Executive Brief
Compaq TaskSmart Appliance Servers:
June 1999
0194-0699-A
Prepared by Industry Standard
Server Division
Compaq Computer Corporation
Contents
Accelerating Business
Advantage with Compaq
TaskSmart Servers.....................3
The Customer Challenge...........3
The Customer Advantage of
TaskSmart Servers...................3
Compaq TaskSmart Servers
for Internet Caching ...................5
Other TaskSmart Solutions........7
Conclusion .................................7
Compaq TaskSmart Appliance
Servers: Computing Paradigm
of the Future
Abstract: Compaq introduces TaskSmart Servers, a new family of
appliance servers tuned and optimized for specific applications.
These specialized servers, that include integrated and optimized
hardware, operating system and application, are easy to deploy and
manage, and offer fast, simple answers to current solution
deployment bottlenecks.
With this new line of servers, Compaq becomes the first vendor to
provide a comprehensive appliance server architecture to help
enterprise customers simplify and speed deployment and operation,
allowing them to achieve higher levels of performance and
reliability. The first products, to be launched in North America
within the next 30 days, will be a series of Internet caching appliance
servers. Other application areas under investigation or development
include file storage, directory, security, and database solutions.
Compaq brings the proven benefits of industry-standard computing
to this rapidly emerging market, offering scalable product ranges for
selected applications. Each new product will be offered under a new
appliance server brand and business architecture, incorporating:
• Powerful enterprise management
• Best-of-breed solutions
• Broadest range of integration and sales support
• Simplified service and complete accountability
empowering customers to achieve greater
competitive advantage
in the e-commerce world.
Compaq TaskSmart Appliance Servers: Computing Paradigm of the Future 2
Notice
The information in this publication is subject to change without notice and is provided “AS IS” WITHOUT
WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
INFORMATION REMAINS WITH RECIPIENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL COMPAQ BE LIABLE FOR
ANY DIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR OTHER DAMAGES
WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS
PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION), EVEN IF
COMPAQ HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
The limited warranties for Compaq products are exclusively set forth in the documentation accompanying
such products. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting a further or additional warranty.
This publication does not constitute an endorsement of the product or products that were tested. The
configuration or configurations tested or described may or may not be the only available solution. This test
is not a determination or product quality or correctness, nor does it ensure compliance with any federal
state or local requirements.
Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective
companies.
Compaq, Contura, Deskpro, Fastart, Compaq Insight Manager, LTE, PageMarq, Systempro, Systempro/LT,
ProLiant, TwinTray, ROMPaq, LicensePaq, QVision, SLT, ProLinea, SmartStart, NetFlex, DirectPlus,
QuickFind, RemotePaq, BackPaq, TechPaq, SpeedPaq, QuickBack, PaqFax, Presario, SilentCool,
CompaqCare (design), Aero, SmartStation, MiniStation, and PaqRap, registered United States Patent and
Trademark Office.
Netelligent, Armada, Cruiser, Concerto, QuickChoice, ProSignia, Systempro/XL, Net1, LTE Elite,
Vocalyst, PageMate, SoftPaq, FirstPaq, SolutionPaq, EasyPoint, EZ Help, MaxLight, MultiLock,
QuickBlank, QuickLock, UltraView, Innovate logo, TaskSmart, Wonder Tools logo in black/white and
color, and Compaq PC Card Solution logo are trademarks and/or service marks of Compaq Computer
Corporation.
Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, Windows NT Server and Workstation, Microsoft SQL Server for
Windows NT are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
NetWare and Novell are registered trademarks and intraNetWare, NDS, and Novell Directory Services are
trademarks of Novell, Inc.
Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.
Copyright ©1999 Compaq Computer Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
Compaq TaskSmart Appliance Servers: Computing Paradigm of the Future
Executive Brief prepared by Industry Standard Server Division
First Edition (June 1999)
Document Number 0194-0699-A
0194-0699-A
Compaq TaskSmart Appliance Servers: Computing Paradigm of the Future 3
Accelerating Business Advantage with
Compaq TaskSmart Servers
The Customer Challenge
Internet content continues to grow explosively, attracting ever-widening audiences. Nielsen
Media Research estimates the United States Internet population at 99 million, up 43% from a year
ago. According to the United Nations, the Internet will have 200 million users “within a year or
so.” At the same time, companies are drawn to the web by the potential for e-commerce. In a
recent Duke University study, 56% of companies surveyed claim they will be selling on the
Internet by next year. Analyst predictions for the size of the e-commerce market in 2000 range
from $66 billion (Forrester Research) to $153 billion (IDC).
