Everhart, Glenn From: Terry C. Shannon [shannon@world.std.com] Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 1999 11:08 PM To: infantino@acersoft.com Cc: keith@empire.net; ogara@g2news.com; Charlie_Babcock@zd.com; kckreische@aol.com; gulli@gss.is; dmallery@cia-g.com; alex@lincomp.spb.su; davidc@montagar.com; RLaishev@DeltaTel.RU; clyde_poole@msn.com; Grace.Brimble@iga.com.au; PORTERRS@aol.com; GlennEverhart@FirstUSA.com; loether@ma.ultranet.com; SZALEWSKI@VIXEL.COM; sakovich@hsv.sungardtrust.com; alex@lincomp.spb.su; Daniel.Clar@supelec.fr; wallackt@dmapub.dma.org; mfrazee@earthlink.net; Mulpinnh@aol.com; Deepthirteen@yahoo.com; sdpenna@uol.com.br; hedberg@ma.ultranet.com; n.rieck@sympatico.ca; paula@winntmag.com; Ken.Coar@Golux.Com; slawton@microtimes.com; nova@pacific.net.sg; merolan@ibm.net; dconnor@nww.com; gary.mcwilliams@news.wsj.com; dkaferle@bando.com; John.Wisniewski@digital.com; john_taschek@zd.com; rdp@talisman.alphalinux.org; michaelk@cnet.com; Matthias.Dolder@digital.com Subject: SKC V6N7 in PDF and HTML Shannon Knows Compaq Volume 6 Number 7 March 11, 1999 Windows NT Wizards: 2500 Techies ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ More than 2,500 Windows-savvy users gathered in the Emerald City from March 1 through 5 to attend Compaq’s Windows NT Wizards Annual Symposium. SKC was among those present for the weeklong series of Windows-centric technical presentations, all of which were delivered under nondisclosure. Due to this restriction, our “trip report” is limited to coverage of material in the public domain. Here are the highlights of SKC’s first-ever Week with the Wizards. Deja DECUS As a longtime participant in DECUS events worldwide, SKC found itself in a familiar environment at NT Wizards. As at DECUS events, the audience was primarily technical and managerial; the 400-odd sessions on the symposium agenda reflected almost 100 percent pure technology content. Several of the keynote presentations and product roadmap sessions had a marketing flavor, but the information content of these pitches rendered the marketing messages both palatable and credible. And there were plenty of familiar faces in the Wizards crowd: we estimate that at least 20 percent of the audience were DECUS attendees as well. NT Wizards Master of Ceremonies and Compaq Enterprise Programs Strategic Marketing VP Wally Cole kicked off the event on Monday morning by introducing keynote speaker Steve Kirchoff. In his role as ECG Strategic Marketing VP, Kirchoff discussed Compaq’s emerging Internet-centric enterprise computing strategy. When compared with the strategy pitch given at last month’s European press briefing in London (see “Live from London: Compaq’s European Press Briefing,” SKC V6N6, February 24, 1999) the Seattle presentation reflected significant refinements and improvements. SKC anticipates more fine-tuning before the strategy is revealed to all and sundry at Compaq’s mid-April Innovate 99 event in Houston, TX. Demand BETTER! Mr. Kirchoff’s presentation was followed by a talk delivered by NT author and consultant Mark Minasi. Minasi postulated that the PC industry is successfully foisting off vermin-ridden hardware and software on a gullible public. SKC has seen a draft of Minasi’s forthcoming book, “Software Kills,” and we recommend this book to anyone who bets their business on hardware and software. Mark’s talk was both entertaining and convincing: “Demand Better” may emerge as a rallying cry among users. More Eco-Talk Tuesday morning’s festivities opened with presentations by Brian Valentine, Microsoft’s newly-minted Windows OS Division VP, and by Compaq NT Program Office Manager David Rodgers. Mr. Valentine delivered a “State of the OS” presentation which alluded to the near-term availability of a third Windows 2000 beta release, while Rogers amplified on Steve Kirchoff’s presentation by offering more details on Compaq’s plan to differentiate its e-commerce offerings. Stay tuned for more information on Compaq’s evolving enterprise strategy. Accent on Technology Although the proprietary nature of many of the technical presentations in Seattle precludes us from providing specific details on their content, some of the session titles speak for themselves. “Alpha-based ProLiant AlphaServers” and “Compaq ProLiant 8-Way Server Technologies” were heavily attended, and replete with information on near-term product deliverables. Of equal interest were the Intel and Alpha product roadmap sessions. Intel plans to aggressively crank the clock on future IA32 processors, and Alpha Processor Incorporated’s plans for the Alpha chip are equally