NEC, PSI, Solid Quality Mentors Team to Deliver New Mainframe-Class Capabilities For SQL Server Data Center

Business Wire, June 10, 2008

Integrated Hardware, Software, Consulting Services Offer First Dynamic Scale-Up or Scale-Out Solution for SQL Server Environments

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Today, NEC Corporation of America, Platform Solutions, Inc. (PSI) and Solid Quality Mentors announced that the three companies are working together to deliver the industry's first dynamic scale-up or scale-out solution for Microsoft SQL Server([R])environments. The integrated solution offers new server consolidation opportunities for environments suffering from server sprawl.

Enabled by NEC's Express5800/1000 series server dynamic hardware partitioning capabilities for Microsoft Window Server([R]) 2008, and PSI's new VMneXt hypervisor for enterprise data centers, the integrated package provides new, flexible scaling options for SQL Server administrators and data center managers who are performance- or system-resource constrained. Solid Quality Mentors SQL Server consolidation expertise finishes the solution by optimizing the performance of a company's Microsoft IT investment.

To Scale-Up

The NEC Express5800/1000 series server allows administrators and data center managers to "hot-add" CPU cells and SQL Server memory resources within a matter of minutes in order to achieve higher levels of performance. On February 27, 2008, the NEC Express5800/1320Xf server with NEC S2500 storage arrays reported world-record TPC-E performance benchmark results. In this benchmark, the NEC Express5800/1320Xf achieved 1,126.49 tpsE (transactions per second-E) outperforming the next highest system by 70%. The price per performance was $2,771.79/tpsE, demonstrating the power of an NEC Enterprise Server solution with its S-Series storage arrays running 32 Dual-Core Intel([R]) Itanium([R]) 9150 processors, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems on the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 operating system. The TPC-E benchmark simulates the OLTP (online transaction processing) workload of a brokerage firm.

To Scale-Out

The NEC Express5800 server platform, in combination with Windows Server 2008 dynamic partitioning support, allows administrators and data center managers to dynamically manage CPU, memory, and I/O resources. Additionally, with PSI VMneXt server virtualization software, system administrators and data center managers can deploy up to 512 virtual machine guests per Express5800/1000 series server. PSI's recently announced VMneXt server virtualization software for Intel([R]) Itanium([R])-based systems provides a cost-effective way to consolidate hundreds of physical server images on the NEC Express5800/1000 series server. PSI's VMneXt also enhances the overall RAS and mobility characteristics through features such as "live migration" of virtual images from one server or partition to another with zero downtime to the entire application.

"As Windows data center resources become increasingly challenged to deliver more with less, consolidation with the ability to dynamically scale-up or out while delivering mission critical capabilities becomes important," said Mike Mitsch, general manager of enterprise servers, IT Platform Group, NEC Corporation of America. "NEC has had long-standing relationships with Microsoft and PSI and is excited to partner with Solid Quality Mentors to deliver SQL performance and consolidation consulting services to users that seek a truly scalable, mainframe-class always on, dynamic IT infrastructure."

Stated Christian Reilly, senior vice president, Platform Solutions, Inc. "The Express5800/1000 series server is the perfect platform for virtualization. With down to 64 cores and up to 1 TB of memory, SQL Server-based data centers can consolidate test and development servers, as well as production servers, onto a single floor tile utilizing only a fraction of the power and cooling of typical rack mount servers."

New SQL Consultation Alliance with Solid Quality

NEC and PSI are also teaming up with Solid Quality Mentors to offer, through December 31, 2008, up to two hours of free Window Server / SQL Server consolidation or performance optimization assessment services for qualified new NEC Express5800/1000 series server-based SQL Server purchase prospects. While actual system purchase is not required, these free assessments are subject to availability. Solid Quality Mentors offers advanced education and solutions for the entire Microsoft data and development platforms. Solid Quality Mentors conducts consulting service in business areas, including: data management, development, collaboration, and business intelligence.

"Solid Quality Mentors, comprised of industry leading technical experts, authors and speakers, has established a reputation within the SQL Server and Business Intelligence arenas of professional excellence in education and mentoring," said Brian Moran, chief operating office and founding partner, Solid Quality Mentors. "This recognition has opened the door to some exciting collaborative efforts in recent years. We are looking forward to partnering with NEC and PSI as we strive to achieve optimal benefits from our customer's Microsoft products and systems."