RLX Technologies Inc. launched a faster, low-power server blade in December that runs at 1 GHz and is based on the Transmeta Corp. Crusoe processor. The ServerBlade 1000t will replace the 667MHz model, the ServerBlade 667. Up to 336 servers can fit in a standard rack and as many as 24 blades can fit in an RLX chassis. Each server blade supports a capacity of 120GB and can be configured with 128MB of double data rate memory and as much as 1GB of synchronous DRAM. The Transmeta ServerBlade 1000t starts at US$1,330 per server. It runs Windows and Red Hat Linux and is available now. The RLX 300ex chassis costs US$3,300.
Sun has 12-processor server on the way
Sun Microsystems Inc. appears to be readying a new 12-processor server that will bring some of the high-end features found in its more expensive systems down to its lower cost line of products. A maintenance manual for the Sun Fire v1280 said the server will hold as many as 12 UltraSPARC III processors running at 900MHz and include support for some of Sun’s most sophisticated partitioning and system reconfiguration tools. A Sun spokeswoman declined to provide the release date or pricing for the Sun Fire v1280, saying the company does not comment on unannounced products.
Ronald McDonald cancels his IT order
A proposed multimillion-dollar IT project that would have networked some 30,000 McDonald’s Corp. restaurants around the world has been scrapped by the company’s new executive team as a cost-saving move. The Oak Brook, Ill.-based fast food company has cancelled its Innovate IT program, which was proposed in 1999 but had not yet been deployed in any restaurants, said spokesman Lisa Howard. “Tens of millions of dollars” will be saved this year by cancelling the project, as the company works to reduce short-term spending, she said. The total expected price tag for the program wasn’t released.