Unisys Corporation, in collaboration with 10 industry-leading technology companies, today at COMDEX Fall `99 unveiled "The Data Center of the Next Millennium" - the largest-capacity e-business transaction processing environment ever created on Microsoft`s Windows 2000, now conducting 4,000 transactions per second and handling more than three billion Web hits each day.
The Data Center of the Next Millennium simulates the rigorous infrastructure demands of the burgeoning Internet marketplace. As a full-function enterprise-class electronic business environment based on heterogeneous hardware, software and services, the Data Center will process more than 30 times the e-commerce purchasing volume of last year`s holiday shopping season during the five days of COMDEX `99. The demonstration will run 24 hours a day throughout COMDEX and by the end of the week, the Data Center is expected to break numerous records including Web hits per day, commercial database size, and transaction power and volume.
The Data Center of the Next Millennium features technologies from Unisys, Microsoft, EMC, Cisco Systems, Intel, Giganet, Imation, Mercury Interactive, NetIQ, QLogic and StorageTek. This joint effort demonstrates Unisys capability to integrate and build the largest electronic business site ever created based upon Microsoft`s Windows 2000, and validates the capability of the Windows 2000 operating system and other key Microsoft technologies to serve as the foundation for large-scale, mission-critical computing. The Data Center also includes a 9-terabyte data warehouse, the largest commercial database ever built using a single copy of Microsoft SQL Server 7, as well as a Microsoft Active Directory housing more than 50 million objects.
"The marketplace is entering the second wave of electronic business, where the Web and traditional transaction networks will converge into an integrated medium for conducting electronic business in the enterprise," said Lawrence A. Weinbach, Unisys chairman and chief executive officer. "To capitalize on that powerful channel, enterprises will need reliable, bulletproof technology infrastructures that can be deployed economically and scaled incrementally to accommodate the exponential growth in transaction demands that e-business invariably drives. The Data Center of the Next Millennium dramatically demonstrates Unisys proven capability to create that kind of solution infrastructure, integrating best-in-class open-systems technologies from both Unisys and partners to deliver full-function, large-scale e-business solutions to enterprise-class clients."
The Data Center is powered by Unisys e-@ction Enterprise Servers. The solution is architected around Microsoft`s Windows 2000 Advanced Server beta code and previews Windows 2000 Datacenter Server progress by its use in running some Terminal Server sessions. This is for illustrative purposes and is not essential to the demonstrated solution. The solution also uses a single copy of Microsoft SQL Server 7 for a 9-terabyte data warehouse, the largest commercial database ever built on this technology.
To round out the enterprise-class e-business environment, the Data Center uses fault-tolerant, high-performance disk storage from EMC, high-performance network hardware from Cisco, chip technology from Intel, high-speed cluster interconnect technology from Giganet, load testing software from Mercury Interactive, application management software from NetIQ, host bus adapters from QLogic, and leading-edge tape library technology from Imation and StorageTek. (See Data Center of the Next Millenium backgrounder for more technical detail.)
Conducting E-commerce in out-of-this-world volumes
Simulating an electronic business of the future, "Interstellar Outfitters," a supply site for space ships and stations, will handle greater e-commerce transaction volumes in just five days at COMDEX `99 than the total online purchasing transactions handled during last year`s 44-day holiday shopping period.
According to industry sources, companies processed approximately 55 million sales transactions via the Internet for the 1998 holiday gift-giving season. During COMDEX `99, the Data Center will process 345 million transactions per day and 1.7 billion transactions for the duration of the conference.
Showcased in a two-story glass house at the Unisys booth L5146 in the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Data Center is running 24 hours a day throughout COMDEX.
Conference attendees may view transactions as they multiply, can interact with many of the systems supported and view real-time statistics using the data center dashboard. Presentations on the scalability, availability, manageability, and security of the site will be given for the duration of the show. Downloadable versions of the presentations, technical specifications, and live scale and performance figures will be available for those visiting via the Internet at http://www.unisys.com/events/comdex99.
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