IBM Targets ISPs With New Server Line

IBM Corp. this week announced a new Netfinity server designed specifically for Internet service providers.

The Netfinity 4000R is being touted as the thinnest Wintel server by a major systems vendor. Measuring 1-3/4 inches thick, it provides more than double the processors in a standard rack, the company said. Features include:

• Two Intel 500 MHz processors per unit — providing the capability for 84 processors per industry standard rack
• Maximum 2GB memory per unit
• Support for up to 1.5 Terabytes of storage
• Support for Windows and Linux environments

Options include enterprise racks, memory, additional and larger hard drives as well as RAID and SCSI
adapters.

IBM (IBM) also introduced the RS/6000 Model B50, an ISP-ready server from the RS/6000 family. IBM said the server rollout is part of the company’s strategy to provide comprehensive solutions to Internet and telecommunications companies.

“The market for Internet-based applications is expected to fuel a demand for hardware, software and
services in excess of $15B by 2002,” said James Gargan, marketing director, Netfinity Servers.

“We’re aggressively going after this market — combining server technology, software testing programs and ready to run solutions to give ISPs the broadest choice of hardware, software and services available for the Windows NT, Linux and Unix operating system environments.”