performance-focused. Intel architecture manager Rick Bailey indicated that four or five post-Y2K 32-bit processor projects are underway, as well as a pair of post-McKinley 64-bit designs. As for IA64, Bailey noted that the final chip layout is almost done, and that simulations “look good.” As for availability, Bailey said that Intel initially anticipated Merced delivery in 1999. “We’re not going to make 1999, but we’re on track for 2000... we want to be in the 64-bit market when the time is right,” he said. With Windows 2000 approaching reality, it wasn’t surprising that literally dozens of sessions were devoted to the care and feeding of the forthcoming OS. In its role as a Wizards event sponsor, Oracle provided a healthy dose of technical talk on its database and clustering offerings as well. Compaq, too, maintained a pervasive presence on the symposium agenda and served up sessions on everything from NT and Tru64 UNIX integration to storage futures to Win64 porting issues. Missing from the Compaq agenda was a session outlining how the firm planned to help Microsoft fortify Windows with enterprise capabilities derived from OpenVMS, Tru64 UNIX, and NSK. This would be an excellent topic for a future Wizards symposium. Station X Studios CEO Grant Boucher shared some of his latest video clips from advertisements and soon-to-be-released movies during his “Hollywood and Windows NT on Alpha” presentation. Boucher discussed the starring roles played by Alpha, NT, and Linux in the production of Titanic and other popular motion pictures. In addition to providing some compelling “eye candy,” Boucher offered some very compelling reasons for using Alpha-based render farms for digital FX. (For example, Station X’s Alpha render farm boasted 100 percent uptime, while the studio’s SGI IRIX farm was up only about 66 percent of the time.) Not unexpectedly, performance is a big plus for Alpha: “You can’t have enough horsepower... any render time greater than zero is a problem,” said Boucher. Compaq Sales Wizardry Underscoring the value of NT Wizards to Compaq were a number of sales engagements directly attributable to the symposium. Even though the event was almost 100 percent technical in its content, Compaq managed to leverage NT Wizards as a marketing tool. Customers from several high-profile accounts were present at solutions sessions, resulting in some significant sales wins. The success of the Seattle event bodes well for future CY99 NT Wizards symposia in the EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions. These events are now in the planning stage; more information will be posted at http://www.nt-wizards.com as agendas and schedules are firmed up. Well Done! From a first-time attendee’s perspective, and from the feedback we received from veteran attendees, NT Wizards was a very worthwhile event. Event organizer Gregg Laird and his team did a superb job putting the Seattle symposium together and providing an all-star lineup of technical presenters. Suffice it to say that we’ll be back for next year’s event! COMMENTARY: DECUS TOP TEN The Spring 1999 edition of the DECUS US Chapter Symposium and Trade Show is less than three months away, so it’s time to start making plans to be in Providence, RI for the June 12-17, 1999 festivities. Since it can be difficult to persuade management to send you off on a five-day mission to boldly go and seek out new technology and hands-on experience, SKC compiled a Top Ten Reasons to Attend DECUS Providence list which can serve as useful ammunition. 10) Find out firsthand that Alpha is not dead. June is way too early for a Wildfire sighting, but chances are good that EV67 technology, the long-awaited VMSstation, and new NT ProLiant Alpha boxes wll be on hand at the show. And if you’re dreaming of an 8-way Alpha NT box, you’ll be able to find out if such iron is more than a mere fantasy. 9) Live from Providence, it’s Eckhard Pfeiffer! No videotaped speech in Providence, Compaq’s CEO will be on hand to deliver the opening symposium keynote at 11 a.m. on Monday morning. Throughout the week other Compaq execs including Mahendra Patel, Peter Blackmore, Bob Supnik, John Rando, Bill Strecker, and Alan Nemeth will also deliver keynote presentations. 8) Learn the truth about Tru64 UNIX and Compaq’s 64-bit Alpha and IA64 Unix game plan. A large Unix contingent from Spit Brook will be on hand to spit out the facts on what Compaq’s doing with Linux, SCO, and Tru64 UNIX. 7) Let the StorageWorks Spin Doctors straighten out your storage daze at the co-located Storage Days event. The next-generation StorageWorks II strategy and product set is all but certain to be highlighted by Richie Lary and friends. 