Unisys launches Intel challenge to Unix servers

SAN FRANCISCO: Aiming to rattle the companies at the top of the computer food

chain, Unisys Corp. has introduced a new server in a growing line of high-end

computers running Microsoft Windows operating system.

Major PC makers have already signed on to resell Unisys's machines, which

link Intel Corp. chips using its own Cellular MultiProcessing design in an

unusual approach to sophisticated computing. Unisys says growth is guaranteed,

but analysts have cast some doubts on its ability to prove a serious challenger

to the dominant Unix system, any time soon.

But Unisys president (systems and technology) George Gazerwitz was more

confident and likened the move to the inroads made by Unix into the market for

‘big iron,’ the huge mainframe computers that used to be the heart of major

enterprises but have since been upstaged.

Unix machines were relatively light and could be networked together for more

firepower. "We'll do the same thing to Unix that Unix did to the mainframe," he

said in a telephonic interview. Unisys servers can now carry up to 32 processors

per machine and are already designed to run Intel's next generation of chips,

the 64-bit Itanium. The Unisys ES7000 has been shipping since last year and the

CS7101 mid-range was announced on Monday.

These servers also cost less than Unix machines, which is an advantage in the

current tough economy, Gazerwitz said, though it may take longer time for

customers to buy them. Vice president and general manager (product and program

management), Jim Page said customers who began with Microsoft could stick with

familiar technology as they grew, thanks to Unisys servers and Microsoft 2000

Datacenter, which debuted late in the year.

"We now handle databases of the size that previously could only be handled by

Unix or mainframes," he said. "What I think is really going to drive this market

is solutions - Windows today dominates the application layer for most of those

major ISVs (independent software vendors). The Unix market is in the database.

Most of those clients would rather have one environment all the way

through."

Many firms begin with Windows but outgrow them, as they need bigger machines.

Dell Computer Corp., Compaq Computer Corp. have signed up to resell the Unisys

machines, intent on raising profits by extending Windows' reach. Hewlett-Packard

Co., however, recently pulled out of an agreement to resell the new Unisys

servers, saying it was coming out with its own system soon.

Unisys estimates Windows servers to cost 60 per cent less than Unix machines

and that its own server revenue will triple this year to about $300 million.

Maybe not so fast, said John Enck, an industry analyst at Gartner Inc. research

who follows Intel-chip based servers.

"There are certainly a lot of questions left about what you can do with

Microsoft Datacenter," he said, adding that the current version would not be

significantly upgraded until about late 2003. "It takes some time for the

clients to figure out if it is even reasonable to do what they want," he

said.

Companies could replace cumbersome databases running on a number of Windows

machines with a single Windows 2000 Datacenter server, he said. But it was a

harder sell to migrate a number of different applications onto a single machine,

he said. Also, companies running Unix would abandon huge software investments if

they simply switched.

"We are not anticipating a big ramp-up," he said. "We don't see the enabler

that would double or triple the growth rate." It also faces Unix giants:

industry leader Sun Microsystems Inc. had quarterly revenue of $4 billion in its

last quarter alone. Unisys ES7000 machines that have been sold so far can hold

up to 32 processor each, while the average is 22 processors for around $400,000,

Unisys says. That rises to $1 million once all the software is included, Enck

said.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.