NEC rolls out SQL Server bundle

NEC recently launched a server package to help users adopt Microsoft’s SQL Server and migrate to 64-bit computing.

The systems vendor announced the NEC SQL Server bundle – a package that includes the NEC Express5800/1000Xd Series server, provisioning and failover software, SQL Server, and training and support. Bundles include a 32-, 16- or eight-processor server, with the option to upgrade eight- and 16-way servers to 32-processor models.

The NEC Express5800/1000Xd Series server comes in three models. All models use the Intel Itanium 2 processor running at 1.5 GHz. Each also has as much as 6G bytes of memory. To speed performance and processing, they use a crossbar switching architecture derived from NEC’s TX Super Computer architecture.

The bundle includes training on SQL Server and NEC’s Global Master management software. The software is a systems management package for the Express5800 that lets IT administrators manage server and hardware resources, allowing the dynamic allocation of processor resources as well as hardware reconfiguration when errors occur.

The GlobalMaster software also lets IT managers set threshold levels for each managed item on the server. When a threshold is exceeded, the software notifies IT by pager, e-mail, fax or phone.

Further, the package includes Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition, Microsoft’s 64-bit database, which has been optimized for Itanium.

The NEC SQL Server bundle is available immediately, starting at less than $190,000.