6) Help DECUS build that bridge to the 21st century. DECUS must move into the new millennium as part of a new Compaq user society. Here’s your opportunity to help shape the form and direction of the new organization. 5) Scarf up the latest information— not to mention some really swell trade show graft, food, and giveaways—from Compaq, its partners, ISVs, and third-party ironmongers at the Trade Show. 4) Got a bone to pick with Compaq? Or perhaps a suggestion or observation to offer to Compaq management? The Tuesday evening Compaq Listens Panel will provide you with an opportunity to make yourself heard in front of a panel of Compaq VPs and senior executives. 3) Don’t want to take the Compaq party line at face value? Neither does SKC! So get a sanity check and arm yourself with the latest rumours, product codenames, and probing questions for the Compaq Listens panel by attending SKC’s ever-popular and historically dead-accurate Compaq’s Strategic Directions: Compaq-tion Plus 1 Year session. The 50-minute talk is scheduled just before the Compaq VPs hold forth. 2) Desperately seeking technical knowledge? Providence’s proximity to Marlboro, Maynard, and Spit Brook guarantee an unprecedented contingent of Compaq engineers and technical types. 1) And the Number One reason to attend DECUS Providence? You’ll be spared the indignities of Boston’s Logan Airport and the infamous Big Dig! There you have ‘em: ten sure-fire reasons to go to DECUS. Call 1-800-DECUS55 or visit http://www.decus.org for more information. See you there! COMPAQ CURRENTS You can’t be two places at once, so SKC had to eschew Linux World in order to assert a presence at the NT Wizards Symposium. Here’s a roundup of a few Compaq-centric Linux World highlights, as well as other intriguing developments in the IT industry. Compaq reaffirmed its commitment to Linux by announcing the availability of ProLiant 1850R and ProLiant 1600 servers preloaded with the Linux OS through channel partners. The firm also debuted Linux-enabled models of the Professional Workstation XP1000. Compaq goosed the performance of its AlphaServer 800 and DS20, and XP1000 systems running Linux by introducing the Compaq Portable Math Library (CPML) for Linux on the Alpha platform. The CPML will boost the precision and speed of mathematical calculations by more than 10 times compared to other math libraries currently available on Linux. A beta version of CPML will be available gratis on March 15 at www.unix.digital.com/linux/cpml.htm. Recognizing that Linus Torvalds has no doubt outgrown the Alpha system given to him by Digital five years ago, Compaq presented the author of the freeware OS with a brand new AlphaServer DS20. The Goldrush will serve as Torvalds’ Linux development platform. Apparently there’s more than an afterglow to last week’s Linux World conference. Compaq, IBM, Novell, and Oracle this week disclosed equity investments in Red Hat Software, the largest and best known distributor of Linux. Thanks to Wall Street concerns over 1FQ revenue and profit forecasts, Compaq shares got hammered big-time on February 26. The firm’s stock dropped 5 5/8 to 35 3/8, down almost 25 percent from its 1 February value of $46.88. Merrill Lynch Analyst Steven Milunovich said Compaq forecast that the first quarter may come in “a bit light.” He lowered his revenue prediction to about $9.8B from $10.1B and cut his profit estimate to 30 cents a share from 35 cents. As this issue of SKC goes to press, CPQ is hovering at ~32, which looks like an exceptionally good deal to us! Increasing its emphasis on e-commerce, Compaq on March 9 announced the completion of its acquisition of online retailer Shopping.com, which will become an operating division of Compaq’s AltaVista Company subsidiary. Within the next 90 days, a link from the AltaVista search site to Shopping.com will give AltaVista users access to the 2M products contained in Shopping.com's electronic mall of 63 “Warehouse Power Stores.” To mollify customers who have experienced problems with Shopping.com, the electronic mall will offer customers who have a complaint on file with the Better Business Bureau prior to March 1, 1999 a $250 Shopping.com gift certificate, good on future purchases. