Fault-tolerant systems get cheaper

By Peter Judge, ZDNet.co.uk, 4 March, 2003 09:49

NEWS

For years, specialist "fault-tolerant" server makers have doubled up hardware to make servers more reliable. Now the approach is being applied to a new area where reliability is needed -- the Intel server running Windows applications. On 10 March, veteran fault-tolerant vendor Stratus will launch a rack-mounted, entry-level, fault-tolerant Intel server. Fault tolerance has so far been an expensive option reserved for high-risk businesses such as financial services and telecoms, but users throughout industry are depending more and more on applications like email, running on fallible Windows/Intel servers. As the cost of such failures gets higher, fault-tolerant hardware is becoming a serious option outside the financial sector and the datacentre. Stratus' ftServer 3300, a 4U unit, comprised of two separate processor units and two I/O units, will be launched on 10 March at the StratusWorld event in Las Vegas. It will replace Stratus' former entry-level unit, the 3200 system jointly designed by NEC, with a machine that is twice as fast and half the size for the same price. The system is intended to support critical Windows application servers, and designed to be comparable in cost with a two-node failover cluster, according to David Chalmers, director of products and technology EMEA, for Stratus: "The hardware costs about 15 to 20 percent more, but the software costs are lower [since Microsoft does not charge a fee for the dual processors running in lockstep] and the people costs are far less since our fault tolerance is transparent to the OS." A ft3300 will cost £15,000 to £25,000 depending on specifications, said Chalmers: "Why pay more for something less reliable?" Stratus has been shipping Intel-based, fault-tolerant servers designed to run Windows for more than a year. "We have sold 1,500 units worldwide," said Chalmers. As well as these direct sales, resellers (led by NEC in Japan) have sold a similar number, he said. Stratus claims to have reached the mythical "five nines" reliability, with systems that are up for 99.9994 percent of the time -- equating to about a minute of downtime in a year. The system will run Windows Server 2003 -- and users can buy a "downgrade rights" licence that allows them to run Windows 2000 until they (and Microsoft) are ready to move to Windows Server 2003. "Windows 2003 is a big change for fault-tolerant systems," said Chalmers. "Problems with device drivers have been removed." After a chequered career in which it was bought by Ascend and then torn in two by Ascend's next owner, Lucent, Stratus is now united under one roof, with backing from venture fund Investcorp. The move to Intel processors was necessitated by questions over the future of HP's PA chips, on which its legacy systems are based. While Intel-based sales are expected to grow, the company believes that its PA systems will be in demand for some time. "Fault-tolerant customers are sticky customers," said Chalmers. "If it ain't broke they won't fix it. Many of them are putting our Intel-based systems around previous Stratus systems."

For a weekly round-up of the enterprise IT news, sign up for the Enterprise newsletter. Tell us what you think in the Enterprise Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

3 hours ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

5 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

5 hours ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

6 hours ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

7 hours ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

8 hours ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

8 hours ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

9 hours ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material

For Gnome 2 die-hards, it is possible to add icons to the bottom panel (or top top panel, if you prefer) which provide the exact Gnome 2...

9 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Your comments would seem pretty naive and immature. Your 'solution' appears to be, "gee, let's all just give in to the hackers and give them...

9 hours ago by ramwellian on Cloud computing security: no more oxymoron?

"Interesting thought ... If you installed Win7 as a dual boot on a machine that previously only had Linux, and it wrecked your Linux installation,...

10 hours ago by BugStalker on Windows 7 Declares War on GRUB

This is an excellent summary of Ubuntu and Mint and the interface differences between them. Most such articles take a very partisan position for...

10 hours ago by whs001 on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

@ewallace. Not so clear. Anyone can obtain the text, for example from here http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2379. I support ACTA so long as it and...

10 hours ago by Moley on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions

I think WinRT is fantastic. I just wish it was an option for people that didn't want to go through Microsoft's App Store with its attendant...

13 hours ago by 45283 on Why Windows 8 needs architectural hygiene for WOA

Nine people? £30m? Who's back pocket is that lot going in? And IF they say it is for new buildings, what about all the ones the government has...

14 hours ago by Burn-IT on Police set to launch three £30m e-crime hubs

Just to be clear, nobody knows what is in the text of ACTA, here is a photograph of the text of ACTA http://twitpic.com/8h9iju as submitted to the...

14 hours ago by ewallace on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions

Unfortunately main issue is that ASUS is refusing to accept that they make some mistake on this version of asus Transformer prime. 1 - GPS sensor...

16 hours ago by fgvrg56 on Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime Wi-Fi & GPS problems?

@Marcus A fair question. Just talked with Archos which said it was working on an announcement for next week....

17 hours ago by Ben Woods on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule

Any update on this, considering the claimed "first week of February"?

18 hours ago by Marcus Karlsson via Facebook on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule

Bill Goodrich : Just as al_langevin pointed out, with Windows Server 2008 there is no Services for Macintosh anymore. It's gone, not available....

1 day ago by apexwm on Windows Server 2008 drops the ball for Mac compatibility

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Fault-tolerant systems get cheaper

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

Intel and Stratus ally against Unix servers

Company touts crash-proof servers

AMD looks to ARM itself for low-power tablets

Apple tops list of semiconductor buyers

Post your comment

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in Processors

AMD looks to ARM itself for low-power tablets

Apple tops list of semiconductor buyers

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Test Analyst - Business Intelligence /Data Warehousing

Test Analyst - Business Intelligence /Data Warehousing

Technical MI Manager - 50-60k - Leeds

Inside ZDNet UK

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Case study: How cloud enables growth

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault

News & Analysis

Reviews

Blogs

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features

ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Workspace IT / Processors

Fault-tolerant systems get cheaper

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

Post your comment

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in Processors

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Inside ZDNet UK

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features