Stratus announces new ftServer line based on Intel's high-performance Nehalem micro-architecture

Stratus Technologies has announced the fifth-generation Stratus ftServer line, delivering industry-standard, no-compromise continuous availability for business- and mission-critical Windows applications.

The ftServer 2600, 4500 and 6300 models, based on Intel Xeon 5500 "Nehalem" processors, are one- and two-socket servers delivering quad-core processing power for full-function fault-tolerant computing right out of the box.

Applications run with no software modification or failover scripting required, benefiting immediately from the processing power of all eight logical cores and nearly 99.9999% availability.

Requirements for unfailing uptime reliability continue to increase, driven by virtualisation technology, global e-commerce, worker mobility, real-time collaboration and data management, and the punishing cost of application downtime. Availability lapses, for example, during food or drug manufacturing, funds handling, patient care or records access, waste treatment operations, etc, can have serious health, safety and financial consequences, including regulatory violations and fines. Stratus ftServer systems are field-proven to deliver the industry's best protection against unplanned downtime and data loss.

Compared to previous models, the new ftServer systems offer:

* First fault-tolerant implementation of Intel Xeon 5500 processors, the next step in faster, multi-core technology that intelligently maximise performance to match workload.

* The first fault-tolerant implementation of QuickPath Interconnect Technology (QPI) for dynamically scalable interconnect bandwidth and outstanding memory performance to address a wider spectrum of database requirements

* Up to triple the memory at 96GB.

* Eight pair of 2.5-inch internal SAS disks for up to 8TB of physical storage

* Integrated virtual technician module for proactive fault notification, remote system access, and improved online upgrading.

Among the wide range of availability requirements ftServer systems can satisfy, the increased power and performance, together with the QPI architecture and plug-and-play operational simplicity, makes this new family an ideal database engine," said Dick Sharod, Stratus African regional director. "Having delivered affordable mainframe-class availability for critical OLTP applications since 1982, Stratus is targeting Oracle Real Application Cluster (RAC) installations and new opportunities by delivering the industry's most reliable server platform with the fastest growing database product, Microsoft SQL Server."

Using Oracle RAC to achieve high-availability for the Oracle 11g Enterprise Edition on an H-P cluster will cost approximately 125% more than deploying Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition on a similarly configured ftServer 6300 system (1). Using Standard Editions of both database products, an ftServer 4500 system with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 costs approximately 40% less than Oracle 11g with RAC on a similarly configured H-P cluster (2). The fault-tolerant architecture of Stratus servers eliminates unplanned downtime, data loss, restarts and the need to provision excess server capacity to accommodate failover.

Microsoft SQL Server users who need the highest degree of availability possible for mid-scale databases will find the new ftServer family offers true fault tolerance in a price/performance package competitive with other solutions in the market," said Claude Lorenson, director of SQL Server marketing at Microsoft Corporation. "Customers can have confidence in Microsoft SQL Server on ftServer for local provisioning of database servers with no downtime, rapid asynchronous data mirroring for disaster recovery, rolling upgrade-style patch management with minimal operational impact, and for any database application where near-six-nines availability is the preferred choice."

Unlike cluster technology, which is designed for fast failure recovery or scale out, a fault tolerant architecture prevents failure from occurring at all. Complete system redundancy is contained within a single ftServer node and 4U form factor. First introduced in 2001, ftServer systems run business- and mission-critical applications today in financial services, banking, manufacturing telecommunications, retail, public safety and others where unplanned downtime and data loss are unacceptable.

Microsoft SQL Server is a common application deployed on ftServer systems; examples include support for an SAP implementation at a global grain exporter, an emergency dispatch control centre for a Canadian province, and an ATM network for a federal credit union.

Regardless of database size or the size of the company running it, it's the value of the database to business operations that determines whether it is mission-critical," said Stratus' Lane. "The cost of Oracle with RAC for high availability, coupled with the management complexity of the underlying cluster, can be a big problem with critical database deployments for a many companies. Microsoft SQL Server on Stratus ftServer can achieve the performance and reliability previously limited to UNIX RISC-based systems, while potentially saving more than one hundred thousand dollars."

All ftServer models are available today with support for Windows, including 32- and 64-bit Windows Server 2008. Systems for Red Hat Enterprise Linux will be available later this year. VMware vSphere 4 virtualisation software will be available in the first quarter 2010. Both Linux and VMware are available now on the current ftServer model line.