SGI slaps sell by date on MIPS/Irix gear

Glory days EOLed

By Ashlee Vance in Mountain View • Get more from this author

Posted in Servers, 7th September 2006 01:34 GMT

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Google's real estate agent SGI has announced that its MIPS-based IRIX boxes will disappear by year end.

In a support notice, SGI said it will continue shipping Origin 3900 and 350 servers and the Fuel and Tezro workstations until Dec. 29, 2006. After that, SGI's once glorious Unix hardware line will be taken to the marsh outside of the company's headquarters and blasted.

"The MIPS IRIX products continue to be a viable solution for many customers, with millions of dollars invested over the years," SGI said. "Product availability and fulfillment will continue as usual until the EOP date. All customer purchase orders for new MIPS/IRIX products will need to be received no later than December 29, 2006, with order fulfilled no later than March 2007. After this date, these products will be available as new systems through special arrangement only."

SGI noted that its "special needs" customers - er, aren't they all special needs these days - can talk the company into churning out more kit until Dec. 2008. Customers can expect support to continue through 2013.

SGI became the darling of the hardware world on the back of its MIPS/IRIX gear. The company made billions upon billions selling pricey gear to customers in need of high performance systems capable of handling complex graphics.

As most of you know, SGI's business has dwindled at speed. Over the past couple of years, SGI has tried and failed to foster a vibrant Linux on Itanium server line. Of late, SGI has moved to create a broader range of gear centered around Intel's Xeon processor as well.

SGI is still in the midst of emerging from bankruptcy. ®

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