NEC introduces continuous availability, fault tolerant server series in North AmericaBoxborough 11 September 2001 NEC Computers Inc., a provider of mobile, desktop and server computing solutions for the enterprise market, has launched a new line of Fault Tolerant servers for the North American marketplace. The NEC Express5800/ft series is based on Intel Corporation's Pentium III processors and runs on Microsoft's Windows 2000 Advanced Server operating system.
NEC's Express5800/ft series provides users with continuous availability, which means the servers are designed to prevent interruption of service, data loss and data corruption in the event of a hardware problem or maintenance servicing. The systems are also uniquely designed for easy implementation, as they require only typical hardware or software configuration and support standard Windows applications. These features help to minimise IT staff training requirements and enable the use of commercially available software, which helps reduce total cost of ownership.
All of NEC's new fault tolerant servers are based on fault tolerant technology licensed from Stratus Technologies. NEC's first available fault tolerant server, the Express5800/320La, is available through select Value Added Resellers (VARs) in North America. Additional fault tolerant servers will be announced by NEC through 2002.
The Express5800/ft series employs a unique design that allows all processing and input/output (I/O) commands to run on redundant components in lockstep. The servers include multiple CPU processing modules, multiple I/O-PCI modules, power supplies and hard disk drive (HDDs) running in what is called an "Active/Active" mode. The redundant components in each module process identical data at the same time. In the event of a hardware failure or hardware error, the defective module is instantly isolated without losing memory state or processing instructions. The end result is a far higher level of system integrity and stability when compared to non-fault-tolerant systems.
In contrast, typical high-availability system designs such as cluster systems are designed to recover from failure quickly, losing memory and potentially corrupting data in the process.
NEC Computers' Express5800/ft server series expands the use of fault tolerant systems into branch office and infrastructure intensive enterprise environments, back office retail environments, and the small- to medium-sized enterprise, among others. In all of these applications, NEC's low entry price allows fault tolerant technology to be used in applications where high availability systems may not have been possible before.
Traditional use of fault tolerant technology has been in financial services and communications, where a server outage can cost a company millions of dollars. In those environments fault tolerant systems can cost up to $200,000 or more. The NEC Express5800/ft server series addresses business applications where downtime may cost less, but are equally critical to the businesses that use them.
NEC's Express5800/320La employs two single-CPU processing modules, two I/O modules, two I/O-PCI modules and two power supplies in a compact housing. Dual processing modules, with each module containing two CPUs, are expected to be available in quarter 4 of 2001. As the first in NEC's series of fault tolerant servers, the Express5800/320La showcases the features and benefits offered by continuously available server technology. Many hardware and software features will be shared by additional fault tolerant servers introduced by NEC into 2002.
The Express5800/320La serer is shipped with an enhanced version of NEC's ESMPRO Management Suite, which is designed to exploit the new features of the FT Series. Based on industry standard SNMP, ESMPRO for the FT Series provides a tool to monitor, control, and manage the Express5800/320La server across a network from a management console. Additionally, ESMPRO for the FT Series can be integrated into leading enterprise monitoring environments such as Tivoli Enterprise, HP OpenView and CA UniCenter TNG.
In addition to standards based network management support, the Express5800/320La server features hardware-integrated remote-management capabilities. This built-in solution provides remote emergency access and control of server resources via LAN or standard modem connection, allowing remote power control, remote event log access, or remote console redirection, regardless of the state of the operating system or the network. This capability eliminates the need for expensive remote-management add-in cards typically found in the industry.
Fault tolerant software features available with the Express5800/320La include the following software packages and attributes: Already shipping in Japan, the Express5800/320La server is available immediately for order in North America at a list price of $19,997.00 US. Dual Processor models are now available for order and will likely be shipping in quarter 4 of 2001 at a list price of $21,975.00 US for a fully redundant system consisting of Pentium III/800MHz Intel CPUs, 256MB RAM, integrated 10/100 Networking and Windows 2000 Advanced Server with a 25-user pack license. Current models are available in pedestal format, while future models will also include 8U rack-mounted models.
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