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Unisys e-@ction Enterprise Server Breaks 8-Processor Scalability Barrier with Windows 2000

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Unisys Corporation's Unisys e-@ction Enterprise Server ES7000 has become the first system to break the eight-processor scalability barrier for Microsoft Windows software. The ES7000, powered by an advance copy of Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, demonstrated near-linear scalability in a 16-processor environment while running Amadeus/ITA Software's low-fare search solution. This application is designed to enable Amadeus's customers to find the least-expensive airline route among all possible routings between two cities almost instantly over the World Wide Web, 24 hours a day.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Unisys ES7000 broke the eight-processor scalability barrier for Microsoft Windows software, demonstrating near-linear scalability in a 16-processor environment.
  • The ES7000, powered by Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, delivered exceptional system performance, handling the Amadeus application's workload with ease.
  • The Amadeus application's low-fare search solution is designed to find the least-expensive airline route among all possible routings between two cities almost instantly over the World Wide Web, 24 hours a day.
  • The demonstration showcased the combined power and scalability of the Unisys ES7000 and Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, marking a significant breakthrough for large-scale e-business computing.
  • Bill Gates, Microsoft Chairman, praised the demonstration, stating that it "clearly proves that Windows 2000 can handle the most demanding business applications right now."
  • The Unisys ES7000 is based on Unisys' revolutionary Cellular MultiProcessing (CMP) architecture, designed for the power of future Intel IA-64 Itanium processors.
  • The ES7000 accommodates up to 32 Intel Pentium III Xeon processors, field upgrades to Itanium when available, and provides an array of computing capabilities for enterprise-class e-business computing.

Statistics:

  • The Unisys ES7000 delivered 8.5 billion flight segment analyses per day in a 16-processor environment, with expected scalability to 16.8 billion analyses per day at maximum capacity.
  • The Windows 2000 Job Object Management Resource Partitioning feature played a key role in allocating processor resources to the Amadeus application, enabling the steep increases in workload.
  • Over 60,000 travel agencies and airline sales offices around the globe use Amadeus's system, with over 200,000 terminals connected to the system.

Sources:

  • Unisys Corporation news release: Unisys e-@ction Enterprise Server ES7000 Delivers Mission-critical Scalability for Unique Amadeus/ITA Software E-commerce Application in Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Environment (February 17, 2000)
  • Amadeus: global.amadeus.net
  • ITA Software: itasoftware.com
  • Unisys: unisys.com
  • Microsoft: microsoft.com

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