SCIENCE

ARMONK, NY -- IBM today announced that an IBM eServer(a) system introduced last year has set a new world record for Web-serving performance in the SPECweb99 benchmark, dethroning a just-released UltraSparcIII-based server from Sun Microsystems. According to the company the benchmark record highlights the continued performance leadership of IBM's existing UNIX servers as the company prepares to roll out a new lineup of POWER4-based systems in the fourth quarter. "It speaks volumes that Sun's brand new server, containing their newest microprocessor, cannot keep up with a system IBM brought to market in 2000," said Tim Dougherty, director of e-business strategy, IBM Server Group. "We expect to extend our performance leadership even more in the fourth quarter, when IBM delivers the next-generation POWER4-based systems." An IBM eServer p680 12-way system running Zeus 3.3.8.4 Web server software supported 9,106 simultaneous connections, compared with 8,739 for a 12-way Sun Fire 4800. Designed to replicate real-world Web server performance, SPECweb99 simulates a server that supports multiple Web home pages with rotating advertisements, customized page creation, user registration and other dynamic operations. The IBM eServer p680 draws considerable strength from its microprocessors, which belong to IBM's renowned PowerPC architecture. The p680's microprocessors are infused with numerous technical innovations, such as IBM's copper and Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) technologies. Microprocessors built with copper and SOI run up to 35 percent faster and at much cooler temperatures than traditional aluminum chips, increasing server performance and up-time. Copper and SOI technologies were pioneered in IBM's research labs; meanwhile, Sun Microsystems has yet to ship a single server equipped with copper and SOI. The next generation of IBM's microprocessor architecture -- POWER4 -- will extend IBM's microprocessor leadership even further, with the introduction of chip multiprocessing, advanced packaging and dramatic bandwidth improvements. For more information visit www.ibm.com/eserver