The Power to Serve

Next-generation power workstations (HINT: like Apple's new G4) are catapulting prepress productivity to new heights—with help from the ever-omnipotent server.

BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO

More power. More memory. More speed. More storage. More flexibility. More performance. What prepress professionals wouldn't want more in the way of productivity from their power workstations? After all, the key word is power, isn't it? Otherwise, it's just a workstation—and doesn't that sound boring?

Up until the recent Seybold San Francisco show, the two most power-packed power workstations gaining graphic arts attention were Apple's 400MHz Power Macintosh G3 and SGI's Intel-powered 320 and 540 visual workstations, which sport a 500MHz or 550MHz Pentium III processor. The 320 now offers a 660MHz Pentium III processor. Both can devour Adobe Photoshop; both offer improved power and performance.

The SGI workstations come with the 1600SW sleek 18˝ LCD flat panel monitor, which displays impressive sharp, bright contrasts for color-critical work. The resolution for the SGI flat panel is 1,600x1,024, with 24-bit color and digital control. The Colorlock tool from SGI calibrates the 1600SW in two steps: It supports ICC profiles, enabling remote soft proofing over a LAN or WAN, and is compatible with Adobe Photoshop 5.0.

Seybold, however, showed G4. Bigger and bolder than G3, Apple Computer's G4 Power Macintosh, available in 400MHz, 450MHz and 500MHz versions, is so powerful, Apple Interim CEO Steve Jobs told Seybold crowds that the U.S. military has taken notice—ordering Apple not to ship the super computer to certain foreign countries.

The G4's speed is based on a core architecture that incorporates a 128-bit Velocity Engine that processes four 32-bit floating point operations in one computing cycle. In recent tests, an Apple G4 500MHz proved to be approximately three times faster than a comparably equipped 600MHz Pentium III at handling a variety of Photoshop operations.

As a bonus to the G4, Apple is marketing its companion, a 22˝ flat-panel color monitor that is dubbed the Apple Cinema Display—a 1,600x1,024 pixel display monitor, which lists at $3,999, roughly $500 more than the 500MHz G4.

How will servers serve the likes of the highly classified G4?

While approaching the power workstation from different perspectives, each of these mega-computers designed to catapult prepress performance to new levels should come with the following disclaimer affixed to their casings: No wimps allowed.

Recent developments in the area of power workstations should send a caution flag up for users. These power workstations are very powerful indeed—some are so powerful that it is tempting to use them as servers. The caution that this predicates is best summed up by the statement "neither a workstation and a server be." It is believed that, had Shakespeare been a commercial printer, this may have been his mantra.

"If you deploy these power devices as both a workstation and a server, you have a dilemma. Bandwidth capability of the server unit can be consumed by a single, equivalently powered workstation during its transaction period," cautions Danny Kita, manager of consulting services at Heidelberg USA. "This 'server-hogging' scenario can severely impact the server's ability to support network file serving activity."

It is a good rule of thumb, Kita advises, for the server to be more powerful than the most powerful workstation it has to service. One must ponder the points: How can a prepress operation best get the biggest MHz bang from its super computers? As with all things digital in today's commercial printing and prepress environments, the answer is linked directly to the server.

True or False?

* In prepress, a central server is the smart approach to maximizing workgroup efficiency.

* There are still many inefficiencies in prepress that can be improved by way of a smart server investment.

The answers seem obvious. A central server approach is effective and—let's face it—making the right server selection is a do-or-die chore for any prepress director. Who can argue that the most important infrastructure investment for any prepress organization going full-tilt digital is the server?

Serving the Masses
Recent activities in the world of servers include these specialized moves from the following high performance server developers.

* Apple Computer is riding high on the developer support of its Mac OS X server. Mac OS X supports all Power Macintosh G3 or Macintosh Server G3 systems and is optimized for Apple's latest line of Power Mac G3s. At present, developers that have announced product support for the Mac OS X server include Canto, Helios Software and Xinet. Xinet's FullPress and WebNative tools for fast file sharing and distributing images via the Internet, respectively, are in sync with Mac OS X.

* SGI's attention is on its 1400L Server for Linux and 1400M Server for Windows NT 4.0. Both servers scale to four Intel Pentium III Xeon processors, with the 1400L running in an SGI Linux environment and the 1400M running on Microsoft Windows NT. SGI's most recent launch of a mid-range, desk-side server, the SGI 2100, is designed to deliver enterprise-class performance and bandwidth to the server market. The new server leverages the I/O bandwidth technology of the SGI Origin 2000 server and scales from two to eight processors.

Another recent launch from SGI in the server department is the SGI Origin 2000, which scales up to 256 MIPS R12000 300MHz RISC processors with 512GB system memory. The Origin 2000 is based on SGI's ccNUMA (cache-coherent non-uniform memory access) architecture, which provides a high level of performance, scalability, high bandwidth and reliability.

"Scalability is growing in demand in this market and is an important factor for digital distribution, asset management and alternative media," reports SGI's Wayne Arvidson, global industry manager, Digital Media Markets.

Earlier this year, SGI expanded its multiple operating system strategy for server products, with a special emphasis on Linux, while reinforcing its commitment to maintaining IRIX as an industry premier, scalable UNIX operating system. SGI's range of server operating systems solutions and support includes IRIS, Windows NT and now Linux. In addition, SGI plans to continue making technology contributions to the open source community.

"No single operating system can meet the diverse needs of all commercial printers, since not all commercial printers are exactly alike," Arvidson states. "With standards-based systems, SGI will be part of the community enhancing these growing operating systems, while also continuing to expand and evolve the powerful capabilities of IRIX and UNICOS."

What of Windows NT?

