NEC
NEC is no stranger to large systems, and the company's Express5800/1000 series servers span a range of business requirements. If your crucial business applications demand high performance or if you're consolidating several servers, NEC's high-end model, the Express5800/1320Xd, might meet your needs. This model supports as many as 32 Itanium 2 processors and 512GB of RAM. For those whose needs are more modest, NEC offers the 8-processor Express5800/1080Xd and 16-processor Express5800/1160Xd models, which support 16GB and 256GB of RAM, respectively.
All three models are based on NEC's core logic chipset, which provides some interesting capabilities. For example, each Express5800/1000 series server arranges its processors into groups of four called cells. You can partition one or more cells for specific applications. If a cell fails, NEC says that the chipset can automatically reconfigure the system and assign a spare cell to take over for the failed cell in less time than Windows Cluster Services can perform a failover. An Express5800/1080Xd or Express5800/1160Xd with eight 1.3GHz Itanium 2 processors and 16GB of RAM starts at about $120,000, and a similarly equipped Express5800/1320Xd starts at about $250,000.
Angstrom Microsystems
If you plan to assemble a high-performance computing cluster, take a look at Angstrom Microsystems' Titan64 blade server. The 1U (1.75") server features two Opteron processors, as much as 16GB of RAM, an Ultra320 SCSI controller, one or two hot-swappable hard disks, and two Gigabit Ethernet adapters. You can install as many as 13 Titan64 servers per enclosure and cable together 10 enclosures for a total of 130 dual-processor nodes. According to a company representative, the Titan64 starts at about $2400 for a configuration with 2GB of RAM and one 36GB hard disk; an enclosure that contains 13 blade servers sells for about $32,000.
RackSaver
RackSaver specializes in high-density servers and offers 1-, 2-, and 4-way Opteron servers. The company's 4-way QuatreX-64, which AMD designed and Celestica builds, is based on the AMD-8000 series chipset. You can outfit the product--which is intended for enterprise databases and edge-of-network applications such as firewalls, VPNs, and Web servers--with 1.4GHz, 1.6GHz, 1.8GHz, or 2GHz Opteron chips and as much as 32GB of RAM. The QuatreX-64 features five PCI-X slots, as many as four hot-swappable hard disks, and a remote management controller. RackSaver claims that the QuatreX-64's management software is functionally equivalent to software from tier-one vendors. An entry-level configuration with two 1.4GHz processors and 2GB of RAM costs about $7500.
For the high-performance computing market, RackSaver also offers 1- and 2-way 1U (1.75") rack-optimized servers with Opteron processors. The RSN-1164/op is available in a 1U (1.75") configuration with one or two processors and as much as 16GB of RAM, a Gigabit Ethernet adapter, and one or two hard disks. An RSN-1164/op 1-way server with 2GB of RAM costs about $2000; 2-way models with 8GB of RAM start at about $5000.
HPC Systems
Like RackSaver, HPC Systems offers an AMD-designed, Celestica-built 4-way server. The starting price for a Model A480 server with four 1.4GHz Opteron CPUs and 16GB of RAM is about $20,000. HPC Systems also offers two dual-processor Opteron-based servers for the high-performance computing market. The Model A102 is a 1U (1.75") rack-optimized server that supports as much as 12GB of RAM and two IDE hard disks and includes a dual-channel Gigabit Ethernet adapter. A Model A102 server with two 1.4GHz Opteron processors, 1GB of RAM, and a 40GB hard disk sells for about $1900.
HPC Systems markets its other dual-processor server, the Model A170, as a "one-half U server." Actually, the Model A170 is 1U high (1.75") but only half as deep as most 1U rack-optimized servers, so you can install two units back to back in a rack. The Model A170 server supports 12GB of RAM, a dual-channel Gigabit Ethernet adapter, and one hard disk. This configuration costs about $1800.
The 64-Bit Future
In its third iteration, the Itanium 2 is maturing; the processor's 64-bit performance rivals leading RISC chips and it's gaining traction with hardware and software vendors. The Opteron is at a very early stage in its product cycle. Although the processor has demonstrated its prowess with 32-bit software, we'll need more time to assess its 64-bit performance with Windows applications. A year from now, 64-bit enterprise database products will be available for the Opteron, but 2 years or more might pass before the processor achieves the hardware and 64-bit software support that the Itanium 2 enjoys today. How quickly that support appears will depend on how quickly IT buyers adopt Opteron-based servers for their 32-bit applications.
Although buyers who need 64-bit computing today have a lot of servers to choose from, 64-bit application support isn't yet complete. If you need 64-bit performance and your key applications are available in 64-bit versions, I suggest taking advantage of the major vendors' server-evaluation sites to determine whether the performance benefits justify the costs and time associated with a migration.
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