Hardware Today: Unisys Server Snapshot

Unisys has historically made its money in the mainframe market, so it’s not surprising that it is remaining true to its high-end tradition in the Wintel server market. The company is clear about the importance of its scalable ES7000 line (which is based on Windows and Intel CPUs) and interoperability with its Clearpath mainframe systems.

Our Unisys server snapshot reveals that the vendor is
remaining true to its mainframe heritage while taking a
scale-up approach with its high-end Intel/Windows-based
servers. The big question though, is where do Linux and
lower-end servers fit in this equation?

Given its past, Unisys’ strategy is a logical and easy-to-follow two-pronged approach. On one side, it sticks to its mainframe roots. According to John Keller, enterprise systems manager for Unisys, the company’s highest selling servers to date are mainframes based on its proprietary MCP (Master Control Program) operating system.

On the other side of the equation, it’s developing Intel-based servers in the mid- to high-end range that fill a mainframe space with Windows-based offerings. To round out the server picture, Unisys offers Windows interoperability with its MCP and OS2200-based operating systems, providing various migration points for companies looking to move forward in environments that were traditionally mainframe-based, but are pushing towards a more modular formula.

Focusing more on scaling up than scaling out, Unisys has centered its x86 efforts around its ES7000 series. “Unisys has been delivering scalable 32-processor systems since 2000 while competitors are still struggling to deliver that capability today,” said Keller. “Unlike IBM, HP, Dell, and Sun,” Keller said, “the Unisys ES7000 family of servers is focused on maximizing Windows enterprise capabilities.”

Compared to other Windows-based server vendors, Unisys definitely charts its course for a higher altitude in terms of scalability. However, in terms of sheer revenue, the company remains below the Big 5 (IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, Dell, and Fujitsu) in server sales and falls into the 14.7 percent market share occupied by the “Other” category in IDC’s “Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker” for November 2003.

Sizing Up the ES7000
The ES7000 line (which has price points ranging from $35,000 to $750,000) is divided and then subdivided, which may be confusing at first.
“From a technology perspective, the ES7000 family of servers is divided into two series: the 400 Series based on Intel 64-bit processors and the 500 Series based on Intel 32-bit processors,” Keller said, adding that each series is subdivided further into Aries and Orion servers. Aries servers are aimed at mid- to high-end environments and include 64-bit Itanium-2 options.

“Aries servers are primarily for companies looking for Windows-based servers that deliver some level of greater scalability and performance than standard commodity servers. We’ve termed this ‘the Windows growing up’ market,” Keller said.

Orion servers occupy an even loftier position in the Unisys server firmament and are aimed at companies that want to extend Windows servers into the data center, “but need levels of performance and availability that traditionally could only be achieve with proprietary, high-end, Unix-class systems,” Keller said.

By concentrating its development on its high-scale ES7000 modular Wintel server line, Unisys is in a position to make gains if the economy further improves and enterprises become more willing to commit to higher-end Windows systems — where the vendor’s strength truly shines. While many companies are still proceeding apace with 2-way 64-bit Itanium-2 offerings, Unisys’ minimum offering here is a 4-way server.

Maintaining the Mainframe
Unisys Clearpath systems are divided up in a few ways as well, targeting each segment of the mainframe market. “Our strongest focus is at the mid-range and high-end, where MCP systems have a strong presence in the financial, public sector, communications and commercial segments,” according to Mike Hall, manager of Solutions and Services for Unisys’ ClearPath Systems Group. Hall adds that the older Clearpath OS2200 line has a strong presence in the same markets as well as the transportation market.

Though the market focus may be moving away from mainframes, Unisys’ development efforts will continue to support those customers committed to the mainframe path. The vendor’s Cellular Multiprocessing technology, which is designed to allow interoperability between its proprietary OS offerings and Windows Advanced Server (among others), will aid enterprises looking to receive full ROI on their mainframe servers, while moving in a more Wintel-friendly direction.

In its commentary, “Gartner Predicts 2004: The Future of the Mainframe,” the research firm said Unisys mainframes will see further virtualization improvements. However, it advises new customers to steer their enterprises towards Unisys’ ES7000 Aries and Orion lines: “The ClearPath mainframe systems remain relevant for established customers, both for continued use to run important business applications and as incremental or upgrade machines. In most cases, customers new to ClearPath should not adopt either OS2200 or MCP for new applications, instead looking to the ES7000 line and the Windows operating environment as the most strategic fit.”

Going Mainstream: From Mainframe to Windows
Gartner Principal Analyst Jeffrey Hewitt said Unisys faces a challenge in its endeavor to make its MCP architecture a “compelling market story” beyond its legacy mainframe customers. “This is difficult for them, because their true strengths have been in the outsourcing and in the service and support areas. It’s been a difficult transition for them to take what they know from mainframes and apply it [to Windows servers] and be highly successful,” he said.

It’s a good strategy if they can execute it,” Hewitt said. “But the problem is it’s going to be really a massive execution to bring this in and make it a mainstream kind of product, because they’re competing against scale-out solutions of 1- and 2-way [servers], which have been growing and penetrating some of these spaces.”

To fill in the gaps between mainframe and high-end enterprise offerings, Unisys rounds out the stable with its lower-profile ES3000 line. With price points ranging from $4,000 to $80,000, the ES3000 line tangentially covers the scale-out range, referred to as the current market “sweet spot” by some vendors and analysts. Unisys, however, sees that range as supplemental to ES7000 or mainframe usage, and few Unisys customers deploy just ES3000 servers, Keller said.

Is Unisys Open to Open Source?
Another area in which the vendor makes a slightly hesitant offering is in alternatives to its Windows servers. While Unisys has also certified SUSE for its ES7000 line, it has apparent reservations about the efficacy of Linux-based solutions in their market range. In what would have been fighting words at last week’s LinuxWorld Expo, Keller said, “Today Linux is unproven as a mission-critical, enterprise-class operating system. We recognize that there will be cases where clients require Linux on the ES7000 to complement the primary solution,” noting that Unisys has directly partnered with SUSE for Linux support. “Unisys continues to monitor the maturity of Linux in general and reassesses our position on a regular basis.”

Gartner’s Hewitt suggests that a reassessment may be in order. Offering Windows to a Unix-weaned mainframe crowd, he contends, opens up a different can of worms. “Windows has yet to really be accepted as a mature operating system as the Unixes are,” Hewitt said. “Windows is not accepted that way; the perception isn’t there.”

Hewitt further sees Unisys’ reluctant entry to the Linux market as problematic. “The one area that I think they’ve lagged behind here, a little bit, is Linux. They certainly could have capitalized more on that area to show they’ve got a server that can handle Linux at these levels,” he said.

The SUSE Linux support offered seems to round out Unisys’ server line in a manner similar to the vendor’s lower-end ES3000 server line. However, if its focus remains on scaling up to 32 Intel servers, more enthusiastic Linux support would seem likely.

The Pieces Are in Place
Given that the vendor’s server offerings actually do cover the areas in question, any critique of the line would really be leveled at Unisys’ message, rather than its substance.

Gartner’s Hewitt contends that if Unisys remains focused on its core scale-up strengths, while refining the messaging surrounding Linux and its lower-end servers, it will grow into an increasingly viable strategy.