Conference decwet::ntaxp

> Any ideas?

Bring some server benchmarks.  TPC for database stuff.
WebStones for serving stuff & the Performance group has others.

    One advantage: VLM. If they're running large databases, etc, then they 
    will be able to enjoy the expandability and performance gains when 64-bit 
    NT comes out, without having to buy a new system. If they go with Intel 
    and decide they need VLM, they'll have to buy a new Merced system (in 
    1999?)
    
    

    
    Any pointers to a white paper or something of that sort?  I came out
    of the Unix world, so I know all of the VLM arguments.  Sure could
    use something concrete to leave with my customer.
    
    Thanks!

    Stay away from: TPC/C (Alpha's bcache too small), file server (ex:
    Netbench reviews), and some web server (ex: May Byte magazine)
    benchmarks.  Alpha has little to no performance advantage and price/
    performance is awful.  Alpha's floating point plays no part, and 64
    bitness is useful only for >2Gb configs, so Alpha gets hurt by not
    being able to use its best attributes. 
    
    Use: Lotus NotesBench (3300 on a 2x 4100 5/466 is 50% faster than
    Intel's 2xPPro 2100 score), SPEC throughput numbers, and I believe the
    4100 also had some good Exchange server numbers (altho that hasn't
    stopped internal groups from switching their Exchange server to Intel
    for reliability reasons).
    .02 Kratz
    
    

Marc Slater may have some useful benchmarks and/or other Server data.

    If you can (maybe you are not recognized for that), keep in mind not
    all customers are for NT/Alpha. Our Prioris line could be your more
    competitive arm against COMPAQ. I found the AlphaServer 4xxx is almost
    the only Alpha that you can use against COMPAQ. Lower end AlphaServers
    can be sold if customer is installed base, they are part of a big
    project where others are the decision points, strong partner
    relationship is in place but not for perfomance reasons.
    
    Recently in a not friedly account for us, the customer decided Alpha
    4xxx instead of COMPAQ, HP or Digital Intel. The main reasons were:
    
    Why Digital (Intel or Alpha)?
    1) Better service, specially NT expertise.
    2) Our cluster solution is better that COMPAQ`s, Notes scripts are
    available.
    3) Nice complementary SW, like Networker, Altavista SW. Try to use
    a solution approach. Winning box to box with COMPAQ is very difficult.
    
    Why Alpha?
    1) Customer needs of memory are 1+ GB. So you can sell near future
    64-bit addressing.
    2) Alpha 4xxx has the world record for Notes benchmark.
    3) Alpha 4xxx has very nice I/O throughput. 2x64 bit PCI buses.
    
    Hope this helps,
    
    Ivan                                       
    

    Good message here for DIGITAL... Alpha best at some things,
    Intel best at others.  Either way, we gotcha covered!
    	
    Prioris Servers, AlphaServer Systems and AlphaStations Combine to
    Win 15 Awards -- Most Awards by a Single Vendor
    
       LAS VEGAS, May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Reinforcing its leadership in
    price/performance enterprise solutions, Digital Equipment
    Corporation (NYSE: DEC) (Networld+InterOp booth # 5041), today
    received 15 awards at AIM Technology's Spring '97 Hot Iron Awards
    Ceremony held at Networld+InterOp.
       Digital's Prioris servers, AlphaServer systems and AlphaStations
    won awards in the performance and price/performance categories, for
    both Windows NT and UNIX environments.
       The award-winning Digital products included the Prioris ZX 6000
    Series and the Prioris HX 6000 Series, Digital's AlphaServer 4100
    and 8400 systems, and AlphaStation 500/333.  Combined, Digital won
    more awards than any other vendor for the Spring '97 awards.
       "Receiving multiple AIM awards for our Prioris, AlphaServer
    systems and AlphaStations recognizes our unique ability to provide
    customers with industry-leading solutions -- from the workgroup
    throughout the enterprise," said Duane Dickhut, vice president of
    server products for Digital's Personal Computer Business Unit.
       "Customers are looking for true value, and that value is
    measured through price/performance.  As the AIM Awards indicate,
    our line of Intel servers, AlphaServer systems and Alpha-based
    workstations set the standard, providing customers with the best
    solution in every price segment."
       Digital Hot Iron Awards for Spring 1997 include:
    
