NEC, Intel boast high server speed
C|Net | at | by Mike
An NEC server with 32 Intel Itanium processors and Microsoft's coming Server 2003 operating system has claimed the No. 2 place in the most widely watched server speed test. The $4.4 million server posted a performance of 433,000 transactions per minute, a result faster than IBM's 32-processor p690, with 428,000 transactions per minute, and Hewlett-Packard's 64-processor Superdome with 423,000. Only Fujitsu's 128-processor Primepower 2000 has a higher result, 456,000. The TPC-C speed test, which simulates sales and inventory transactions on a database server, is the most widely watched measurement of server performance.
"What's impressive is that it's a Windows system, an Itanium system, and it's playing with the big boys," said Gordon Haff, an Illuminata analyst. "It's another proof point among many that Itanium 2 is right up there with (IBM's) Power4."