Compaq launches new look Alpha-based servers

Compaq's links to the Wintel alliance may still be strong, but the company took a new direction on Monday when it released its GS Series of servers based on Alpha processor technology inherited from Digital.

Compaq has rolled out two Alpha servers - the first ones to carry the Compaq badge - based on the 575MHz, 64bit Alpha 21264 (EV6) chip. The machines will run Digital Unix, OpenVMS or Microsoft Windows NT.

In addition to highlighting Compaq's play for the lucrative enterprise computing market, the GS machines show that as long as there are possible problems with Intel bringing out Merced - the first implementation of its IA-64 architecture - Compaq will make the best use of the technology which is already available.

Next year, 21264 Alpha-based systems are expected to be ramped up to speeds of 750MHz to 1GHz, with 21364 (EV7) machines reaching speeds in excess of 1GHz in 2000 - the year Merced is due to appear. Merced's debut clock speed is expected to be 800MHz.

When asked if Compaq is merely making the most of the technology available until Merced or other IA-64 chips are available, Richard George, Alpha server product group manager at Compaq, said: "Eckhard Pfeiffer [Compaq CEO] made a 15 year commitment to Alpha last week. We already have plans for EV7, EV8 and EV9. This has been designed as a 25-year architecture, starting in 1991."

However, Mark Raphael, programme director at the Meta Group, commented: "Compaq have to try to sound bullish about this, but despite what they say, they'll struggle to grow Alpha's market share. But there is clearly a market for high-end systems up against the likes of UltraSPARC [from Sun Microsystems], HP and IBM."

George admitted the company could be doing more to encourage ISVs (independent software vendors) to write for Alpha, but denied at the low-end Alpha doesn't offer anything more than Intel-based servers and workstations running Windows NT.

"Some applications will definitely run better on Alpha," George said. "Especially when it comes to floating point calculations."

The high-end GS servers offer 28GB of error-correctable memory, 144 PCI slots and up to 85TB of UltraSCSI storage. The entry price is $199,990, with an AlphaServer GS140 system starting at $399,400.

By the middle of next year, Compaq will also unveil mid-range AlphaServers (ES Series) and low-end AlphaServers (DS Series), plus Windows NT-based ProLiant servers which would have previously used Intel chips.