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, and it makes good business sense as well. Hewlett-Packard pumped up its MS-Exchange solutions program worldwide, adding migration and management services to its consulting portfolio. HP says it won more than 400K Exchange seats in the last six months. Compaq currently has some 3.5M seats deployed or under contract. No price-gouging from Microsoft, says Big John. In testimony in the IT Trial of the Century, Compaq Big Dog John Rose testified that Compaq is satisfied with the price Microsoft is charging his company for Windows software. Rose claimed that Compaq is licensing Windows from Microsoft “at a reasonable royalty rate.” What’s “reasonable?” On a $1.5K desktop, the Microsoft tribute amounts to less than 5 percent of the total system cost, or less than $75. Chances are good, SKC surmises, that Bill Gates will emulate another Bill by ensuring that OEMs are “asked to contribute” a larger “fair share” when Windows 2000 finally ships. Watson and Crick discovered DNA back in the 1950’s, now Microsoft is using the acronym to promote its Windows Distributed interNet Applications, which the firm defines as “an architectural framework for building modern, scalable, multitier distributed computing solutions that can be delivered over any network and offers a unified approach for integrating the Web and client/server and host computing models.” To guard against genetic drift in cyberspace, Compaq and Microsoft last month established the world’s first network of worldwide Architecture Services Labs for Windows DNA. The labs will aid customers in the rapid development and deployment of Windows DNA apps. Compaq will train 200 Compaq Solutions Architects for Microsoft Technologies with specialist training in Windows DNA by December 2000. The first three labs will be located in New York, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. Windows DNA consultants from Compaq and Microsoft will staff each site. Compaq Computer Asia VP Paul Chan thinks his firm has weathered the worst of the Asian Flu. The Asia Pacific region, excluding China and Japan, accounted for approximately 5 percent of Compaq’s FY98 global revenue. Sales shrank by 6.1 percent in the region in 1998, compared with a 15.8 percent contraction by the industry as a whole. Chan expects revenue to grow twice as fast as the marketplace in FY99 after a strong 4FQ98 performance. In news from Cupertino, Compaq’s Tandem Division announced that Ameritech has installed Compaq’s Home Location Register (HLR) and Authentication Center (AC) apps running on NonStop IN platforms. The Intelligent Network Service Control Point Platform provides Ameritech with home location and authentication center capabilities for a portion of its cellular customers in the Detroit, MI area. Hewlett-Packard announced major enhancements to HP-UX 11. The firm also said that unlimited-user HP-UX licenses will be available with HP 9000 D-, K- and T-Class servers at no charge through April 30. An unlimited HP-UX 11 license will be bundled at no additional cost with the V2500 enterprise server. The latest OS enhancements include 32-way CPU and 32GB memory support for the top-of-the-line V2500. HP claims that HP-UX has over 25,000 installations, the largest of any 64-bit OS. With an installed base of more than 165K Digital UNIX-based AlphaServers, Compaq might claim otherwise. HP’s announcement last week that it would spin off its measurement business attracted plenty of media attention. The best summary we’ve seen is “Lew’s Platter Shatters,” a research note penned by Illuminata, Inc. analyst Jonathan Eunice. “Much ink and many pixels have been spilt, and will be spilt, discussing Hewlett-Packard’s breakup. Without duplicating that coverage, we’d like to understand why HP’s Measurement, Computing and Communications strategy failed. The most damning theory doesn’t indict CEO Lew Platt and his team. Instead, maybe HP as a whole simply doesn't have the genes for rapid assimilation and adaptation,” opined Eunice. We tend to agree, and note that HP today exhibits many of the symptoms that plagued DEC in the late 80’s when it was at the top of the champ to chump cycle. More info on Illuminata research is at www.illuminata.com. Compaq and Polaris Communications announced a technical and marketing alliance aimed at providing direct channel connections between Compaq Himalaya NonStop computers and IBM or plug-compatible mainframes. Under the pact, Compaq will use Polaris’ high-speed PCI-to-ESCON adapter cards to run ServerNet between Himalaya and mainframe systems. The connection between ServerNet and ESCON is via an NT-based Compaq ProLiant with an embedded Polaris ES Connect adaptor. The ES Connect solution enables NonStop kernel users to achieve SNA throughput of over 8.2MB/sec. A Compaq ProLiant 7000 set a new land speed record by achieving world-record Exchange Server performance numbers on the Microsoft