Features - Storage Innovations:

NEC INTRODUCES ITS EXPRESS5800/1000 SERVER SERIES BRAND

NEC Solutions (America) Inc, a leading provider of business solutions and services for the high-end commercial and technical markets in North America, has unveiled a new brand name in North America for its 64-bit, Intel Itanium 2-based computer systems: the Express5800/1000 series (previously known as the TX7 series). Leveraging pioneering technology from its SX series supercomputers and mainframe systems, the new Express5800/1000 series continues NEC Solutions America's relentless drive to provide technology solutions that offer breakthrough levels of performance, reliability and scalability. Because the systems use Intel Itanium 2 processors and NEC's scalar computing architecture, users are ensured a non-proprietary platform that costs dramatically less than many proprietary computer systems offering less performance.

"The introduction of the Express5800/1000 series provides the technical computing community with new options for Intel Itanium based computing. The entry of an NEC product should help accelerate the growth of the IA-64 technology ecosystem," said Christopher Willard, vice president, high performance technology, IDC. "We believe this product is targeted at the technical enterprise market segment -- one of the strongest components of the technical computing market. This segment places a high value on the ability to support large numbers of users, ease of system management, and overall system stability. NEC Corporation's experience in technical computing dates back at least to the mid 1980's, with the introduction of its SX line of vector systems. This experience combined with NEC's mainframe expertise can pay dividends for organizations with requirements to provide high levels of service in complex technical computing environments."

New Possibilities for Improving Performance

The new Itanium 2-based systems from NEC Solutions America open the door to new ways of improving performance. Itanium 2 processors combined with NEC scalar computing technology make it possible to address significantly larger amounts of memory than 32-bit systems, and to address memory faster than has been previously possible with 64-bit systems offering less processor scalability. LINPACK1 benchmark scores for a 32-way Express5800/1000 server achieved 101.77 GFLOPS, the highest performance rating to date achieved by a 32-way Intel-based system.

This outstanding computing ability puts the server squarely into datacenter applications and other data intensive and computationally intense environments such as scientific research and engineering analysis.

"The NEC Solutions America Express5800/1000 series is a great example of a large scale system built on the Itanium 2 processor that provides the performance, scalability and reliability needed by enterprise and technical computing customers, and delivers it at lower cost and better price-performance than proprietary systems," said Mike Fister, senior vice president and general manager, Intel Enterprise Platforms Group.

Scalability

The raw computing power of up to 32 processors, flexible partitioning, and the capability of running different operating systems simultaneously gives users many new options for server consolidation and expansion. The ability to consolidate server farms onto a more powerful platform will greatly simplify network management and reduce overall operations costs.

The Express5800/1000 series may be partitioned at the hardware level, enabling each subsystem to operate as an independent computer system. It is possible to divide the 32-CPU system into eight sub-systems, each of which contains four CPU's, and let them each operate separately. In this way it is possible to allocate processor capacity according to workload status, resulting in flexible system operation and guaranteed security.

STREAMS benchmark tests performed by NEC Solutions America demonstrate linear scaling capabilities to 32 processors (8 cells, 4 processors per cell) with no overhead added as the number of processors is increased. The scaling capability, in conjunction with the performance of the Intel Itanium 2 processor family, clearly positions the Express5800/1000 series as a significant High Performance Computing (HPC) platform.

"Business and scientific communities are demonstrating great interest in the new possibilities offered from a 32-processor system," said Dave McAllister, marketing director, 64-bit systems for NEC Solutions America. "The Express5800/1000 series represents enormous potential for end users to take leadership roles in developing new solutions that can leverage existing industry-standard technologies."

High Reliability

NEC's expertise in supercomputing, mainframe systems and fault tolerant technology have all contributed to the inherent reliability of the NEC Express5800/1000 series design.

The Express5800/1000 series is designed with redundant components, leading to a system with extremely high levels of availability in systems with up to 32-processors. All models provide technology to enhance hardware reliability, as well as offering both local and remote "phone home" error reporting and servicing. Components such as fans and power supplies are offered with N+1 redundancy. When combined with hot swap and hot plug capabilities, the Express5800/1000 series provides enterprise class reliability, availability and serviceability.

Key System Specificationsm

The Express5800/1000 server series will include three standard models:

• Express5800/1080Rc (8-way rack system)
• Express5800/1160Xc (16-way system)
• Express5800/1320Xc (32-way system)

Key system configurations included with each system are:

• Maximum memory capacity of up to 256GB of main memory
• Expansion for up to 112 PCI-X slots
• Up to 8 partitions
• Hot-swap components

Availability

The Express5800/1000 systems are scheduled to be available throughout North America in December 2002. Servers are available as 8-, 16-, or 32-way base systems. The servers are available for order through NEC Solutions America at 866-632-3226. Prices for the systems are available upon request. Further information is available at www.nec64.com, www.necft.com or www.necsam.com.

About NEC Solutions (America) Inc

NEC Solutions (America) Inc is a leading provider of business solutions and services for the high-end commercial and professional markets in North America. As an affiliate of NEC Corporation, NEC Solutions America supplies customized technology solutions, including presentation systems, enterprise computing products, biometric and information security solutions, advanced eBusiness integration systems, and professional IT/IS services. Information about NEC Solutions America can be found at www.necsolutions-am.com.