Power Tools 1993 November

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Text File | 1993-10-05 | 21KB | 456 lines

********************************************************************** * * * ANALYSIS OF IBM ANNOUNCEMENT SEPTEMBER 21, 1993 * * * ********************************************************************** For HP INTERNAL USE ONLY (Prepared by Conny Gaus, WSG and Todd Thiemann, GSY) SUMMARY: On September 21, 1993 IBM introduced major enhancements to their RS/6000 family. This is the most significant announcement since the RS/6000 launch in February 1990. IBM introduced four new desktop systems based on the new PowerPC 601 microprocessor. Two new graphics accelerators were introduced for these new systems. At the high end of its product line IBM expanded the RS/6000 with three new high-end models using the POWER2 microprocessor. IBM also announced a new X terminal, a new 17" color monitor, a new revision of the AIX operating system, new multimedia software and various new software products. ********************************************************************** GENERAL COMMENTS ON THE ANNOUNCEMENT: * The much anticipated PowerPC announcement finally happened, but it consisted of only one system in four configurations. This is a point product, and is not the scalable product line that was expected. * Originally IBM had targeted PowerPC at the Intel and Pentium platforms. With usable configurations priced at just under $10K, the RS/6000 250 misses the mark. * The POWER2 chipset is the first major revision of the POWER architecture since February 1990. It has taken IBM three years to improve performance and even with this performance improvement the systems fall below HP's systems. Current IBM customers will appreciate this performance boost but, with IBM's track record, it will have to last till 1996. * According to IBM "Applications compiled using a compiler option to exploit POWER2 technology may not function properly on systems that that do not employ the new POWER2 technology." ********************************************************************** ANNOUNCEMENT HIGHLIGHTS: 1. Four new RS/6000 desktop systems The POWERstation/POWERserver 250, the POWERstation 25T, the POWERstation 25W and the POWERserver 25S are the first systems based on the new PowerPC microprocessor, a joint IBM, Apple and Motorola development. All four systems run a 66 MHz processor delivering 62 SPECint92 and 72 SPECfp92. All systems will be available as of October 15, 1993 and come standard with a one-year warranty. * The POWERstation/POWERserver 250 is the base system, the other three models are specific configurations of this system. The base 250 package has two 32-bit Micro Channel slots and comes with 16 MB memory and a 1-2 user AIX license. It supports up to 256 MB of memory, up to 2 GB internal disk, up to 30 GB external disk, and is priced at $5,445. * The POWERstation 25W consists of the base 250 system plus SCSI-II, LAN, 540 MB disk, the new GXT100 graphics adapter, a keyboard and mouse. Priced at $7,595, the 25W is targeted at customers who already have a color display (supporting 1024 x 768 resolution). * The POWERstation 25T consists of the base 250 system plus SCSI-II, LAN, 540 MB disk, the new GXT150 graphics adapter, the POWERdisplay 17, keyboard and mouse. The list price for the 25T is $9,395. * The POWERserver 25S consists of the base 250 system plus SCSI-II, LAN, 1 GB disk, and an 8-port RS232 adapter (occupies one Micro Channel slot). The 25S server is priced at $8,945. 2. New graphics adapters IBM announced two new graphics adapters, the GXT100 and GXT150 for the new PowerPC based systems. These 2D accelerators are 8-bit single buffered and support 256 colors. The POWER GXT150 performs at 1.6 million X11perf vectors and has a Xmark rating of 10.3. These new adapters will be available mid-October 1993. In the midrange three new graphics adapters were announced, the POWER Gt4i, the POWER Gt4xi 8-bit and the POWER Gt4xi 24-bit. These 3D accelerators are supported on the RS/6000 300 and 500 lines of systems. These accelerators will be available mid-November 1993. Pricing of the new graphics adapters: POWER GXT100 $ 1,295 POWER GXT150 $ 1,695 POWER Gt4i $ 6,995 POWER Gt4xi-8-bit $ 5,995 POWER Gt4xi-24-bit $ 8,995 3. New high-end RS/6000 systems IBM introduced three new server-class systems based on the new POWER2 microprocessor, a multichip module consisting of eight chips. The POWER2 allows six