The Information & Computer Systems Group of Hitachi, Ltd. (Group Director and
CEO: Takao Kato) today announced plans for a new program, the Hitachi IA-64
Preview Program, to enable customers to begin early implementation of Hitachi's
IA-64 Intel(R) Itanium(TM) processor based servers and workstations. The Hitachi
IA-64 Preview Program begins in the fourth quarter of the year 2000. The program
will loan customers early Hitachi systems to support the early development and
implementation of solutions based on Intel's IA-64 architecture when both hardware
and software become ready to preview by customers. As a result of this program,
Hitachi expects to enhance its IA-64 solutions knowledge base for future system
development.
Since announcing plans to develop IA-64 servers and workstations on January 13,
2000, Hitachi has received numerous inquiries from end users interested in EPIC
(Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing), large-scale memory, scalability,
security, reliability, and high availability. In particular, Hitachi has received
a number of requests from end users who are exploring new applications in the areas
of secure computing transactions and large-scale databases in the Internet business
environment. Based on these trends, the Company is launching the Hitachi IA-64
Preview Program to support the early development of solutions based on Itanium
processors. In the program, users will perform trials on Hitachi's IA-64 servers
and workstations with support from Hitachi.
"I'm delighted that we have an opportunity to give customers an early look at IA-64
through the Hitachi IA-64 Preview Program," said Takao Kato, Group Director and CEO,
Information & Computer Systems Group, Hitachi, Ltd., of the program. "In addition
to getting a feel for the special features of the IA-64 processor, participating
end users will also be able to satisfy their expectations of IA-64's superiority
in realizing solutions for large-scale data bases and the Internet. Moreover, we can
move IA-64 system development forward together with end users, and, by making the most
of our systems development know-how and our strong relationships with clients, we can
promote the spread of IA-64 systems in the future."
"Hitachi is a leader in the IT space," explained Mike Fister, Vice President and
General Manager, Enterprise Platform Group of Intel Corporation. "Intel appreciates
what Hitachi is doing to bring IA-64 architecture to market quickly. Through this
program each user will have a chance to experience firsthand the IA-64 processor's
world class parallel-processing abilities, large memory space, reliability, and
scalability features. With the introduction of IA-64, mid-range to high-end servers
and high-functionality workstations can achieve the performance of standards-based
platforms distinctive to IA-64-based solutions."
From the user's perspective, Toshiaki Yamamoto, Director of Information Systems
for Bridgestone Corporation, enthused: "We are excited that Hitachi has developed
servers with 120% performance using IA-64 and 64-bit Windows(TM), and we are looking
forward to having an early chance to use them. Bridgestone is promoting the use of
an open format for various in-house applications, so we are quite interested in the
scalability and performance of the IA-64 processor and 64-bit Windows(TM). We expect
them to play a leading role in our efforts to cut information-related costs."
At present, the companies below have agreed to participate in the Hitachi IA-64
Preview Program.
(in alphabetical order)
Servers
Bridgestone Corporation
Canon Inc.
Ibaraki Hitachi Information Service Co., Ltd.
Nomura Research Institute, Ltd.
Saibu Gas Information Systems Co., Ltd.
Workstations
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Ricoh Co., Ltd.
Notes:
ˇ¦
*IA-64 : Intel's next generation microprocessor architecture. IA-64 offers
the following features:
- 64-bit computing technology
- Large-scale memory
- New EPIC (Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing) architecture
- An instruction set optimized to the needs of cryptography, video encoding,
and other functions
ˇ¦Trademarks and Registered Trademarks of Other CompaniesIntel and Itanium are
trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States
and other countries.
Microsoft and Windows are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the United States and other countries.
Supervising Section
Contact: Mr. Tsukishima
Platform Systems Planning Department
Enterprise Server Division
Hitachi, Ltd.
Horiyamashita 1-Banchi, Hadano-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture, 259-1392
Tel. (domestic): 0463-88-8086
|