AST to Unveil Multiprocessing Computer
The Manhattan project is finally complete.
After more than two years of research and development, AST Research Inc. said it will formally launch its multiprocessing computer today at a trade show in Santa Cruz.
AST’s Manhattan SMP uses as many as four microprocessors, or main computing brains, to overcome roadblocks to processing data quickly. It represents AST’s attempt to take business away from the $30-billion minicomputer industry, said Michael Krieger, director of marketing for advanced products at AST.
The Manhattan will be pitched to corporations that need to reduce the costs of their computer systems, most likely as a replacement for the centralized office computers known as minicomputers.
“Whereas minicomputers replaced mainframes, multiprocessors such as AST’s Manhattan SMP will replace minicomputers,” Krieger said.
The price of the Manhattan--$26,995--is about half that of comparable minicomputers, which sell for more than $50,000 apiece.
Krieger would not make specific sales projections but did say the success of the Manhattan could have an effect on the company’s bottom line during the next year. AST, Orange County’s largest computer company, reported sales of $944.1 million for the fiscal year that ended June 30.
Instead of being tied to a single minicomputer vendor, AST officials say, their machine can run on a variety of popular operating systems, including Unix, Novell Netware and the upcoming Microsoft Windows NT.
It would function as a super server, or a number-crunching machine that could serve the needs of many personal computer users through an electronic network.
Krieger said the advantage for computer users is that they will be able to use a wide variety of existing software, rather than rely on software tailored to a particular kind of minicomputer.
Minicomputer vendors have fought back by launching their own efforts to ensure that their machines can run software from multiple vendors and by offering speedier, more reliable equipment.
Krieger said the company began working on the project in December, 1989. The design team consisted of 12 engineers plus a number of support and marketing employees--more staff than AST has devoted to any other research project.
AST waited to introduce the product because it wanted to be sure that software developers would invest their time in programs for the multiprocessing machine, Krieger said.
New products from companies such as Santa Cruz Operation, a software developer, will make it possible to run thousands of existing standard software packages on the multiprocessing machines, Krieger said.
AST worked with software developers to make sure the machine and software would be compatible.
AST also made an unsuccessful attempt to establish multiprocessing standards among major manufacturers in the industry. That effort, spearheaded by AST President Safi U. Qureshey, fell apart because vendors could not come to an agreement on the technology for transferring data through the machine.
