Summary of Request for Comparison of Altos and NCR

[Bruce Himebaugh]

The purpose of this article is to summarize the responses I received, asking
for a comparison of Altos versus NCR.

In a nutshell, the original request went something like this:

    What I am looking for is a good comparison of an Altos Series 5000 versus
    what ever the equivalent is for NCR for a customer of ours.
    
    The system will initially be configured for the following: 70 users, 20
    printers, 3 modems, 24M-32M RAM, 600M-800M hard disk space and 300M-500M
    tape drive.  The system needs to have the future expandability of: 100
    users, 30 printers, 3 modems, 48M-64M RAM, 1G-1.5G hard disk space and
    300M-500M tape drive.  The OS will be Unix System V (or equivalent).  The
    software they will be initially running on the system is: Multiplan
    Spreadsheet, Uniplex Word Processing, some sort of user friendly mail
    system (i.e. not /usr/bin/mail), programs running under MicroSoft compiled
    basic, MultiView (i.e. like JSB's mview) and filePro+ 4.0 database from
    Small Computer Company.

    The most heavily used software will be the filePro+ database and the
    compiled basic programs.  The MultiView product will be used by 20 to 30
    users.  The other software will be used on and off, as needed by everyone.
    Future software requirements will include such items as CAD and other
    graphics related software.  95% of the people will be using standard ascii
    terminals, but down the road some X capability might be needed also.  SCO
    compatibility would be nice, but not necessary.

    Of course price/performance is the main issue.  They want a fast system,
    but a reasonably priced system, hence the price/performance issue is the
    heavy factor.

Summary of responses received:

    Altos:
	- Altos 5000 is possibly a dead-end.  Some upgradeability is in
	  question.
	- An Altos 4000 is in the works that is a cut-down version of the 5000.
	- An Altos with multiple-processor capability is in the works.
	- The Altos' really shines in the area of disk I/O.
	- Altos performance goes way down when using X windows.
	- Altos uses the EISA bus.

    NCR:
	- NCR announced a switch to Intel chips.  Motorola-based crud will
	  become white elephants.
	- NCR is the slowest general purpose Unix box on the market.
	- 2 people doing C compiles can drive an NCR to constipation.
	- Less than 5 X terminals can "saturate" an NCR.
	- NCR will be using a Micro Channel bus in the new Intel based
	  machines.
	- Beware of possible availability/delivery problems while NCR makes the
	  switch to Intel.  Especially with software.

    Miscellaneous:
	- "70-100 users on an Altos or NCR??  What are they going to be doing,
	  or, better yet, what have you been smoking lately??!!"
	- One suggestion was to investigate a Sequent.
	- One suggestion was to investigate AT&T's StarSERVER-E.
	- "First models of the new NCR line, as well as the Altos, seem to be
	  well regarded."

I really appreciate all responses that I received!  Although I must say that I
was sort of disappointed in the fact that I got no responses from NCR or
Altos.  I guess I was also hoping for more information regarding the actual
performance of each system.  If anyone else would like to respond, please do
so, as the decision has still not been made.

Thanks again for everyone's help!!!

Bruce
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Bruce Himebaugh             A.C.T. Consulting, Inc.         Voice: 216-455-1444
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