IBM Corp, looking to cash in on the huge market for industry- standard server platforms, on Monday launched the first of its Netfinity family of enterprise PC servers based on Intel Corp processors. Netfinity employs technology and design that evolved from its larger servers and IBM bills them as perfect for enterprises running data-intensive e-business applications. IBM, which claims the number two spot in the worldwide PC server market, hopes that its new line will vault it past rival Compaq Computer Corp into the top spot. As far as the US market goes, that will take some doing as Compaq holds a 41.1% market share with IBM having only 9.1%. The new line starts with a high-end offering, and in coming months, new Netfinity servers will replace existing low-end and mid-tier models. The first of the breed, the Netfinity 7000, makes use of four 200MHz Pentium Pro chips with up to 1Mb dedicated Level 2 cache memory. In the near future, the machines will support Pentium II’s and somewhere down the road, Intel’s Merced 64-bit architecture. The chassis is designed with removable panels to allow easy access to all critical components from the top, front or back and snaps and thumbscrews virtually eliminate the need for tools. Redundant hot-swappable components, such as hard disk drives, cooling fans and power supplies are supposed to help avert down time and can be changed easily. The server can be converted to a rack or tower model through the addition or removal of options and comes with IBM Netfinity Rack Configurator software tool, for building a custom system configuration. All Netfinity servers will also ship with the latest IBM system management software, Netfinity Manager 5.1, as well as Lotus Domino Intranet Starter Pack or Lotus Domino Server 4.5. IBM says it has also done testing on Netfinity with major software products from the likes of Novell, Microsoft, SCO, SAP, Oracle and Baan to ensure full compatibility. The 7000 is available from October 31 at an estimated price of $16,000 for the 512Kb cache model, and $19,500 for the 1Mb cache model.
