Unisys Introduces New ClearPath Systems

More powerful systems handle larger business volumes at lower cost

• By James E. Powell
• 10/08/2008

Unisys Corporation announced several new products in its ClearPath mainframe-class server line, one now shipping and others due shortly.

Among the new offerings is the ClearPath Dorado 700 Series, which shipped September 22. The Dorado 700 is a brand new system that provides the greatest performance and uses a CMOS-based platform. The mid-range ClearPath Dorado 4000 is due at the end of October; and Libra 4000 mainframe-class server (which, like the Dorado 4000, is based on Intel platforms) is due in mid-November. The ClearPath family’s integrated software enables dynamic allocation and IT asset management to address ever-changing business needs.

The ClearPath Dorado 700 Series is designed for high performance within transaction processing environments that require continuous availability or that have workloads that are highly variable or require the highest security protection.

The new ClearPath Dorado 700 Series is the company’s most powerful, it says; the server runs Unisys’ OS 2200 operating environment. Unisys says the product “is designed to provide maximum scalability, reliability, and security in large-scale environments.” The company claims I/O performance has tripled and that processor performance has improved nearly 20 percent over the current models (the Dorado 300 Series).

The Dorado 700 Series can support up to 32 processors which can divided in up to eight independent partitions in which each has its own operating environment. Users can combine four fully loaded Dorado systems (128 processors total in all) in a cluster with Unisys XPC-L (eXtended Processor Complex) record-lock processor. Pricing of a base configuration begin at $4.5 million.

Two Mid-Range Models Announced

Two new products -- the ClearPath Dorado 4000 Series (which runs Unisys OS 2200) and Libra 4000 Series (which uses the MCP OS) double the peak performance of Unisys’ entry-level products. Both are based on Intel’s quad-core Xeon 7350 x64 processor.

The systems use ClearPath’s flexible resource management to provide metering, allowing customers to handle workloads during peak periods. The new pay-only-for-what-you-use model charges customers only for the processing power they actually consume. Another option is capacity on demand; this allows customers to pre-purchase processing capacity that is dynamically allocated during performance peaks or unusual circumstances (for example, for processing used during disaster recovery).

Prices for the basic models of the Dorado 4000 Series models begin at $498,000; pricing for the Libra 4000 begins at $750,000.

More information is available at http://www.unisys.com