instructions per cycle and doubles the integer and floating point performance of existing IBM POWER models. These systems are binary compatible with present RS/6000 systems. The POWERserver has no graphics adapter while the POWERstation includes a graphics adapter. The new POWER2 based systems will be available at the end of October 1993. * The POWERstation/POWERserver 58H is a 55 MHz implementation in a deskside package. It contains 7 Microchannel slots and comes standard with 64 MB of memory, a CD ROM drive and 2 GB of internal disk. The 58H supports a maximum of 2 GB of RAM and 12 GB of internal disk. The base price on the POWERserver 58H is $64,450. * The POWERstation/POWERserver 590 is a 66 MHz implementation of the POWER2 chip in a deskside package. It is identical to the 58H in the number of slots and the amount of disk and memory that it can contain. The base price on the POWERserver 590 is $74,450. * The POWERserver 990 is IBM's highest performance system and uses 71.5 MHz POWER2 chip. It contains 15 Micro Channel slots and comes standard with a 128 MB, a CD-ROM drive, 8mm tape, and 4 GB of internal disk. The 990 supports a maximum of 2 GB of RAM and 12 GB of internal disk. The base price on the 990 is $ 127,100. 4. New X terminal The Xstation 140 delivers over 90,000 Xstones. The base product is equipped with 4MB of RAM, 2 MB of video memory and 2 MB of rewritable, non-volatile flash memory. It is priced at $2,347 (not including a monitor) and is available mid-October 1993. 5. New terminal The POWERdisplay 17 is a high resolution (1280 x 1024) Sony Trinitron monitor and is priced at $1,795. Availability is scheduled for mid October 1993. 6. New version of AIX For the new products as well as for the rest of the RS/6000 product line, IBM announced AIX 3.2.5. This new version of the operating system delivers up to 18% higher performance for existing systems, includes support for the new RS/6000 system, includes new optimized compilers, and provides support for OpenGL. 7. Other announcements * IBM's AIX High Availability Cluster Multi-Processing/6000 (HACMP/6000) has been enhanced to include support for 4 systems. The new version will be available in December 1993. * AIXwindows Environment/6000 and Softgraphics The AIXwindows Environment has been enhanced to include Softgraphics. This product delivers 3D functionality for 2D systems. With this product IBM is the first company to support all three industry standard graphics APIs: OpenGL, PEX and PHIGS. * AIX DEC Global Directory Services * AIX File Storage Facility/6000 ********************************************************************** ANNOUNCEMENT ANALYSIS FROM A WORKSTATION PERSPECTIVE: The new IBM POWERstation products compete directly with the midrange and high-end Series 700 workstations. The "four" new PowerPC-based systems are actually only one new system with four differenct configurations. Claiming four new systems is as if HP was claiming 5 new desktop systems with the 715/75 launch. Out of the four different configurations, the Model 25T is the system we expect to see most, competing directly with the 715/50 workstation. At the high-end, the RS/6000 Models will be quoted against the HP 735 and 755 workstations HP. The new RS/6000 25T positioned as a fast entry level workstation with very aggressive pricing. Here are some of the key issues to keep in mind: * The 25T is a point product in the RS/6000 line. IBM is not able to offer this kind of performance and price/performance on any other RS/6000 system. * The 25T is primarily positioned as a 2D product. For 3D solutions, IBM offers a new software package, Softgraphics. With Softgraphics, 2D 25T systems will run 3D applications, but performance is unknown at this time. The older Gt3i, Gt4e and GTO graphics adaptors are also supported on the 25T, however the new Gt4x and Gt4xi graphics adaptors are not available on the 25T. * Currently IBM offers only limited investment protection. There is an upgrade path available for the 220 or 230 customers, but M20 customers do not have an upgrade path to the new systems. Here is how the RS/6000 and Series 700 systems compare: RS/6000 HP9000 HP9000 25T 715/50 715/75 ______________________________________________________________________ Clock Speed 66 MHz 50MHz 75 MHz I/D cache 32 comb. 64/64 256/256 SPECint92 62 36 61 SPECfp92 72 72 113 RAM min/max MB 32/256 16/256 32/256 Disk min/max GB 0.5/30 0.5/69.7 0.5/239.8 Slots 2 1 1 ______________________________________________________________________ Entry config 16MB,540MB,AIX 16MB,525MB,HP-UX 32MB,525MB,HP-UX 17"C, GXT150 19"C, std. grph. 19"C, std. grph. Price $9,395 $13,890 $17,995 ______________________________________________________________________ The 25T delivers better integer performance and approximately the same floating point performance as the 715/50 system at a lower price. With the new GXT150 graphics accelerator it also offers excellent 2D performance. The 715/50 will have an advantage in the 3D space. Combined with the CRX-24Z and CRX-48Z graphics accelerators, the 715/50 will easily outperform the 25T. To reach the performance level of the 715/75 system, IBM will have to offer the existing RS/6000 Model 375 which is priced much higher than the 715/75 ($ 21,300 vs $17,995 for a comparable configuration). The GXT100 and GXT150 have been designed with the focus on 2D x11 performance; these are quoted at 1.6M 2D x11 vectors with an Xmark of 10.3. This is very aggressive performance and puts IBM in a leader- ship position for x11 performance. The GXT100 and GXT150 are offered only on the new Model 250 PowerPC workstations. This means that IBM now has 9 graphics offerings; two of them provide good x11 performance. They are still not offering good x11 performance across the entire product line. IBM's new 3D graphics subsystems will be welcome news to IBM's installed base, as they double the performance of older systems at the same price. They are not even close to being competitive with HP's offerings. The following table shows HP's advantage in 3D graphics: IBM 375 HP715/75 HP715/75 Gt4xi-24 CRX-24Z CRX-48Z ______________________________________________________________________ sys_chassis (3D wireframe) 36.8 61.1 72.1 cyl_head (3D surface) 13.9 47.7 61.8 heads (3D surface) 30.4 85.2 96.3 shuttle (3D surface) 18.5 41.2 55.1 studio (3D surface) 23.2 62.6 106.6 PLBsurf93 26.5 56.1 74.1 Price $33,595 $28,435 $33,435 ______________________________________________________________________ At the high-end the new 58H and 590 POWERstation compare to the HP 9000 Series 700 workstations as follows: RS/6000 RS/6000 HP 9000 HP 9000 58H 590 735 755 ______________________________________________________________________ Clock Speed 50MHz 66MHz 99MHz 99MHz I/D Cache 32/256 32/256 256/256 256/256 SPECint92 97.6 117 80 80 SPECfp92 203.9 242.4 150 150 RAM min/ max MB 64/2048 64/2048 32/400 64/768 Disk min/ max GB 2/460 2/460 0.5/126.4 2/297.5 Slots 7 7 1 4 ______________________________________________________________________ Entry Config 64MB,2GB, SCSI-II, 64MB, 2GB, SCSI-II CD- CD-ROM, LAN, Gt3i, ROM,LAN, CRX, Price $70,010 $80,012 $48,050 $55,340 ______________________________________________________________________ The above comparison shows entry-level configurations only. The Series 735 and 755 systems offer much better price/performance than the 58H and 590 systems. This advantage is even greater when systems with 3D capabilities are compared. Basic 8-plan 3D graphics are included in the 735 and 755 pricing above. For the IBM configurations $ 6000 to $ 9000 need to be added. Even though the 58H and 590 systems can be configured as workstations, we expect IBM to push these systems more agressively as servers competing against the Series 800 systems (see below). ********************************************************************** ANNOUNCEMENT ANALYSIS FORM A SERVER PERSPECTIVE: The new IBM POWERserver products compete directly with the low-end and midrange Series 800 servers. At the low-end, the PowerPC-based 25S will compete with the F20 and F30 systems in database server environments. In the midrange, the POWER2-based 58H is comparable to the H50 while the POWERserver 590 falls between the H50 and H60 database server environments. The POWERserver 990 will compete with HP's I60 systems. IBM released a TPC-A benchmark using Sybase SQL Server in a client- server configuration on a POWERserver 990. The 990 reached 275.66 tpsA with a cost of $7,004/tpsA. IBM also released a TPC-C benchmark for a POWERserver 590 of 726.1/tpmC at a cost of $ 1,294/tpmC using OEM terminals and $1,603/tpmC using IBM terminals. No other TPC or LADDIS benchmarks were announced. Some key issues to keep in mind: * IBM has come to market with some impressive technology, but they are six to eight months late and still cannot deliver commercial Symmetric Multi-Processing. * Although IBM has some impressive CPU metrics, their actual commercial