Overview

24/7 business operations and the need for an “always-on” computing infrastructure means that there is no time for downtime in business-critical and mission-critical applications. Customers are no longer just relying on simple server reliability, with downtime of up to 9 hours a year; they are demanding more uptime, challenging server suppliers to provide highly reliable systems at much lower price-points than ever before.

Fault Tolerant servers surpass the concept of high availability to enter the era of the "continuous availability". Such servers are designed to guarantee an availability of 99.999%, that is to say on average less than 5 minutes of unplanned interruption per year, including time necessary for repairs, updates, and general maintenance.

Fault Tolerant and unprecedented availability

With the explosion of the E-market and online transactions, fault tolerant systems play a crucial part and ensure the continuous operation of vital systems in companies.

Optimized for operations which cannot be allowed to break down, such as banks and the retail trade – the NEC Express5800 Fault Tolerant server is thenew industry standard fault tolerant solution, featuring advanced technology and management tools.

The NEC Express5800/ft server ensures the use of the software applications and middleware without alteration. With the modular architecture, new chipset, as well as redundant CPU/ES modules, a higher availability of service is guarantee. The internal hard disks and power supply units are in separate modules and the new chipset controls redundant operation of these modules.

Key Features

Unprecedented Fault Tolerant Technology

The vital components are duplicated for business continuity

The NEC Express5800/ft server houses superfluous CPU/ES modules and hard disk modules in one chassis. The CPU/ES module contains principal components - CPU, memory and PCI-X slots - and functions in "lockstep" mode with the duplicated module.
The NEC Express5800/ft server ensures advanced fault tolerance thanks to its new chipset, designed to control operations in "lockstep" mode.

High System Performance

Processor Intel Xeon

The NEC Express5800/ft benefit from the latest Intel Xeon Quad Core processors.

Compatible with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (32 & 64 bits), Linux and virtualised environments support

Modular architecture for easy maintenance

The hard disk modules are separated from CPU/ES modules to ensure disc mirroring during the replacement of a CPU/ES module. Each CPU/ES module uses a separate power supply, guaranteeing business continuity of service in the event of failure or a powercut of one of the modules. Moreover, the CPU/ES modules, hard disk and power supply can be replaced even if hot and are accessible by the front or the back of the chassis, which makes it possible to replace them without interruption of service.

Key Benefits

99,999% system Availability

Total element redundancy

Easy maintenance

Modular concept: each module can be identified, and easily extracted without calling upon particular expertise and requiring use of specific tools.
Simplified service

Standard components and software

The components (Processors, memory, hard disks, expander cards) used are the same ones as those found in a standard Intel server. Because of this, NEC is now able to offer fault tolerant solutions at a more reasonable price.
The Windows applications (Exchange, SQL server, SharePoint, etc...) used are identical to those installed on a standard server, therefore there is no need to modify them.
This also applies to the Windows 2003 R2 (1)

(1) Security patches and Service packs are subject to a preliminary validation before being applied.

Economic solution

Less expensive than a “cluster” based server
As there is only one copy of applications, there is no need for the server to be “cluster-aware”
Cost reduction compared to a standard system; reduced cost of immobilization.

Product Lineup

The NEC Express5800/320FT servers are the optimum choice for large accounts to medium-sized corporations running critical systems and data centres.

Key features & Benefits :

Pro-active support

• Pro-active and remote monitoring
• Remote alert
• FT Service Contract

Continuous availability & Reduction in Windows Maintenance Time

• Active Upgrade services: address planned server downtime to guarantee minimal disruption.
• Mirrored HotSwap HDDs and Rapid Disk Resync (RDR): enable quick copies of only the data that has changed, enabling rapid resynchronization of internal HDDs and faster system recovery.
• Support NEC ExpressCluster to secure critical applications: emails, data bases and applications are highly important for the smooth running of any business. The NEC new fault tolerant server combined with the NEC ExpressCluster solution delivers excellent high availability for applications by minimizing unplanned hardware failures.

Operational simplicity for a complete flexibility of the infrastructure

• The support of standard Microsoft and Red Hat operating systems:This enables a wide range of Open Source applications to run on Red Hat Linux on the high availability ft server.
• The support of Virtualization environments: VMware® certification is planned for CQ1 08.

A concentrate of new Fault Tolerant technology

• The latest Intel® Xeon® Quad core processors
• Faster Front Side Bus (1333 MHz FSB): fast front-side bus with up to 66 percent greater CPU Input/Output (I/O).
• Increased memory capacity up to 24GB:50 percent increase in memory capacity and PCI-Express expansion for 25 percent faster I/O and compatibility
• Supports SAS HDDs to improve the scalability of the system.

Support

Drivers, BIOS Updates, User guide...