'Unstoppable' Linux-Based Fault Tolerant Server Introduced by NEC Solutions America; NEC Solutions Creates New Market for Linux with Continuous Availability Server.Business Editors/High Tech Writers BOXBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 18, 2002 NEC (NEC Corporation, Tokyo, www.nec.com, www.necus.com) An electronics conglomerate known in the U.S. for its monitors. In Japan, it had the lion's share of the PC market until the late 1990s (see PC 98). NEC was founded in Tokyo in 1899 as Nippon Electric Company, Ltd. Solutions (America), Inc., a leading provider of business solutions and services for the high-end commercial and professional markets in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , dramatically expanded the potential market for Linux applications today by announcing the first commercially available Linux-based, fault tolerant The ability to continue non-stop when a hardware failure occurs. A fault-tolerant system is designed from the ground up for reliability by building multiples of all critical components, such as CPUs, memories, disks and power supplies into the same computer. server. NEC Solutions' award-winning fault tolerant server(1) brings users of Linux-based systems all of the fault tolerant capabilities of NEC Solutions Intel(R) based, continuously available servers. Instantaneous CPU CPU in full central processing unit Principal component of a digital computer, composed of a control unit, an instruction-decoding unit, and an arithmetic-logic unit. failover, hot swap To pull out a component from a system and plug in a new one while the main power is still on. Also called "hot plug" and "hot insertion," hot swap is a feature of USB devices, allowing an external drive, network adapter or other peripheral to be plugged in without having to power down the components and I/O (Input/Output) The transfer of data between the CPU and a peripheral device. Every transfer is an output from one device and an input to another. See PC input/output. I/O - Input/Output failover are all provided within the NEC Express5800/ft Linux server. The breakthrough combination of hardened, open source Linux with fault tolerant hardware means that Linux applications can be run at the highest availability level without requiring any modifications to the Linux application software. "We have traditionally used clustered Unix servers as a platform for our enterprise voice messaging Using voice mail as an alternative to electronic mail, in which voice messages are intentionally recorded, not because the recipient was not available. system. The Express5800/ft Linux server gives us the ability to offer substantial price reductions with increased availability and far more simple system administration and maintenance," said Dan Carney, director of operations, Wildfire Communications. "NEC Linux fault tolerant technology allows us to pass the savings along to current customers, to enter new markets and to develop new product offerings." Although Linux is considered by many to be a high availability Also called "RAS" (reliability, availability, serviceability) or "fault resilient," it refers to a multiprocessing system that can quickly recover from a failure. There may be a minute or two of downtime while one system switches over to another, but processing will continue. operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. , the typical server hardware on which it has traditionally been deployed does not sufficiently provision against hardware failure. Additionally, currently available versions of Linux do not provision for component hardware failure or have "hardened" software drivers that ensure continuous interaction between peripherals and the server. NEC addressed these concerns by creating a greatly enhanced commercially available open-source version of Linux to run on its fault tolerant servers - the NEC Express5800/ft Linux server series. NEC FT Linux Operating System NEC enhanced the Linux operating system to support a wide range of fault tolerant features, including: - Lock-step Processing -- ensures that redundant processors execute the same instructions and computations simultaneously. Should one processing module fail, its counterpart continues operation without interruption of service. - Hardened Drivers - SCSI, Fibre Channel, Networking. - Hot Swap -- allows for replacement and surprise removal of all components including internal hard disk drives. NEC's fault tolerant version of Linux will operate on all current and future fault tolerant servers from NEC Solutions America. Applications for Express5800/ft Linux server The powerful combination of fault tolerant hardware and high availability Linux create new possibilities for addressing the continuous availability requirements of mission-critical Linux applications. Email, security systems, telecommunications, trading systems, Internet hosting and many more applications can now be deployed - simply - on a continuous availability server that delivers tremendous cost advantages immediately. "This Linux fault tolerant hardware combination creates a great opportunity for Unix users to move over onto a continuously available, carrier-grade