High-end application servers are no different. Hewlett-Packard, IBM, SGI and Sun all make good money on their high-end product lines. But that may change soon, or at least these vendors may get more of a run for their money. Intel has announced its latest processors, which will push Intel-architecture machines even further into the high-end application server arena.

Pentium III, the Server With all the titter about the Pentium III's enhanced graphical abilities and other features that boost desktop performance, there's been some interesting movement on the server side of the fence, too. Intel has added features intended to make MPU (multiprocessing unit) servers based on Intel chips run faster and become easier to build. Intel is also increasing cache size for server CPUs, a much needed enhancement for most large-scale applications.

But when the cache size goes up, so will the price. While Pentium III chips destined for the desktop will cost PC makers $500 to $600, those with the 2-MB cache will cost more than $3,500. Unix system vendors have been putting big caches on their chips for some time and, to a large degree, it is cache size that often makes the difference in performance for many applications.

The typical end systems that use these chips will cost upward of $20,000 for single-processor systems, but if you need the processing power, it's worth it. Of course, if you can wait six to nine months, prices will sink like a stone.

Enhanced CPUs are only the beginning. Intel also recently has talked about motherboard chipsets specifically designed for eight-way multiprocessing. This is a blessing for those of you who have chosen the Intel architecture for your applications and need more processing power. It's also a boon for the Novell and the Linux communities, which are well served by higher-end Intel-based systems.

Sleepless Nights? Take the combination of Linux, the high-end applications that have been announced or delivered for it, such as those from Oracle, and Netscape's servers, add it all to the new high-end servers that will be built with the recently announced chips from Intel, and the result must be some sleepless nights for product managers at the big Unix server companies. The Intel announcements taken by themselves just a year ago wouldn't have meant all that much to the application server market because NT still is not considered industrial strength. But Linux is a different story.

Although you can still make a case for the high-end offerings from HP, IBM, SGI and Sun, there is now an excellent alternative. Intel has long been laying the tinder in this market and the Linux community has supplied the spark that's generating some heat. These multiway servers won't be cheap by any means. This isn't a case where you can pull back your million-dollar requisition from Sun and go to Dell.com to buy a $20,000 system. But you will see major cost savings if you take this route, and you may even delight your Unix systems administrators in the process.

There's still the issue of support and finding the type of support model with which you're most comfortable. Choosing the Linux-Intel route involves a very different support model, but the grassroots nature of the operating system means that your systems administrators will likely find the tools to make their jobs easier. You probably can buy at least two times the performance--or twice as many systems for your money--when the new Pentium III multiprocessor systems become available. It's an appealing prospect and one that should be considered, if not for your 1999 purchases, then certainly for those in 2000.

Send your comments on this column to Art Wittmann at awittmann@nwc.com.