IBM copper servers to challenge Sun

IBM yesterday launched three RS/6000 midrange servers, using a performance-boosting copper chip technology it said will challenge rival Sun Microsystems in its core web server market.

The M80, H80 and F80 all outperform competing systems from Sun at a lower entry list price, according to IBM, which claims that the H80 and M80 respectively are the world's fastest six-way and eight-way web servers.

"We've proven the value of copper chip technology with the overwhelming success of the RS/6000 S80 at the high end of the web server market," said Rod Adkins, general manager at IBM's Web Server Unit. "Now, we've copper-fortified our entire RS/6000 server line - top to bottom - and are targeting the midrange - the heart of the web server market."

Pioneered by IBM researchers, copper microprocessor technology enables the creation of smaller, denser, faster and cooler chips than those based on aluminium. According to IBM, copper chips are more reliable and less expensive to manufacture, and represent the creation of higher performance systems at a lower cost.

The servers run AIX and will be offered to both dotcom companies and traditional corporate data centres in an aggressive assault by IBM, aimed at catching up with Sun in what IBM chief executive Louis Gerstner called the "sweet spot" of the server market.

Phil Dawson, senior research analyst at Meta Group, said the addition of copper technology makes the PowerPC chip the second most viable chip technology behind Intel.

IBM is revamping its AS/400 and RS/6000 ranges with the technology, and "Sun now needs to refresh its range" if it does not want to see the inroads it has made in the mid-range market become eroded, said Dawson.

Michel Teyssedre, IBM's worldwide director for web server sales, admitted that prior to the launch IBM had lost ground as its mid-range servers were "not as strong as they used to be", but that copper technology boosted performance by 35 per cent. "We're bringing high-end technology to the midrange," he said.

Teyssedre added that technology to fabricate chips with silicon on an insulator was in the pipeline, and promised even better performance.