As for its decision to delay shipment of the new Xeon-based servers, Diefenthaler says releasing them despite the fact that the chipsets might not recognize all PCI Express adapters would only lead to consternation by customers and channel partners that could surface a year or two down the line as customers add new adapters. "With the support nightmare that we would incur, we decided it wasn't worth it," Diefenthaler says.
Colin Lacey, director of strategy for industry-standard servers at HP, defended his company's decision to roll out the new Xeon-based servers, noting its tests have not found any PCI Express cards that are not compatible with its systems. But to ensure customers don't encounter problems down the road, HP has coded instructions into the systems' BIOS that would prevent a server from booting should an incompatible PCI Express card be found.
"We expect to see very little nonsupported configurations actually happening in the marketplace," Lacey says. While the systems won't be upgradeable to address the bug fix, Lacey is hopeful that the benefits of the new servers--higher processor frequency, a faster front-side bus, improved management and cooling, and better availability and redundancy--will outweigh the PCI Express issue.
Meanwhile, Gateway is preparing to release what could be the first new PC based on Intel's new BTX architecture. Designed with a new air-flow module designed to keep virtually every component cooler, the chassis has 2 120-mm fans that run at 40 percent of the speed of its ATX-based counterpoints. "And they are a lot less noisy," concedes Ken Loyd, Gateway's director of business marketing. The system will ship next quarter. The company has not disclosed pricing.
Overall, company officials say they have a plan to return to profitability next year by putting in place much of the supply-chain and manufacturing efficiencies employed by eMachines, the company Gateway acquired last year. While consolidating overlapping product lines, eMachines will be Gateway's retail product line while the Gateway brand will be used to further its presence in companies with 2,500 and fewer users. The plan also calls for expanding its push into the channel. Currently, channel partners represent 15 percent of sales, but given its SMB push, the company is looking to grow that, says Tiffani Bova, Gateway's senior director of SMB channel sales and marketing, who just joined the company last month. "My No. 1 goal is getting the foundation built," she says.
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