ICL mainframe to run VME, NT, Unix

ICL has announced its latest generation of mainframes, kicking off the transformation of its proprietary mainframes into high-performance Intel servers running Open VME, Unix and NT.

The first two products in its new Trimetra series - the SY and LY - will allow users to run VME and SCO's UnixWare from the same box. In 1998, support for NT will be added.

This will reduce the risk of migration for users, said Neil Stevenson, ICL's marketing manager.

The company claimed it has already received u20m of product orders for new Trimetra kit.

Later this year, ICL will port VME to the Intel platform. A low-end mainframe in the Trimetra series will be available in volume in the first quarter of 1998. It will run VME, NT and UnixWare on one Intel chipset for the first time.

Stevenson denied the moves represented a further erosion of its technology heritage. 'ICL will bring value in the hardware integration and the middleware products,' he said. The company remains committed to developing further versions of VME.

ICL will also introduce a new Unix product line, Award, this autumn.

This will bring together its massively parallel Goldrush technology with Data General's Numa architecture.

Ultimately, ICL is working to bring its whole server line into one architecture, running the three operating systems on Intel's forthcoming 64-bit architecture.