Messaging Application Program Interface Messaging Benchmark (MMB) on any two-processor or four-processor platform. The results include 21,500 MMB on a 4-CPU 450MHz Pentium II Xeon system and 14,600 MMB on a 2-CPU 450MHz box. MMB measures throughput in terms of a specific profile of user actions, executed over an 8-hour day. Think small. Compaq last week unveiled the Aero 2100, the firm’s first offering in the palm-size PC marketplace. The Windows CE-based Aero 2100 is the industry’s first shipping palmtop PC with a reflective color TFT screen. The system measures about 5 1/4 by 3 1/3 by 3/4 inches and weighs under 11 ounces. It comes with a rechargeable Li-Ion battery and 8MB or 16MB of memory. Users can download free AudiblePlayer software to transform their Aero 2100s into Internet audio players. The Aero 2100 is available in three models priced from $449 to $549. It’s available from partners, retailers, and on the web at www.directplus.compaq.com. Compaq currently maintains research and development facilities in Palo Alto, CA, Cambridge, MA, Bellevue, WA, Austin, TX, and on Australia’s Gold Coast. Soon to join these is a new $30M R&D center in Taiwan. Across the straits on the mainland, Eckhard Pfeiffer dropped in for a four-day visit to the People’s Republic of China. The CEO officiated at the opening of Beijing's first online bookstore, delivered a keynote address at the Compaq Government Leaders’ Forum on E-Commerce, and announced Compaq’s plans to invest more than $30M to help the PRC develop its IT infrastructure and software skills in the areas of e-commerce and systems integration. Pfeiffer also inked an agreement with the China National Computer Software and Technology Service Corporation (CS&S) to co-develop an enhanced and localized 64-bit UNIX for the PRC market. Compaq will provide CS&S with Tru64 UNIX source code to develop COSIX64. The new Chinese UNIX will be fully binary compatible with Compaq's Tru64 UNIX. Compaq will also offer CS&S full technical support in the development of COSIX64. Compaq and CS&S will engage in joint marketing efforts to promote the new 64-bit Chinese UNIX in the PRC market, a move Compaq hopes will position it as the UNIX vendor of choice in China. For the second year in a row box-counter IDC named Compaq Number One in disk storage, with consolidated annual storage system revenue of over $5.5B in 1998. IDC also ranked Compaq Number One in 1997 with $4.9B. The research firm credits Compaq’s success to the integration of Digital, and believes Compaq will maintain its leadership in 1999. Compaq announced price reductions of up to 9 percent on selected Deskpro EP Series models and 11 percent on selected Armada 1750 and Armada 7400 models, as well as the ArmadaStation II Desktop Expansion Base. Not unexpectedly, Compaq wasted no time fielding new 500MHz Pentium III additions to the Compaq Professional Workstation AP200, AP400, and AP500 product lines after last month’s Pentium III chip announcement. In addition to debuting high-end complements to the AP family, Compaq equipped the new models with wide Ultra2 SCSI controllers and hard drives, as well as new 10GB 7200 rpm Ultra ATA drive options. Also available are new Matrox Millenium graphics cards, PowerStorm 350 support on the AP500, and new 15” and 18” flat-panel display options. Street prices range from $2262 for an entry 500MHz AP200 to $4907 for a fully-loaded AP500. Capitalizing on AMD’s announcement of 350MHz, 366MHz, and 380MHz Mobile K6-2 CPUs, Compaq unveiled three new Presario notebooks equipped with 350Mhz and 380MHz AMD parts. Compaq is the first OEM to use the new processors. The new notebooks include the 350MHz Presario 1270 and 1670, and the 380MHz Presario 1675. The low-end 1270 goes for $1,699, while the 1670 lists for $1,999. The top of the line 1675 costs $2,399. Online software purveyor Beyond. com inked a pact with Compaq to deliver software and support services via the Internet. The agreement will make available new online software services to members of Compaq’s CSA program. Got some Compaq Faqs? Why not send your news to +1 508 881 5563 or email shannon@world.std.com. DIGITAL DISPATCHES Reperire veritas post unus Martius, perubique VMS omnipotens, liber quod publicus DECUS uti illudere. Thus began a cryptic email missive that made its way to the DogHouse late last month. Loosely translated, the screed reveals the availability of gratis OpenVMS Hobbyist Licenses for Alpha users! The OpenVMS Hobbyist Program V2.0 software now includes OpenVMS VAX V7.2 and prior versions, OpenVMS Alpha V7.2 and prior versions, Motif, TCP/IP, programming