performance is not matching up. A 276 TPC-A benchmark at $7,004/tpsA does not come close to HP's I70 with 411 tpsA ($6,668/tpsA) in either a price/performance or a performance dimension. And remember that HP has been shipping the 890 capable of 711 tpsA since November 1992. * IBM published a uniprocessor TPS-A of 276 on the new 990. HP has not published TPC-A benchmarks on the 60 series servers using an RDBMS such as ORACLE or Sybase SQL Server, but HP's estimated TPS on an I60 is 280. * IBM is trying to position the 25S as an entry-level server, but the system has only one slot that can be used for expansion. This is not a scalable, expandable system on which customers might want to build a business; it is a workstation masquerading as a server. * IBM's high availability (HACMP/6000) is unproven with few reference sites and the AIX operating system is relatively new with uncertain quality. * Applications hoping to take advantage of the new POWER2 processor's power must be recompiled (although applications can be run without recompilation). * IBM is splitting its microprocessor development efforts between the PowerPC and the POWER2 chipsets. These are two product portfolios that are not necessarily completely object code compatible. Applications optimized for POWER2 will not function properly on the PowerPC. HP provides a scalable environment with object code compatibility across workstations and servers. * HP concentrates its efforts on one chipset for workstations AND servers - PA-RISC. Customers can count on HP's innovation in CPU technology while IBM customers have to wonder if the processor they choose is the same one on which IBM focuses innovation. * As IBM struggles through its business realignment, it continues to view the RS/6000 as a workstation business, not a commercially- focused business. Evidence of this is found in IBM's focus on workstation metrics and its providing only average commercial performance. Here is how the new RS/6000's and comparable Series 800 systems match up: RS/6000 25S HP9000 F20 HP9000 F30 ______________________________________________________________________ Clock Speed 66 MHz 48 MHz 48 MHz I/D Cache KB 32 comb. 64/64 256/256 TPS* 105 85 120 SPECint92 62.6 33.6 37.8 SPECfp92 72.2 56.1 62.4 RAM min/max MB 16/256 16/384 16/384 Int. disk std/max 1/2 GB 0.5/2 GB 566MB/6GB Slots 1 2 2 ______________________________________________________________________ Entry Config 16MB,1GB,AIX 16MB,566MB, 16MB,566MB, HP-UX,2GB DDS HP-UX,2GB DDS console console Entry Price $10,740 $13,500 $15,000 ______________________________________________________________________ RS/6000 58H HP9000 H50 ______________________________________________________________________ Clock Speed 55 MHz 96 MHz I/D Cache KB 32/256 256/256 TPS* 205 190 SPECint92 97.6 78.3 SPECfp92 203.9 141.6 RAM min./max 64 MB/2 GB 64/768 MB Int. disk std/max 2/12 GB 566MB/6GB Slots 7 8 ______________________________________________________________________ Entry Config 64 MB,2GB,AIX 64MB,1GB,HP-UX CD-ROM 2GB DDS,console Entry Price $64,450 $68, 000 ______________________________________________________________________ RS/6000 590 HP9000 H60 ______________________________________________________________________ Clock Speed 55 MHz 96 MHz I/D Cache 32/256 256/256 TPS* 245 280 SPECint92 117 82 SPECfp92 242.4 171.8 RAM min./max 64 MB/2 GB 64/768MB Int. disk std/max 2/12 GB 566MB/6GB Slots 7 8 ______________________________________________________________________ Entry Config 64MB,2GB,AIX 64MB,1GB,HP-UX CD-ROM 2GB DDS console Entry Price $74,450 $83,000 ______________________________________________________________________ RS/6000 990 HP9000 I60 ______________________________________________________________________ Clock Speed 71.5 MHz 96 MHz I/D Cache KB 32/256 1024/1024 TPS* 275 280 SPECint92 126 82 SPECfp92 260.4 171.8 RAM min./max 128 MB/2 GB 64/768 MB Int. disk std/max 4/12 GB 0.5/6 GB Slots 15 12 ______________________________________________________________________ Entry Config 128 MB, 2 GB, 64MB, 4GB, AIX, CD-ROM HP-UX, 2GB DDS, 5GB 8mm tape console Entry Price $127,100 $108,000 ______________________________________________________________________ * NOTE: published TPC-A results may differ due to differences in configuration (eg. OS version, disk, database) ********************************************************************* * End of document 10/05/93 * *********************************************************************