This translates into a surge of data and applications, and therefore complexity. Enterprise
customers find themselves with proliferating server farms and many new applications awaiting
deployment. Also, industry-standard computing has created an ever-widening range of solution
choices. This range of choices, together with the continuing shortage of trained IT staff, means
that customers are now experiencing serious bottlenecks in deploying their solutions.
One approach to accelerating solution deployment is to deliver hardware, operating system, and
application software as a complete product: configured, tuned, and optimized. Using long
experience in application integration and partnering with leading software vendors, Compaq is
the first leading vendor to support this new computing architecture: appliance servers. These
products – to be delivered under the Compaq TaskSmart brand – are single-purpose systems,
tuned and optimized for one specific application. They include all the hardware and software
components necessary to deliver that specific computing function with extremely high
performance and reliability.
Appliance servers provide complete integration for key applications – essential building blocks
for customers to deploy complete business solutions, augmenting the current industry-standard
approach for specific applications.
Uniquely, TaskSmart Appliance servers support two complimentary directions of Compaq’s
innovation strategy:
• Driving high-volume, standards-based hardware innovation, such as Automatic Server
Recovery, redundant power supplies, PCI Hot Plug, VI Architecture, and PCI-X.
• Advancing smarter solutions, from the original SmartStart and Compaq Insight Manager
through activeAnswers and Intelligent Cluster Administration.
The TaskSmart appliance server family is another step forward, providing tools and techniques
that empower customers, system integrators, and others with smarter solutions at less complexity
and lower cost.
The Customer Advantage of TaskSmart Servers
Many customers see clear advantages in using TaskSmart servers. For Don Porter, manager of
network and information at Salt Lake City-based Utah Link EdNet, using CompaqTaskSmart
caching servers to speed Web access in schools was an easy choice.
0194-0699-A
Compaq TaskSmart Appliance Servers: Computing Paradigm of the Future 4
"I know there are solutions you can put on a general-purpose server, but an appliance is so quick
and easy," Porter said. "I've deployed these throughout the state, and the people at the remote
sites don't always have the expertise to install the network operating system and do the
complicated configuration required with a general-purpose server. The appliance, on the other
hand, can be installed and configured in under 15 minutes."
Many industry analysts also see appliance servers as representing the wave of the future. As Carl
Howe, research director at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, told Network World,
“The thing about (general-purpose) servers is that they are a platform, and that function is still
required. There are, however, some functions that are just done better by other devices.”
Several vendors are developing integrated hardware/softwareofferings. However, Compaq is the
first vendor to propose a comprehensive approach – an overall strategy for addressing customer
needs across a broad application range. This underlying business architecture, an effort to ensure
customers have the fastest, simplest solution, is focused on four main areas:
• Powerful enterprise management
• Best-of-breed solutions
• Broadest range of integration and sales support
• Simplified service and complete accountability
Powerful Enterprise Management
Compaq recognizes that IT managers look to standardize their architectures and vendors. The last
thing many companies want is another new platform to manage, another new application to learn
and integrate, and another new vendor to build a service relationship with. Consequently,
Compaq TaskSmart servers will be delivered with a unified management architecture that
includes powerful enterprise management tools.
Every server in the TaskSmart family will have simple, intuitive interfaces and tools for
application setup and management. Complete remote setup and administration will be supported
as a TaskSmart server standard. In addition, all products in the TaskSmart family will have a
common management framework, and common interfaces, reducing the need for training and
increasing user familiarity. Compaq TaskSmart servers will provide seamless integration with
enterprise management tools, including Compaq Insight Manager, HP OpenView, Tivoli, BMC,
and CA, to meet the broadest range of business needs.