languages including C, FORTRAN, and Pascal; and a slew of layered products. The key caveat is that the software must be used for noncommercial purposes. Do as thousands already have done: visit the DFWLUG at www.montagar.com/ hobbyist and get all the lurid details. Looking for a low-end EV6 econobox? The Compaq AlphaServer DS10 “WebBrick” might be just the ticket. SKC expects the 466MHz EV6-based AS800 replacement to start at about $7,500 when it debuts in a hardware rollout slated for April or possibly May. The DS10 will also form the basis for the “VMSstation” EV6 OpenVMS development and management platform. And at the high end, more Wildfire details are beginning to slither out from the Qone of Silence. According to The Register, Compaq UK AlphaServer product manager Richard George confirmed SKC’s prognostication that a 16-way EV67-based Wildfire would ship by the end of the year. George also shed light on Wildfire’s Sufficiently Uniform Memory Organization (SUMO), claiming that latency between two quad boards is just two nanoseconds. Separately, SKC has learned more about Wildfire’s innards. The architecture is based on quad-building blocks, each of which contains four CPUs, four 2GB or 4GB memory modules, and a 2GB/sec I/O subsystem tied together by a crossbar switch offering 8GB/sec of bandwidth. Each QBB is balanced, so there’s none of those pesky slot trade-offs that can flummox TurboLaser customers. A pair of QBBs lashed together via a 4GB/sec Global Port will form an entry system or “firebox.” A fully-configured first generation Wildfire will include two fireboxes to support up to 16 CPUs. But wait, there’s more: sometime next year, customers will be able to use a hierarchical Global Switch to connect eight QBBs and create a 32-CPU configuration replete with up to 128GB of memory and 64 PCI buses. Smokin’! Want even more performance? Well, by substituting a global port replicator for a pair of QBBs in 32-CPU Wildfire, you’ll be able to lash multiple 24-CPU cabinets together, thus creating the 72 and 120-CPU Wildfire systems Compaq has discussed at DECUS symposia. Stay tuned, we’ll provide more intriguing facts on Wildfire as the system’s announcement date draws closer. Compaq will be confounded by Sun’s UE10K Starfire until Wildfire ships, but it seems that eBay has experienced some serious headaches migrating to a UE10K environment. A chronicle of these woes is at http://calculus. ebay.com/aw-cgi/announce. shtml. The site has a pair of Starfires, plus a UE6500 that was added last December as a warm backup machine after a string of hardware problems. eBay front-ends its UE systems with 47 Compaq ProLiants running Windows NT. In the Titanic Undertakings department, the Washington, DC-area DECUS ESILUG will host its March 30th ESILUG Member Appreciation meeting on the “LUG Boat,” a.k.a. The Dandy Restaurant Cruise Ship. SKC’s publisher will be a featured stowaway—and speaker—on the cruise. Compaq’s own John Loether will provide additional entertainment and insight. The LUG Boat will begin boarding at 10:30 am on Tuesday, March 30th and will weigh anchor around 11:30 am for a two and a half hour cruise on the scenic Potomac River. During the cruise a sit down luncheon will be served to the accompaniment of SKC’s food for thought. To sign up and ship out, visit the ESILUG website at www.decus.org/decus/ lugs/esilug/index.html. Be one of the first 140 to enlist, or face a virtual keel-hauling! Can “not quite ready for prime time” technology be leveraged as a compelling marketing tool? No doubt! Intel in late February pre-empted Compaq by asserting bragging rights to the first 1GHz “commercial” microprocessor. Sure, the overclocked hand-selected way-fast Pentium III bin was supercooled with esoteric refrigeration techniques, but the “don’t try this at home” aspect of the demo was lost on the trade press. Conventional Wisdom now has it that Intel has the fastest processor on the planet, even though closer inspection reveals that the planet in question is one with a Jovian atmosphere. The dog and pony show also serves to deflect attention from the fact that IA64 apparently missed its projected February tape-out date. And while Intel spin doctors spent plenty of cycles touting IA64’s rotating registers at the firm’s developer conference, Merced performance remains a matter of conjecture. In processor news of a less vaporous nature, Compaq is benchmarking Alpha 21264 EV67 parts. Initial results show that a 667MHz EV67 with an 8MB L2 cache delivers ~36 SPECint95 and 70 SPECfp95. EV67 should show up in TurboLasers in about four months, perhaps at 700MHz