New storage technology, ThinkPads from IBM<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): For many years, Big Blue (IBM) has been among
\nthe contributors to the Olympic Games. This year, it is supplying
\nits technology and solutions in an effort to make the 1996
\nAtlanta Olympic Games the most efficient and accessible games to
\ndate. In line with this, from now until October, visitors to the
\nInforum -- the Atlanta Committee of Olympic Games headquarters --
\ncan view and learn about all the equipment that IBM is deploying
\nfor the event. The exhibition is called the "IBM Olympic
\nInformation Technology Showcase."<\/p>\n
An exhibition of actual solutions such as this is always a
\ngreat idea, since visitors can look at and see for themselves
\nwhat technologies they may adopt to meet the needs of their own
\nbusiness organizations.<\/p>\n
Specifically, for the upcoming Olympic games, IBM has
\ndeveloped four major solutions. First, there will be the Results
\nSystems, which will track scores and statistics for 271 events at
\n31 separate venues. Second, there will be the Info *96 System,
\nwhich provides instant logistical, factual and biographical data
\nto accredited guests. Then there is the Games Management System
\n(what a choice of name!), which consists of a group of
\nsophisticated, interconnected applications that manages entire
\nevents. And there will also be the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games
\nWeb Server, the first official home page for the Olympic Games.
\nWith the new home page, web surfers will be able to have instant
\naccess to real-time results as well as pictures, graphics, and
\nOlympic Games facts.<\/p>\n
In addition, there will also be a virtual reality project and
\na Lotus Notes-based Incident Tracking System. The former is an
\napplication that features an IBM 3-D Interaction Accelerator that
\nwill enable real-time visualization and a "tour" of the venues.
\nThe latter is supposed to help enhance Games security by
\ntracking, monitoring and coordinating responses to security
\nincidents.<\/p>\n
So, if you happen to be in Atlanta within the next five months
\nand want to find out how IBM's technologies might help your
\nbusiness, just drop by. In the meantime, here are some new
\nproducts from this computer giant that you might like to know
\nabout.<\/p>\n
SSA for SCSI<\/p>\n
Talk about the highest performance you'd want from a storage
\nsubsystem, and you'll unavoidably find yourself talking about the
\nSCSI interface. As I already discussed some time ago, the
\ntechnology has grown more mature, and we're beginning to see PCs
\nwith fast and wide SCSI implementation on the market.<\/p>\n
Yet, like most other mature technologies in the computer
\nindustry, SCSI will soon have a strong contender: The Serial
\nStorage Architecture, or SSA. Pioneered by IBM, the new
\narchitecture is now being offered to RS 6000 machines. However,
\nas Julia Lee from IBM's Storage Division informed me last week,
\nwe will soon see its implementation on the PC platform as well.<\/p>\n
What are the advantages? To begin with, with two data paths
\nbetween any two nodes, SSA offers a higher bandwidth -- the
\nmaximum being 20 MBps. You can also connect up to 127 devices in
\na single loop, which far exceeds SCSI. In addition, you also have
\na flexible loop connectivity that theoretically will give you the
\nability to connect up to two million devices to your system.<\/p>\n
I was also informed that it would be possible for an SSA-based
\nstorage device to be accessed by more than one CPU. That's
\nsomething new. Normally, we have one CPU with the capability of
\naccessing a multiple storage device. Now it will be the other way
\naround. It means that copies of the same data won't have to be
\nstored in different places and this, in turn, will also eliminate
\nthe task of synchronization (making sure that all copies are the
\nmost current).<\/p>\n
Then there are other additional features, such as hot
\npluggability, which is actually already available in a RAID
\nsubsystem. But the next advantage is perhaps a boon to the
\nnetwork manager: The link between one device and another can be
\nas long as 25 meters, and the connection uses only a shielded
\ntwisted pair cable. These features are clearly more flexible than
\nSCSI.<\/p>\n
SSA has been recognized by leading computer and peripheral
\ncompanies, including Adaptec, Fujitsu, and Siemens Nixdorf.
