By William Fellows
The Monterey64 Unix camp has added Compaq Computer Corp to its ranks of OEMs – something which will come as no great surprise to ComputerWire readers – and says it has the AIX-based kernel up and running on an IA-64 simulator some four months ahead of schedule. The spur for Compaq’s decision to OEM Monterey64 for future Merced-based ProLiant servers appears to have been the recently-created Unix Developers Guide – Programming Interfaces (UDG-PI) initiative aimed at establishing common APIs and ABIs for use by IA-64 IHVs and ISVs. However, yesterday’s briefing pushed the envelope one step further, the stated intent being to create wherever possible a single source tree for AIX-on-PowerPC, IA-32 UnixWare, AIX-based Monterey64 on IA-64 and Compaq Tru64 on Alpha Unixes. (No wonder Sun Microsystems Inc is currently steering well clear of UDG-PI). The idea is to give ISVs the widest possible target to aim at.
The omission of any mention of Tru64-on-IA-64 in the collateral material was ruled an oversight rather than a Freudian slip. Compaq noted that it is not thinking of the effort as another ‘Single Unix’ project, all of which have ended in abject failure. Compaq VP industry standard server solutions Mary McDowell and Unix VP Don Jenkins reiterated that a port of Tru64 to IA-64 is still in the plan, although the OS’ high-end pedigree is likely to lend itself to McKinley and its high-end IA-64 successors rather than the higher volume Merced part. To help sort through the options Compaq has prepared a list of recommendations: Tru64 on Alpha for customers who need the highest performance and availability, 64- bits today and NT interoperability. Tru64 or Tandem Integrity Unix for telcos; UnixWare and Monterey on ProLiant for high- volume servers, OpenServer and UnixWare users and shrink-wrapped channel products; Linux on Alpha or IA-64 for those who want open source. ProLiants captured 37% of the PC server market last year. Where Tru64 on IA-64 plays depends, Compaq says, on what Intel is able to deliver comparable to Alpha. We don’t know if it opens new markets, the company said. Moreover it believes its Monterey64 partner IBM is fundamentally wrong if it thinks a single Monterey64 OS will suit enterprise and high-volume requirements. IBM is confused about Monterey, it told ComputerWire, it’s not one size fits all.
The Monterey64 crowd see clearly see Dell (Solaris x86 OEM), Hitachi (Hewlett-Packard Co HP-UX OEM and development partner); and Siemens (Solaris x86 OEM) as the low-hanging fruit they’d like to pick. A Monterey OEM Council will be formed in May to promote joint marketing activities, share information and roadmaps and recruit ISVs as well as tempt other Unix waverers. The project is already leading to some interesting co-marketing, branding and PR opportunities.
IBM says AIX’s 64-bit kernel, memory model, static ELF linker and loader, 64-bit C compiler and Journaled File System are all up in an endian-neutral implementation on an IA-64 simulator. NUMA APIs will follow as well as an IA-32 execution environment plus Universal Driver Interface support and Java. Support for AIX 4.3.2+, 32-way SMP, 4Pb file system, additional NUMA work, 64Gb memory, IPv6/IPsec, web systems management, limited UnixWare application source code compatibility, SVR4/5 print subsystem, LDAP, SMB, Hot Plug PCI and multipath I/O follow next year. In 2001 Monterey gets broader UnixWare application compatibility, extended ccNUMA, I20 and logical software partitioning support. Monterey64 on Intel SDV software toolkit is due in the third quarter; plus migration guides. SDVs should be available at IBM and SCO in the fourth quarter along with the Monterey64 SDK. An Alpha release is due first quarter of next year and a beta in the second. First customer ships are slated for the third quarter of next year.
Sequent Computer Systems Inc is re-branding its Dynix/ptx as UnixWare ptx 4.5 in the second half of the year. Montery64 management, APIs, developer environment and IBM middleware will surround a ptx-based kernel. It doesn’t say how compatible applications will be. Version 4.6 due when Merced arrives supports static hardware partitioning, Fiber Channel zoning and VI architecture. The 2001 4.7 release will precede McKinley. Santa Cruz Operation Inc will deliver UnixWare 7 NonStop Clusters (from its work with Compaq’s Tandem clustering technology) in the third quarter, with an AIX-informed release of UnixWare (APIs etc) due by year-end. Sequent’s UnixWare ptx implementation is due in the fourth quarter.