or so . Such boxes could deliver around 40K tpmC. RAID-meister CMD Technology introduced a new version of its CRD-5640 dual redundant, hot-pluggable, active/active Ultra SCSI RAID controller. The new addition complements previously introduced high-voltage differential and single-ended models by providing an all Low Voltage Differential (LVD) Ultra SCSI version. The new LVD controller will increase configuration flexibility and storage system capacity by allowing the attachment of more disk drives over longer cable lengths than single-ended implementations. Complete CRD-5640 specs are on the CMD website at www.cmd.com. There’s much rumour and speculation about Win64, the full 64-bit post-Windows 2000 version of Microsoft’s OS. As previously reported in this forum, Win64 booted on a DS20 several months ago, and recently was sighted on a TurboLaser. Given the threat that 64-bit UNIX—and 64-bit Linux—pose to Windows, SKC would not be surprised to see a demo of Win64 on Alpha within the next 30 days. Compaq’s Win64 porting center in Bellevue, WA is about to get a neighbor. Intel is opening of an Enterprise Technology Center and a cooperative Merced chipset development effort for IA-64 based servers. The DuPont, WA-based center will initially focus on platform power and cooling, reliability, availability, scalability, and I/O technologies. Bull, Data General, Fujitsu, Hitachi, ICL, NEC, Siemens, Sequent, and Unisys are early signatories. In addition to working with Intel, participants can lease private workspace in the center for their proprietary product development. They can also utilize Intel’s lab resources and tech support as needed. Through collaboration with Hitachi, NEC and Siemens, Intel is developing a high-volume 4-way IA64 server support chipset that will be made available to the industry concurrent with Merced processor availability, whenever that is. The “P3 Phone Home” processor serial number isn’t confined to the Pentium III processor. Intel recently ‘fessed up and admitted that a prototype version of the CPU ID scheme is included in some of the mobile Pentium II and Celeron chips released on January 25. Affected models include 333 MHz and 366 MHz mobile Pentium II processors and 266 MHz and 300MHz mobile Celerons housed in the mobile module chip package. Already suffering from P3-related publicity, Intel dubbed the serial number an “errata” and issued a fix that’ll disable the 96-bit number in the BIOS. Aiming to render Alpha-Instead an attractive alternative to Intel-Inside, Compaq’s Japanese subsidiary Compaq Computer KK cut prices by as much as 24 percent on EV56-based WNT AlphaServers. The firm reduced the cost of all Digital Server 3300, 5300, 7300 series models. The least expensive 3305 is now priced at 820K yen, down 10 percent, while the 7310R is now 2.69M yen, a 24 percent reduction. Compaq Computer KK also cut prices on memory and peripherals by up to 44 percent. What does it cost to roll your own Alpha econobox? Less than you might think. According to information on the Universal Computer Technologies website at www.fidalgo.net/~uct, a 533MHz 21164 CPU and 164UX2 motherboard bundle can be had for $1,100, which is one of the best prices we’ve seen. The firm also offers 600MHz through 667MHz 21164 processor and motherboard combinations, as well as a 264DP2 motherboard equipped with a 500MHz 21264 for $6,200. According to VMS Guru and Museum Piece Andy Goldstein, it took 200 person-years to port OpenVMS from VAX to Alpha. Hmmm... just imagine what the Merced crowd faces! Compaq quietly announced a new Memory Channel product line. The CCMAB System Area Network family provides an updated System Area Network interconnect that delivers higher performance and greater geographic separation to clustered SMP systems. The CCHMB family, which includes a System Area Network controller, an eight-port hub, expansion line cards, cables, and fiber optic converters, is supported on the AlphaServer GS140, GS60, and 4100 systems running Tru64 UNIX V4.0f with TruCluster V1.6, and by OpenVMS V7.2-H2 and V7.2. Looking to trade in your AlphaServer 1000 or 1000A and move up to a new DS20 system? Buy a DS20 by June 30, 1999 and Compaq will give you a $5K instant rebate. There’s one catch: the DS20 configuration must cost $40K or more to qualify for this deal. There’s been a reorg in Compaq’s workstation group, but rumours that Compaq is getting out of the workstation business are greatly exaggerated. We’ll have more information on the resource realignment and its implications, e.g. more reliance on API and Samsung at the low end, in a future issue of SKC.