Best-of-Breed Solutions
As the volume and market leader in server hardware, Compaq has an unmatched track record of
industry-standard hardware innovation. This leadership has been maintained by combining
Compaq’s engineering excellence with unrivalled integration expertise. Compaq works constantly
with partners to deliver fully tested and optimized standards-based solutions, culminating in more
customers and a leading market share position across a range of operating systems and
applications. The development leverage inherent in industry-standard solutions drives both a
faster pace of innovation as well as significant economies. Customers know that a Compaq
solution will have high value, will be brought to market quickly, and will be fully tested and
optimized for the industry-standard computing environment.
0194-0699-A
Combining Compaq engineering excellence with our strong software partner relationships,
Compaq will deliver the best-optimized products based on the unique characteristics of each
application and how it fits within a customer environment.
Compaq TaskSmart Appliance Servers: Computing Paradigm of the Future 5
Broadest Range of Integration and Sales Support
Compaq TaskSmart servers provide a self-contained solution at the hardware/operating
system/application level. However, for many applications, customers are looking for a best-ofclass total solution at the business process level. As such, Compaq TaskSmart servers represent
critical building blocks to help customers deploy a total solution more quickly and costeffectively than a proprietary alternative. Particularly in an environment of IT skill shortage and
time constraints, Compaq is working closely with broader solution providers to meet these needs.
Compaq Network System Integration Services, other business solution providers, and high value
channel partners will all be empowered to use Compaq appliance servers as components in
broader business process solutions. In addition, pre-sales services such as network planning,
product sizing and application suitability will soon be available to aid customers in confident
appliance deployment.
Compaq industry-standard server account teams will also be offering TaskSmart servers, along
with the full range of ProLiant and Prosignia products, through new online ordering mechanisms
as well as traditional Compaq channels. As TaskSmart servers are pre-configured, optimized, and
tested in the factory, Compaq will deliver them quickly and easily directly to customers however
they are ordered.
Simplified Service and Complete Accountability
Many customers require early support when deploying new applications. However, support
quality can vary between hardware, operating system, and application software providers, and for
some problems, responsibility for a specific problem may be difficult to assign. Many customers
complain about vendor finger-pointing.
Compaq appliance server architecture completely eliminates this concern. Compaq will take
complete responsibility for hardware, operating system, and application software support.
Compaq Services or our service partners will be the single point of contact for any service event
associated with any product in the Compaq appliance server family. To enhance the customer
purchase and ownership experience, Compaq will provide additional appliance-specific services.
Compaq is offering appliance servers as complements to the ProLiant general-purpose server
hardware family. Compaq plans to offer common spares within the appliance server family as
well as between appliance servers and ProLiant hardware.
Compaq TaskSmart Servers for Internet
Caching
Compaq TaskSmart servers for Internet caching, also known as the Compaq TaskSmart C-Series,
will be the first to carry the new Compaq appliance brand, and will be available worldwide within
the next 30 days.
The explosion of web content and the intense demands of new e-business applications stress web
servers and client access performance alike. At the Internet Service Provider level, and
increasingly with web–enabled businesses, caches are becoming critical to deliver content faster
and more cheaply. Many tiered hierarchical caches have been set up to accelerate the web. The
disparity between the cost of storage and the cost of bandwidth makes web caches a compelling
value proposition both now and for the foreseeable future. Web object caching, today often
bundled as part of general multi-application solutions, benefits greatly from specifically tuned
and optimized hardware and software. This solution delivers huge performance advantages,
0194-0699-A
Compaq TaskSmart Appliance Servers: Computing Paradigm of the Future 6
which easily translate into WAN bandwidth savings, vastly improved user/customer response and
greater web server farm scalability.
"Internet caches are at once a simple and obvious engineering enhancement to the basic publish
and browse model of the Internet, and at the same time offer a diverse set of valuable benefits that
are not immediately obvious, ranging from acceleration of existing web servers, replacing
existing cumbersome file mirroring schemes, to significantly enhancing the performance of
Internet browsers over dial-up modem connections," notes Peter Christy, Senior Analyst at
Collaborative Collaborative Research, a Silicon-Valley based consultancy which tracks the
caching marketplace.
These new TaskSmart caching servers, available shortly, will allow any businesses relying on
Internet or Intranet applications to accelerate their business advantage through improved quality
of service and significant cost savings.