platform," said Dick Csaplar, FT Product Manager, NEC Solutions America. "This is especially useful for mission-critical environments that need a solid Linux hardware appliance A device that is dedicated to a specific function in contrast to a general-purpose computer. The hardware comes pre-installed with its operating system and application. Many consider the router to be the first network appliance. to host applications at a lower cost and higher availability than what is currently available." Developers of Linux applications and Linux-based solutions are also provided new opportunities to create high availability applications with no staff training and no long-term commitments to future technology platforms. Linux-based security and voting systems, for example, can be ported to the NEC Solutions fault tolerant server to instantly create a high availability solution rated at 99.999% availability. Remote System Management The remote management software suite for NEC Solutions' fault tolerant server series, called ESMPRO, has been enhanced to support the Linux operating system. The ESMPRO software suite allows users to remotely manage the Express5800/ft Linux server with capabilities including console redirection, power cycling Power cycling, also known as performing a 120 reset (after the 110 Volt AC power supply), is the act of turning a piece of computer equipment off and then on again with the intent of recovering from a hung state. and power reset. System managers can remotely manage and monitor the performance of the server, do remote diagnostics Vehicle Diagnostics Vehicle diagnostics enables a mechanic to diagnose the exact mechanical condition of the vehicle and its systems and components. Remote Diagnostics enables to perform such diagnosis without requiring the vehicle to physically be present for checkup. and testing of all components to support continuous availability service. To facilitate this, the ESMPRO software suite alerts network managers when a hardware component (e.g. hard disk drive) is about to fail. As a result, proactive replacement is performed before any loss of service occurs. This suite of software products is included in the base price of the system. Key Specifications - Intel Pentium(R)III processors - NEC FT Linux operating system - One-year telephone support for FT Linux O/S - Three-year hardware limited warranty Limited warranty A warranty with certain conditions and limitations on the parts covered, type of damage covered, and/or time period for which the agreement is good. (2) - Ability to increase storage up to 2 Terabytes(3) - ESMPRO network management software Pricing and Availability The NEC Express5800/ftLinux systems will be available through select resellers throughout North America and directly through NEC Solutions America. The NEC Express5800/ftLinux servers will be available starting at an expected price of $27,199(5) as of Nov. 18, 2002. Further information is available by calling NEC Solutions America at 866-632-3226 or by visiting www.necft.com. About NEC Solutions (America), Inc. NEC Solutions (America), Inc. is a leading provider of business solutions and services for the high-end commercial and professional markets in North America. As an affiliate of NEC Corporation (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : NIPNY - News; FTSE FTSE A company that specializes in index calculation. Although not part of a stock exchange, co-owners include the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Times. Notes: The FTSE is similar to Standard & Poor's in the United States. : 6701q.l), NEC Solutions America supplies customized technology solutions, including presentation systems, enterprise computing Refers to information technology in the larger company. See enterprise data and enterprise networking. products, biometric and information security solutions, advanced eBusiness integration systems, and professional IT/IS services. Information about NEC Solutions America can be found at www.necsolutions-am.com. Editor's Note Editor's Note (foaled in 1993 in Kentucky) is an American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. He was sired by 1992 U.S. Champion 2 YO Colt Forty Niner, who in turn was a son of Champion sire Mr. Prospector and out of the mare, Beware Of The Cat. Trained by D. : NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation and is used under license. Intel is a registered trademark Intel Corporation. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvald. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.(c)2002 NEC Solutions (America), Inc. All rights reserved. (1) See white paper on NEC Hardening Linux for FT (2) Certain restrictions apply. For warranty details, see www.necft.com under Support, go to Warranty. (3) When referring to hard drive capacity, GB stands for one billion bytes; Terabytes stands for one trillion bytes. Some utilities may indicate varying hard drive capacities. Total user-accessible capacity may vary depending on operating environments. (5) Starting prices for base expansion and are subject to change without notice. Resellers set their own pricing. |
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