Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens Computers PRIMEPOWER Enterprise Servers
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
DPRO-97941
17 April 2003
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FSC has added value to Solaris with its Web-based server administration software, Aurema ARMTech-
based resource management and add-on PRIMECLUSTER software. All have graphical user interfaces
designed to make the software quicker and easier to use than the integral Solaris features. The resource
management software also includes a number of functional enhancements over Sun’s Solaris Resource
Manager, including resource capping, the ability to change policies dynamically and enhanced resource
group definitions.
Limitations
Vendor’s Limited Visibility Outside Europe and Japan
The PRIMEPOWER is relatively new to North America, and Fujitsu Technology Solutions is still in the
process of trying to get itself and its product noticed. The PRIMEPOWER doesn’t yet figure very highly on
Gartner clients’ “radar” in North America. FSC, the PRIMEPOWER supplier in EMEA, is better known in
its geographical market, but the system is still not as well known and accepted as Sun, HP and IBM, and
is still building a portfolio of references. This is reflected in the vendor’s 4.1 percent share of the worldwide
RISC/Unix market (by server revenue) in 2002.
Not Supported in Sun Cluster Software
Although the PRIMEPOWER servers are binary compatible with Sun’s SPARC/Solaris servers, they are
not supported in Sun’s clustering software, so it would not be possible to have a mixed cluster of Sun Fire
and PRIMEPOWER servers managed by Sun’s software. Mixed clusters of Sun Fire and PRIMEPOWER
servers are supported in Veritas cluster software, however.
Fujitsu Is Still Building Up Global Services and Support
In the first quarter of 2002, Fujitsu rolled its Amdahl IT Services (AITS) business into Fujitsu Technology
Solutions, Inc., in North America. It is still in the process of creating a truly global service business. Fujitsu
owns numerous disparate services organizations around the world, but these have not always been
complementary, and they are not all integrated. Fujitsu needed to integrate AITS with its North American
subsidiary to provide a single point of contact for service and support, so that customers could go to a
single supplier for their servers, storage and support. By rolling in AITS, Fujitsu can now also provide a
single support center for not only its servers, but also software (such as Veritas), storage (EMC) and other
computer systems (mainframes and PCs). FSC offers similar capabilities in most EMEA countries, but
Fujitsu’s services divisions, which include Amdahl, DMR Consulting and the former ICL, still need
consolidating to provide effective professional and systems integration services throughout the region.
Insight
The PRIMEPOWER XA Enterprise Servers’ chief attributes are that they are binary compatible with Sun’s
SPARC/Solaris platform and that they offer exceptional scalability and class-leading levels of high-
availability functionality. These attributes and the fact that Fujitsu and Fujitsu Siemens are marketing them
in two of the major worldwide Unix markets, Europe and North America, make the PRIMEPOWER servers
a viable alternative to Sun’s high-end F15K and F12K Unix servers for an increasing number of
customers. Fujitsu, its European partner, FSC, and its North American subsidiary, FTSI, cannot yet be
called a truly global player in the Unix market, however, and the combined group lacks partners outside of
its core geographies. Prospective clients should investigate thoroughly the sales and support presence
and track record of the PRIMEPOWER supplier in their geography before evaluating the technology.