    -- Best Throughput Performer, Windows NT Domain Server, priced
       between $7,500 and $14,999 -- Digital Prioris HX 6200MP
    -- Best Price Performance, Windows NT Domain Server, priced
       between $15,000 and $24,999 -- Digital Prioris HX 6200MP (4 disk)
    -- Best Throughput Performer, Windows NT Domain Server, priced
       between $25,000 and $49,999 -- Digital Prioris ZX 6200MP/4 (1GB)
    -- Best Throughput Performer, Windows NT Domain Server, priced
       over $50,000 -- Digital Prioris ZX 6200MP/4 (1.5GB)
    -- Best Price Performance, Windows NT Domain Server, priced
       over $50,000 -- Digital Prioris ZX 6200MP/4 (1.5GB)
    -- Best Throughput Performer, UNIX Shared System, priced between
       $15,000 and $29,999 -- Digital Prioris HX 6200MP
    -- Best Price Performance, UNIX Shared System, priced between
       $15,000 and $29,999 -- Digital Prioris HX 6200MP
    -- Best Throughput Performer, UNIX Shared System, priced
       between $30,000 and $74,999 -- Digital Prioris ZX 6200MP/4
    -- Best Throughput Performer, UNIX Shared System, priced
       between $75,000 and $149,999 -- Digital Prioris ZX 6200MP/4 (1536 MB)
    -- Best Price Performance, UNIX Shared System, priced between
       $75,000 and $149,999 -- Digital Prioris ZX 6200MP/4 (1536 MB)
    -- Best Price Performance, General Workstation Mix (UNIX),
       priced between $10,000 and $25,000 -- Digital AlphaStation 500/333
    -- Best Performance, General Workstation Mix (UNIX), priced
       between $10,000 and $25,000 -- Digital AlphaStation 500/333
    -- Best Performance, General Workstation Mix (UNIX), priced
       over $25,000 -- Digital AlphaServer 4100 5/466
    -- Best Price Performance, Shared System Mix (UNIX), priced
       over $150,000 -- Digital AlphaServer 4100 5/400
    -- Best Performance, Shared System Mix (UNIX) priced over
       $150,000 -- Digital AlphaServer 8400 5/350
    
   Kratz

The AIM awards are good news in general but how about some more info specific
to Alpha NT servers. We have lots of UNIX benchmarks and .7 shows an AIM
award for UNIX AlphaServers but like the base noter, I am interested in
what advantages NT AlphaServers have over Intel servers.

So far VLM has been listed. Is it true that this is only useful with a
system configured with greater than 2 GBytes of physical memory and running
the yet to be released Windows NT 5.0? 

Fast floating point has been mentioned. I can see how this helps workstations
but are there NT server applications that make heavy use of this? What are
they?

What are the other NT Alphaserver advantages? .4 mentions that Notes and
Exchange have good NT Alphaserver benchmarks. Why? Do these applications do
anything special to take advantage of Alpha? Thanks to anyone who has
answers!
 - Jack

    Glad I stumbled upon this note.  My customer keeps asking about this
    and is particularly fixated on this issue:
    
    Software availability.  Doesn't software come out for Intel before
    Alpha for Windows NT?  
    
    Can someone comment on this issue in regards to the operating system,
    other Microsoft products as well as third party products?
    
    Appreciating any discussion on this issue.

RE: .9

With regard to the operating system, Microsoft develops and releases NT for 
Intel and Alpha simultaneously.

For other products, it varies.  Visual C++ releases on Alpha generally a few 
weeks after the Intel release.

--PSW

	For server-based products (SQL Server, SNA Server, SMS, IIS, Exchange,
etc.) Microsoft, as part of the Alliance for Enterprise Computing, agreed to
release these products at the same time on Alpha as on Intel.

tgc