\nBecause of the level of flexibility and performance that it
\npromises, we really have to stay tuned for more news about SSA.<\/p>\n
New ThinkPads<\/p>\n
IBM's notebooks, called ThinkPads, may not be selling like hot
\ncakes here in Jakarta, but they definitely have solid quality and
\nbear reasonable price tags. A new generation of entry-level
\nThinkPads are based on the Cyrix processors, which IBM
\nmanufactures in its own facility. The Cyrix MISC 100 MHz chip is
\npositioned to compete with the Intel 75 MHz Pentium, so a
\nThinkPad using this CPU is supposed to perform as well as my
\nnewly acquired Toshiba Satellite 100CS. I was told that one of
\nthe reasons for using the Cyrix processor is their price, which
\nis much lower than that of the Intel Pentium, and this is going
\nto be reflected in the amount of money a user will have to pay.
\nUnfortunately, as these models have just been launched here, no
\npricing is available yet.<\/p>\n
The Cyrix-based ThinkPads come with an ISA bus. Other features
\nthat the Satellite 100CS boasts can also be found in ThinkPads
\n365E and 365ED, including two Type II (equivalent to one Type
\nIII) PC Card slots, a TrackPoint III pointing device, a 540 MB
\nhard disk, 8 MB RAM, and a 10.4" dual scan screen (there's also a
\n365E that comes equipped with a TFT screen). The ThinkPad 365ED
\ncomes with a built-in CD-ROM drive, and therefore an external
\ndisk drive. It also comes with a built-in SoundBlaster Pro-
\ncompatible sound card. Surprisingly, the CD-ROM equipped model
\ncomes only with a dual scan display.<\/p>\n
There's another thing that surprises me: IBM has not
\nredesigned the keyboard of ThinkPad 365, despite the fact that
\nmost other new notebooks now have wrist supports on the bottom of
\ntheir keyboards. IBM does offer a port replicator for these
\nmodels, which will give us the wrist support. Still another
\nsurprise is that these ThinkPads still do not use EDO RAM.<\/p>\n
For those who are too Intel-fanatic to use processors from any
\nother vendor, IBM offers ThinkPads 365X and 365XD. These
\nnotebooks use Intel 100 MHz Pentium chips, and come with a 810 MB
\nhard disk, a 10.4" dual scan SVGA display, 16-bit sound
\ncapability, speaker and microphone. The 365XD, as the name
\nindicates, comes with a CD ROM drive. A 120 MHz version of the
\n365XD has a 11.3" dual scan SVGA screen and a 1 GB hard disk. By
\nthe way, all of the new ThinkPads are already equipped with an
\ninfrared port.<\/p>\n
From time to time, I have referred to the ThinkPad 760 series
\nas the ultimate in notebook computing, hoping that one day I
\nwould be able to conduct a hands-on test on this much-raved-about
\ndesktop power for the road. However, PT USI Jaya, IBM's agent for
\nIndonesia, has been unable to provide me with a demo unit, so I
\ncan only talk about it from what I've read in computer magazines.<\/p>\n
Yet, before I got the chance to really play around with this
\nexpensive notebook, its new siblings have arrived, four of them
\naltogether: ThinkPads 760E, 760ED, 760 EL, and 760ELD. Like the
\n365 Series, they were all launched here last week. The ThinkPad
\n760ED has the most features in this class. You can choose from
\nIntel 100 MHz, 120 MHz, or 133 MHz Pentium processors.<\/p>\n
All of them have a gorgeous 12.1" TFT black active matrix
\ndisplay, sound capability with built-in stereo speakers and
\nmicrophone, wrist support, TrackPoint III, and a keyboard that
\ntilts up when opened. They also use EDO RAM, using a Dual in-line
\nmemory module, or DIMM.<\/p>\n
The ones with the L in their names carry lower price tags,
\nbecause, among other things, they don't have the L2 cache. That's
\na surprising omission, since, as we all know, the performance of
\na Pentium system is significantly affected by absence or presence
\nof the L2 cache. No doubt about it, the L series is targeted to
\nthose who still have "some" limitation in their budget.<\/p>\n
PT USI Jaya has promised to let me test-drive one of these
\nhigh-end notebooks as soon as they can get hold of an extra demo
\nunit. Hopefully, then, I will be able to provide you with a more
\nspecific account of this dream portable machine.<\/p>",
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