INDUSTRY

ARMONK, N.Y., -- IBM announced a new world record for transaction processing. An IBM eServer(tm) pSeries(tm) system, IBM TotalStorage FAStT900 and DB2 Universal Database used half the number of processors at a lower transaction processing cost to beat HP's new Itanium® 2 processor-based Superdome. [1] According to the Transaction Processing Performance Council's TPC-C benchmark, an IBM eServer p690 with 32 POWER4+(tm) processors running AIX®, the industry's fastest growing UNIX® operating system[2], and DB2 Universal Database delivered 763,898.39 transactions per minute (tpmC) at a cost of $8.31/tpmC. IBM ousted an Itanium 2 system from the top spot that used twice the number of processors. HP had previously recorded 707,102 tpmC at a cost of $8.44/tpmC. [1] IBM's result of 763,898.39 tpm/C tops all other clustered or non-clustered results previously announced from any vendor.[3] "The notion that HP's Itanium 2 processor-based servers are less expensive than IBM's widely popular UNIX eServer systems is a myth," said Adalio Sanchez, general manager, IBM eServer pSeries. "With this new world record IBM continues to deliver customers powerful systems at a very affordable price. The IBM eServer p690 delivers the world's best performing TPC-C result at a lower transaction process cost than HP's Itanium 2 processor-based server. Additionally, IBM customers benefit from the one of the widest levels of application support in the industry." "Today's performance gain is unprecedented in the industry and shows DB2 Universal Database's continued technology leadership in the market," said Janet Perna, general manager, IBM Information Management. "With its superior technology, scalability and leading-edge transaction processing, DB2 is an excellent value for meeting the most crucial on demand needs of our customers." The latest TPC-C results are available at http://www.tpc.org. Footnotes 1 - Results current as of 06/30/03. 32-way 1.7 GHz POWER4+ IBM p690 delivered 763,898.39 tpmC @ $8.31/tpmC, configuration planned to be available 11/08/03. 64-way 1.5 GHz Itanium 2 HP Superdome result was 707,102 tpmC @ $8.44/tpmC, planned to be available 10/23/03. 2 - Based on year-to year IDC Q1 03 UNIX server tracking data. 3 - See http://www.tpc.org for comparative TPC-C results.