Tatung challenges Sun's Ultra 2 Company's 64-bit workstations compete with Sun on drive capacity By Terho Uimonen

December  1996

Mail this article to a friend

Taipei (12/10/96) -- Tatung Science & Technology Inc. announced what it said are the first alternatives to Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Ultra 2 line of 64-bit SPARC workstations.

The Milpitas, CA-based company, a subsidiary of Taiwan's Tatung Co., said that the four new COMPstation U Series workstations are aimed at technical and business users in areas such as simulation, analysis, financial modeling, and Internet/intranet applications. The 64-bit systems also can compete in the data warehousing/data mining markets as well.

The new models, based on 167-MHz and 200-MHz UltraSPARC processors, include both single- and dual-processor configurations. Tatung is trying to differentiate its offerings from those of Sun by offering more drive capacity, officials said. The systems can be equipped with up to 18 gigabytes of storage, and feature four expansion drive bays.

All four models are available now in the U.S., and include a 64-bit slot for Sun's Creator 2D and 3D graphic card offerings. They come in a standard configuration with 128 megabytes of RAM, a 2 gigabyte hard drive, a 20-inch color monitor and include a pre-installed version of Sunsoft's Solaris Unix operating system.

Other features include a primary cache of 16 kilobyte instructions and a 16 kilobyte data on-chip cache, a 1 megabyte-per-CPU of external cache, on-chip visual instruction set for multimedia, graphics and imaging; four SBus expansion slots; and two serial, one parallel, one WideFast SCSI-2, a 100Base-T Ethernet, and an MII connector.

Tatung claims estimated benchmarks of up to 7.88 SPECint_95 and up to 14.7 SOECfp_95.

The entry-level U2-1170 model is powered by one 167-MHz processor, and pricing starts at US$17,130. The U2-2170 features two 167-MHz processors, with pricing starting at $20,730. The U2-1200, meanwhile, has one 200-MHz version of the UltraSPARC chip, and is priced starting at $19,430. At the high-end, the U2-2200 features two 200-MHz processors, with pricing starting at $24,830. All systems are currently shipping.

--Terho Uimonen, IDG News Service, Taipei Bureau

Resources

• Tatung Science & Technology COMPstation U Series
  http://www.tsti.com/compu2s.html

If you have technical problems with this magazine, contact webmaster@sunworld.com

URL: http://www.sunworld.com/swol-12-1996/swol-12-tatung.html
Last modified: