Unisys Corp yesterday unveiled a new generation of its ClearPath Heterogeneous Multiprocessing, HMP servers with which it is hoping to attract its existing mainframe users that want to keep their legacy applications but extend and add to them using Unix or Windows NT. While the company’s new chief executive Larry Weinbach has yet to formally lay out his new mission statement (CI No 3,409), it seems the two main focus areas will be services, which now account for some 63% of the company’s revenues, and ‘enterprise class computing’, into which the ClearPath range falls. It has already got out of manufacturing PCs and low-end servers, awarding that business to Hewlett- Packard Co (CI No 3,376) The ClearPath range, which is designed to enable mainframe and NT or Unix systems to run side by side in the same box, is more or less split in two, with the lower end using Intel Corp chips only, and aimed squarely at the NT space. At this end, Unisys has launched the LX5000, which will run the company’s MCP/AS mainframe operating system, applications and databases on top of Windows NT. It is based on standard Intel Pentium II or Xeon symetric multiprocessing hardware. Company spokesperson Oliver Picher says this low end range is aimed at systems with 8 to 250 users. The company says at $27,555 for an 8-user configuration including hardware, Windows NT, the MCP/AS operating environment and Unisys Data Access software, the product is aggressively priced compared to other multiprocessor Windows NT servers. Unisys has also launched new mid-range ClearPath servers, the HMP IX5000, and high end servers in the HMP NX5000 range, some of which it claims will more than double the performance of previous ClearPath systems. These boast increased input/output and memory capability, and new faster CMOS processors. The higher end systems combine traditional Unisys mainframe systems and Intel processors in one box, and again enable users to run mainframe systems alongside either NT or Unix. Picher says Weinbach, who came to the company from a service background at Arthur Anderson, is attracted to [Unisys’] technology heritage, and believes the company’s technology gives it a competitive edge in its services business. The new ClearPath servers are available immediately, and replace the existing ClearPath range.
