IBM Corp’s Power Parallel Systems division says it has a handful of sites running beta implementations of Oracle Parallel Query; the database company is expected to make that version of its software generally available for the machines around the end of October. DB2/6000 parallel edition is out at beta sites and IBM has a user lined up for Navigation Server just as soon as Sybase Inc can deliver it; IBM expects that site to be up and running by year-end. It will have a demonstration version of Informix OnLine Dynamic Server up in the first quarter of next year. It is still working to get serial versions of existing RS/6000 technologies, including NetView/6000 and CICS/6000 running in parallel mode. With some 40 commercial sites worldwide and 30 more on order, Power Parallel assistant general manager Ben Barnes reckons commercial interest in the technology is now approaching 50% of the unit’s activity, and overall it is currently receiving more interest than it can actually deliver. Barnes admits that it’s only the support of other IBM technologies that enables it to operate successfully, observing that having to do all the design and development work is precisely the difficulty that is pushing other parallel system vendors to, or over, the brink.
