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SGI expands server lineup; lower price points. (Silicon Graphics Inc's Challenge S desktop server) (Brief Article) (Product Announcement)
LAN Magazine , Volume: 9 , Number: 12 , Page: 20(1) , Nov , 1994

Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI, Mountain View, CA) has added two models to its Challenge server product line. The new systems extend the line into lower-cost territory. Both are based on MIPS 64-bit RISC processors. The Challenge servers run the IRIX operating system, SGI's enhanced version of Unix System V, Release 4.

The entry-level Challenge S is a compact desktop server that comes in a chassis the size of the company's Indy graphics workstation. It is available in two configurations: one having a 100MHz MIPS R4600 processor with a 500MB disk drive, the other a 150MHz R4400 processor with a 1GB drive. Both configurations sport two Ethernet channels, two fast and wide 20MBps SCSI channels, a Fast SCSI channel and two expansion slots (based on SGI's proprietary 267MBps GIO bus, used in the Indy) that accept additional SCSI, Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Token Ring, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), and video options. The 32MB system memory is expandable to 256MB. The 100MHz model has a retail price starting at $12,250, while the 150MHz server starts at $16,600.

The Challenge DM, designed for I/O-intensive applications in database, digital media, file serving, and realtime markets, is the lowest-cost symmetric multiprocessor in the Challenge series. It can accept up to four 100MHz R4400 processors, and has the same systems architecture as the top-of-the-line Challenge XL and Challenge L servers. The Challenge DM is based on a five-slot 1.2GBps bus, supporting up to three 320MBps PowerChannel-2 I/O adapters, plus the processor board and up to three memory boards. There's also a five-slot VME64 bus. Expansion adapters can accommodate up to 19 Ethernet ports, 24 SCSI-2 Fast/Wide channels, 12 FDDI ports, or multiple High Performance Parallel Interface (HiPPI) connections. System memory is expandable to 6GB. Prices for the Challenge DM start at $44,800.

The company's 3-D graphics technology has made it a front-runner in the television and film special effects markets, but SGI believes its multiprocessing technology and high-speed systems buses pay off for traditional database applications as well. In May of this year, a 31-processor Challenge XL running the Oracle 7 relational database management system achieved 2,049 transactions per second while executing the Transaction Processing Council's TPC-A benchmark, a number SGI says was nearly double the previous record for any open systems database management system.

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