LAN Server on AS/400 Helps AS/400 Run Circles Around Microsoft and H.P.!

AS/400 OUTPERFORMS HEWLETT PACKARD AND COMPAQ/NT SERVERS BY MORE THAN FIFTY
PERCENT AT COMDEX

COMDEX, LAS VEGAS, Nov. 16, 1994, Booth #LVCC-N231. . . IBM today
demonstrated AS/400's client/server speed and value with a "Server
Challenge" of performance tests comprised of standards-based workloads.

IBM's Server Challenge benchmarks AS/400 Advanced Server model 30S against
a Hewlett Packard HP9000 model E35 running HP-UX and a Compaq Proliant
4000 running Microsoft's Windows NT. Using benchmarks based on industry
standard workloads, the tests showed AS/400 to be at least 50 percent
faster than both the HP and Compaq/NT in running a composite suite of
client/server tests, including decision support, transaction processing
and file serving applications.

AS/400 served more than three applications per minute to 60 users, while
the HP served less than two applications per minute to the same number of
users. AS/400 was a clear victor in the price/performance arena, showing
itself to be as much as a 30 percent better value than Compaq/NT and as
much as a 100 percent better value than Hewlett Packard.

"AS/400 Advanced Server is a robust server that delivers great performance
at a very competitive price," said Denise Buonaiuto, client/server
marketing director for AS/400 Division. "In addition to its impressive
performance figures, many customers choose AS/400 because both its ease of
use and open client support allow painless client/server computing."

AS/400 Server Challenge

Up to 100 simulated PC clients, using a variety of operating systems
including OS/2, Microsoft Windows and PC DOS, were attached to each
server, representing a typical user environment. The AS/400 Server
Challenge incorporated three different client/server workloads run
simultaneously. They were:

 o  Decision support component - based on the Transaction
    Processing Council's TPC-D benchmark, PC clients were used to
    initiate query intensive applications on the server using
    Open Data Base Connectivity (ODBC) calls.

 o  Transaction based component - for client/server transaction
    oriented applications based on the Transaction Processing
    Council's TPC-C benchmark, modified to run in a true
    client/server environment.

 o  File serving component - for personal productivity applications
    based on the Business Application Performance Corporation (BAPCO)
    benchmark, containing actual PC applications--spreadsheets
    such as Lotus 1-2-3, word processing such as Microsoft
    Word and personal productivity tools such as Harvard Graphics.

The results of the benchmarks were:

                                    AS/400    HP9000    Compaq/NT

 OLTP - transactions/min.           51.5      54        31.3

 File Serving - applications/min.    3.4       1.9       3.1

 Decision Support - queries/min.     1.5        .45       .62

 Total Elapsed Time in Min.         22        41        32

 Composite Rating - RPMark          213       118       123

 Dollars per RPMark - P/P           $343      $703      $447

The composite rating--or Reference Performance Mark (RPMark)--is based on
the weighted average of three workloads against a base reference machine;
the higher the rating, the better the performance.

"The client/server benchmark we ran today goes a long way in defining the
components of a client/server workload. We expect to see these types of
characteristics in the client/server benchmarks under development in the
TPC and BAPCO benchmark organizations, of which IBM is an active member,"
said John Laskowski, performance programs manager, AS/400 Division.

The price/performance for each server was determined by taking the
acquisition price for each server (both hardware and software), and
dividing by the client/server workload composite rating, or RPMark.

AS/400 Advanced Server model 30S, running Operating System/400 (OS/400)
Version 3 Release 1 includes the DB2/400 relational database and LAN
SERVER/400. Microsoft Windows

NT Server 3.5 ran on a Compaq Proliant 4000 with two Intel Pentium
processors using SQL Server version 4.2. The HP-UX system ran on an HP
9000 E35 using Novell Netware for HP-UX and a leading UNIX-based
relational database (licensing restrictions prevent the identification of
a database when performance figures are used).

The PC-based clients used Visual Basic and C++ applications to access
relational databases located on the server. ODBC calls were used to access
the databases in a consistent way across all three server architectures.

IBM's AS/400

AS/400 is the world's most popular multi-user business computing system,
with more than 275,000 installed worldwide. There are more than 25,000
applications available to run on the family of computers that spans a
single-user system to 4,800 users.

More than 60 percent of AS/400 systems operate using client/server
capabilities, with nearly 3 million PCs attached to AS/400. For ease of
use, Operating System/400 (OS/400) combines the functionality of an
integrated relational database, communications protocols, security
features, and system and network management features -- all accessible
from easy-to-understand menus. 97 of the Fortune 100 Industrials' have
AS/400's installed.

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