Deployed between firewalls and web content servers in server acceleration or reverse proxy
mode, cache servers reduce the load on web server farms and bring the most-requested data closer
to customers. Client acceleration or forward proxy deployment speeds client web access, reduces
bandwidth traffic, and results in significant savings.
Compaq will offer a powerful but affordable web caching solution that interoperates with and can
be managed within any enterprise infrastructure. Based on award-winning industry-standard
hardware, tuned and optimized with custom Internet caching software from an industry-leading
partner, Compaq is providing the fastest and smartest web cache server to optimize and accelerate
Internet business solutions.
Compaq TaskSmart C-Series servers for Internet caching will include an OS kernel that is
specifically optimized for storing web objects to deliver blazing performance. They will be
delivered in a range of scalability and availability options, rack-mounted, ready for clustering,
and transparent to the client browsers.
Unique setup and administration tools will make these servers easy to deploy, even in remote
offices without MIS support. Tools will be provided to make it unnecessary to send a central MIS
manager to install the server at a remote site. Each server will be managed by a client computer
via a simple web-browser interface, with simple, easy-to-follow configuration menus and tools to
guide customers through the process. Software agents will be integrated into the pre-configured
and tuned hardware to allow the hardware to be managed through Compaq Insight Manager and
other industry-leading systems management tools. The optimized software will also include other
caching features such as filtering, scheduled downloads, and cache refreshing as well as various
log file options.
Compaq’s Internet caching appliance servers will be suitable for any operating environment. No
specialized operating system or file system knowledge is required for full utilization and
maximum efficiency. UNIX, NT, and NetWare environments will all be fully supported. Beta
versions of these products have been in test at customer sites since Q4/98.
0194-0699-A
Compaq TaskSmart Appliance Servers: Computing Paradigm of the Future 7
Other TaskSmart Solutions
These imminent products are only the start of Compaq appliance server plans. Within this new
brand and appliance architecture, Compaq has identified many other major applications where
appliance servers can provide significant time-to-solution and price/performance advantages over
existing general-purpose server deployments.
Many industry analysts have already identified network file storage appliances (also known as
network-attached storage or NAS) as a large and growing market. IDC values the worldwide
NAS market at $12 billion by 2002. Several closed proprietary offerings have been developed. As
with the Internet caching solution, the Compaq approach will integrate our innovative standardsbased hardware technologies with an optimal file server software solution to bring customers a
trusted solution. Meeting customer demands for multi-protocol file system support, ease of
deployment, scalability, and related solutions such as back-up offerings, Compaq plans to deliver
a range of dedicated file storage servers later this year.
Many other solutions are at various stages of investigation and development. Applications under
consideration include security, web servers, messaging, telecom, and database solutions. In each
case, Compaq will work with one or two leading partners, optimize the systems, integrate them
within the overall appliance server family framework, and deliver the same high level of
management support so that all appliances in the family have the same look and feel and
management functionality. Customers will not need to support new architectures or develop new
vendor relationships. Compaq will provide, support, and manage the integrated application.
Compaq appliance choices are based on two key factors:
• Whether the application and communication standards for the application are well-defined
• The amount of customization required by most common deployments of that application
If standards are well-defined, the appliance server based on those standards will be broadly
accepted. When little application customization is required, those servers can be integrated before
shipment, easily deployed, and plugged seamlessly into a customer network.
The Compaq vision of appliance servers incorporates two differing technical approaches. For
some applications, tuning and/or embedding the operating system and integrating with generalpurpose server hardware achieves the best balance between optimizing the performance and
reliability of that application and flexibility. For others, truly optimal performance requires tuning
and specializing the hardware as well as the operating system.
Conclusion
With this announcement, Compaq brings the industry-standard approach to appliance servers.
Compaq TaskSmart appliance servers will guarantee customers the flexibility, cost advantages,
and performance enhancements delivered by traditional Compaq server platforms, along with
application integration expertise forged through close and long-term industry partnerships.
Customers deploying Compaq appliance servers will know their server appliances are tuned and
optimized for best application performance, comply with industry-standard protocols, and can be
integrated and managed within any computing environment. Compaq TaskSmart servers
accelerate customer time-to-solution and provide excellent business advantage.
0194-0699-A
Loading...