AMD Steps into the 64-Bit Ring with Opteron
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

It's taken a few years, but Advanced Micro Devices has finally launched a 64-bit alternative to Intel's Itanium processors, with its "SledgeHammer" Opteron chip. While there will be demand for 32-bit Intel and clone processors for many years to come, big jobs will inevitably require 64-bit computing. AMD's Opteron, which can run both 32- and 64-bit applications, may give Intel lots of grief if it takes off in the server space because Itanium can't run 32-bit X86 code and has its own instruction set. READ MORE >

Unisys Launches Hybrid Xeon-Itanium-Blade Server
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Like every other company selling Windows 2000 Datacenter Server and looking forward to selling Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition, Unisys is well aware of the 64 GB memory limit imposed by building servers based on Intel's 32-bit Pentium 4 Xeon processors. That's why Unisys will today start selling a hybrid machine that uses Itanium-based partitions for databases, Xeon-based partitions for application servers, and PCI-based Pentium blade servers for infrastructure workloads. In essence, the ES7000/560 is a network in a box. READ MORE >

HP, Intel Making Strides With Itanium Ecosystem
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Having a new processor and server architecture is a great thing, but it is only useful if the third party systems and application software that current customers use in production are available on that new platform. This is the quandary that Itanium, and indeed any new architecture, faces. Without the new iron shipping in volume, software developers won't commit to it and won't port their code to it. The problem is, you can't have volumes until the software is ready. Catch-22. READ MORE >

Madison Isn't Here Yet, But HP's Benchmarks on the Chip Are
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

While the "Madison" rev on the 64-bit Itanium 2 isn't expected to start shipping until sometime this summer, Hewlett-Packard has been trying to convince Intel that it needs to build excitement for future products in the enterprise space by talking about products like the Madison chip in specific, concrete ways that are helpful to IT managers--and to do so well in advance of the actual announcement. The buying cycle in the enterprise space--and particularly in the midrange and enterprise server markets where Madison will play best--is long, and if you get out of phase, you have to wait until the next cycle to get into the game. READ MORE >

Red Hat Tests Enterprise Linux ES Pricing With 25 Percent Discount
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Commercial Linux distributor Red Hat only four weeks ago announced the Enterprise Linux ES variant of the open source Linux 2.4 operating system for entry servers, and it is already rejiggering the prices in a special promotion that cuts the price of the product by 25 percent. READ MORE >

But Wait, There's More

Microsoft Kills .NET from Enterprise Server Brands . . . Microsoft Revenues Up, Intel Revenues Flat in Latest Quarter . . . WS-I Issues Beta of Two Web Services Tools . . . SSA GT a Leading Candidate to Buy Baan from Invensys . . . J.D. Edwards Says It Can Hang with the Small Fry, Too . . . Resolutions Signs Image Information to Master VAR Partnership . . . READ MORE >

Reader Feedback and Insights

We value your feedback and insights on the Windows and Linux server markets. Feel free to send a letter to the editor. We will consider your letter a candidate for the reader feedback column for this newsletter, but we will contact you before we publish your e-mail. READ MORE >