will be included.
The price will be somewhat higher than the standard NT Server.
Scalability Day should also see notice of Microsoft's supposed
to launch a support program for NT symmetrical multiprocessing
users, particularly those buying the first rash of eight-way
boxes coming onto the market. "We're going to try to convince
people that eight is a good and feasible solution," said SQL
Server product manager John Nordlinger. Efforts are said to be
underway to add scalability enhancements to all the programs in
the BackOffice suite, particularly NT Server, SQL Server and
Transaction Server. A key item under development is a major
revision of NT's memory addressing scheme, now the biggest
bottleneck to scaling according to Nordlinger. NT's current
memory address limit is 4GB, but only 2GB can be used for
applications, the rest goes to the operating system. The NT
Server team is trying to re-architect the memory scheme so NT
and its related services only commandeer 1GB, leaving 3Gb for
applications. That could, at least theoretically, mean an
instant 50% boost in NT database performance.
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|||||| Digital Press and Analysts News ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Digital Equipment Corporation
Maynard, Massachusetts 01754-2571
Editorial contact:
Kenneth McDonnell
(508) 493-5258
Jeff Aubin
(508) 264-7115
DIGITAL Enhances Scalability, Management of Its
Windows NT Solutions
Announces Windows NT Support for AlphaServer 8000 Systems;
Adds ServerWORKS Features; First to Enable SAP R/3 on Windows NT
for Both Alpha and Intel
MAYNARD, Mass., May 13, 1997 -- Digital Equipment Corporation, the
leading supplier of enterprise-wide Windows NT solutions, today
announced improved scalability, enhanced systems management, and
broader application support for Windows NT-based environments.
Specifically, the company announced:
* Availability of the Windows NT operating system on Digital's
flagship AlphaServer 8400 and 8200 systems, with support for
up to eight 440-MHz Alpha processors and 8GB of memory.
These systems will be available to early adopters beginning
this summer.
* ServerWORKS 3.0, a suite of software manageability and
ease-of-use tools designed to integrate, manage and deploy
Windows NT solutions in heterogeneous environments at all
levels. ServerWORKS manages Digital servers running
multiple operating systems, clients and network devices,
while integrating and complementing existing software
management solutions.
* The industry's first support and management of the SAP R/3
system in a mixed RISC and Intel environment.
"Once again, Digital is re-emphasizing its dominance in
providing customers the broadest range of Windows NT solutions,"
said Mike Gallup, Digital vice president of worldwide systems
marketing. "Digital's range of entry-level to high-end platforms,
systems management capabilities, and burgeoning third-party Windows
NT applications portfolio make it more clear than ever to customers
that Digital is the premier choice for addressing Windows NT
challenges."
World's Most Powerful, Scalable Windows NT Server
The availability of Windows NT on the AlphaServer 8400 and 8200
systems completes the deployment of Windows NT across the entire
AlphaServer line of systems from the AlphaServer 300 and the new
AlphaServer 800 workgroup systems, to the AlphaServer 1000A
departmental systems, the AlphaServer 4100 and 4000 families, and
now the world's most powerful Windows NT systems, the AlphaServer
8400 and 8200 systems.
Customers in mid-size and large companies are striving to
combine the best aspects of client-server technology with the higher
level of manageability, service, and support required in complex
enterprise-wide solutions. Increasingly, they are looking to
Windows-NT based systems to play a larger role in these
applications. ServerWORKS and AlphaServer 8400 systems with Windows
NT give users the power and flexibility they need to meet these
challenges today and far into the future.
Microsoft also will support 64-bit data in the Windows NT
operating systems for customers that require efficient access to
extremely large databases. Microsoft's 64-bit Windows NT will
initially support the Alpha platform and will be available as a beta
release before the end of the year.
AlphaServer 8400 and 8200 systems are ideally suited for
enterprise applications such as data warehousing and decision
support, manufacturing and financial applications, high-performance
technical computing, telecommunications, large-scale database
management, and large-capacity Internet server applications.
The announcement of the ability of the AlphaServer 8000 family
to run Windows NT expands the capabilities of Windows NT to
implement the most demanding enterprise-class applications. When
combined with proven, enterprise software capabilities such as
Digital's ACMSxp. The X-Open standard transaction definition
language for transaction, processing (TP), and Reliable Transaction
Router (RTR) for wide availability, AlphaServer 8000 systems provide
a complete enterprise environment today.
Performance tests confirm that an AlphaServer 8400 running
Windows NT 4.0 and SQL Server 6.5, and Cheyenne ARCServe backup
software provide off-line database backup at a rate of 240 GB/hour,
while consuming less than 20% of CPU power. This test result is a
quantum leap ahead of previous NT backup "high-water marks" of 5-20
GB/hour.
ServerWORKS Version 3.0
New features in ServerWORKS Version 3.0 include remote
serviceability (including enhanced alert capabilities) and tight
integration with Digital's ClientWORKS, delivering a desktop-
management interface (DMI)-based solution for tighter management of
client platforms. ServerWORKS 3.0 is an easy-to-use solution,
combining an intuitive user interface with a Windows look-and-feel,
as well as a self-contained tutorial and on-line help.
The ServerWORKS 3.0 family includes ServerWORKS Quick Launch
for fast, consistent, and accurate installation of network operating
systems, and ServerWORKS Manager, a scalable solution providing
SNMP-based management capabilities for servers and LANs. ServerWORKS
3.0 is bundled with all Digital Prioris and AlphaServer systems, and
is available on June 7. For existing customers, the upgrade price
is $99.
Mixed Environment Support of SAP R/3 System
"Only Digital offers customers the advantages of Windows NT
running on both a RISC platform - Alpha -- and Intel platform," said
Toni Steiner, Digital's worldwide SAP Business Manager. "With a
central R/3 database machine, customers can receive the benefits of
a configuration that features the cost-effective Intel application
server and Digital's high-performance AlphaServer system both
running the same Windows NT operating system."
"We are delighted that Digital will support such configurations
for Windows NT," said Christa Koppe, SAP's Alliance Manager to
Digital. "This demonstrates Digital's solid commitment to our R/3
system and Windows NT. It also underscores to our customers the fact
that they have a secure growth path for their R/3 solutions on
Microsoft Windows NT."
Digital Equipment Corporation is a world leader in open client/
server solutions, from personal computing to integrated worldwide
information systems. Digital's scalable Alpha and Intel platforms,
storage, networking, software and services, together with industry-
focused solutions from business partners, help organizations compete
and win in today's global marketplace. See also: www.digital.com
####
Note to Editors: Digital, AlphaServer, ServerWORKS, ClientWORKS,
ACMS, RTR, and the Digital logo are trademarks of
Digital Equipment Corporation. Microsoft and
Windows are registered trademarks, and Windows NT
is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. SAP and
R/3 are registered trademarks of SAP AG. Intel is
a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.
CORP/97/618
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