New skinny server fuses Linux, Xeon chips
A start-up believes a mixture of Linux, ordinary Intel chips and high-end hardware will vault its servers ahead of established giants such as Compaq Computer and IBM.
Egenera, a 50-person company in Marlboro, Mass., has begun describing a sophisticated server design it hopes will appeal first to financial services companies when it goes on sale this fall. And the company has a strong calling card for that market: Chief Executive Vern Brownell was chief technology officer of Goldman Sachs before he left to join Kenneth Zolot in starting Egenera in March 2000.
"I think it is a fairly narrow market, but it's a fairly rich market," Illuminata analyst Jonathan Eunice said of the financial services niche.
Indeed, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse First Boston are among those beta testing the "BladeFrame" servers, which will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece, Brownell said in an interview. They're also among the investors. Along with Kodiak Venture Partners, Spectrum Equity Investors and Zolot's YankeeTek Ventures, they've poured $20 million into Egenera.
Egenera's status as an unknown is both an advantage and a problem, Robert Frances Group analyst Cal Braunstein said.
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