For Windows NT—the pervasive performer of the desktop and server markets—SGI's strategy is two-fold. First, with its workstations based on Windows NT, SGI plans to provide highly differentiated platforms while maintaining full application compatibility. This strategy, SGI executives report, has been successfully implemented with the introduction of the Silicon Graphics 320 and 540 visual workstations. Second, SGI will push a Windows NT platform-based server throughout the latter portion of this year.

Hybinette will concentrate its efforts on the Granite Server, with configurations ranging from Intel or Alpha-based Windows NT systems to SPARCengine Ultra Axmp UNIX systems. The Granite Alpha systems include the G-A1533 at 533MHz, the G-A1600 at 600MHz and the G-P2400 dual 400MHz Pentium II CPUs. Intel system standard features for the Granite systems include the dual 400MHz Pentium II CPUs, 128MB RAM expandable to 1GB, five 32-bit PCI slots and PCI 10/100 full duplex ethernet card.

"We have some interesting products in our labs that are scheduled to be released in the fall. The first is an Alpha motherboard with dual processors—Alpha is the fastest chipset in the world and the dual processing motherboards utilize crossbar switching technology to increase the processing speed several fold over the single processing boards," reports Hybinette's Craig Albers, vice president of manufacturing. "We are also going to introduce a Linux server this fall, which we will configure to operate in any of our server models. However, we envision it to be configured mostly in the high-end servers, such as the Granite."

Electronics for Imaging (EFI) recently introduced its next generation color servers: Fiery Z4 and Fiery X4. The Fiery Z4 features a 500MHz Intel Pentium III, Windows NT, 256MB SDRAM, 9.1GB hard drive and internal CD-ROM. The Fiery X4 holds a 433MHz Intel Pentium Celeron, Windows NT with 128MB SDRAM minimum and a 8.4GB hard drive, with internal CD-ROM and floppy. The X4 comes with ColorWise 2.0, ColorWise Pro Tools, NetWise 2.0, Fiery FreeForm, Fiery Link, WebTools and Fiery Driver. Fiery Driver is a unified printing interface designed by EFI for use with Windows Adobe PS drivers and EFI PCL drivers.

Last month, Splash Technology introduced its new G Series color servers, which are designed to take advantage of the latest advances, speed and power of the Apple G3 platform. These new color servers include the G510 and G610 color servers, driving the new Xerox DocuColor 12 digital color copier/printer, and the Splash G710 color server, which is a turnkey solution for the Xerox DocuColor 30 Pro and DocuColor 40 Pro digital color copier/printers. A key advancement available in the Splash G Series is Splash's proof-then-print technology, which enables Splash G Series color servers to be configured to print simultaneously to the Xerox Xpress line of large-format printers and a copier/printer.

Intergraph Computer Systems recently announced that the TDZ 2000 GL2 ViZual Workstation and InterServe 90 server are immediately available with Intel's Pentium III processors at 600MHz. Intergraph is one of the first workstation vendors to deliver 600MHz Pentium III performance. Creative and technical professionals in the digital media, publishing and prepress markets will benefit from the TDZ 2000 GL2's performance for high-end 3D graphics applications. Intergraph's InterServe90 offers single or dual Pentium III processors, delivering robust performance as a high availability workgroup server in both rack-mount and desk-side configurations.

Intergraph's TDZ 2000 GL2 features single or dual Pentium III processors, delivering mainstream visual computing performance for prepress and publishing, digital content creation, mechanical solid modeling, and other graphics-rich applications. The new processing power of Intel's latest 600MHz Pentium III processors significantly boosts the TDZ 2000 GL2's performance in new media, imaging and rendering applications. The TDZ 2000 GL2 also gives creative and technical professionals broad flexibility in configuring systems for specific applications with an extensive range of graphics options.

The Final Word
A server is more than a piece of hardware, a network and some high-tech software. It's a solution that combines several vital elements resulting in a comprehensive digital workflow that empowers any commercial printing operation or prepress firm with the right fundamental digital infrastructure to generate higher profit margins.

Whether Mac OS X outperforms expectations, or Linux continues to win technical support, or whether UNIX perpetually reigns as the clear performance champion remains to be seen. What is evident, right now, is that today's server environments must keep pace with the dynamic power workstations they support—lest the industry be armed with a fleet of design and content manipulation power tools guilty of the most ironic and even bitter twist of fate: too much power.

A Hybinette Perspective: RAID and the Centralized Server

By Craig Albers, VP of manufacturing, Hybinette

What is the main purpose of a centralized server? First and foremost, the server should move files around the production network as quickly as possible. Processing files for OPI or other applications is important. There are several processor options available for handling these operations. The user must take into account the depth of their pocketbooks and the flavor of software for which they are comfortable.

But fast processing of files for these types of applications is worthless if files cannot be served to a workstation or print spooler quickly. And the key to serving these nodes quickly is the server's ability to push the files off of the drives and through a large pipe.

RAID technology is the key to moving files in and out of the servers quickly. But is every RAID alike? Hardly. When shopping for a RAID system to attach to a server, the user should keep in mind three factors: Hardware-independent RAID controller vs. PCI-based; the number of drive channels on the RAID controller; and the level of RAID most appropriate for the user.

In general, there are two types of RAID controllers. Controllers that are hardware-based and independent of the system, or controllers that are hardware-based and mounted on the system (most likely in a PCI slot). Many independent controllers contain a RISC processor that processes the RAID algorithms.

This is not the case on system-dependent controllers. This fact is most important in times of heavy network loads. Typically prepress operations experience periods near the end of a day when large amounts of work need to be finished before the day is over. The independent controller, with its RISC processor, is much more capable of handling the heavy loads during these periods. The PCI-based controller is contending with the system's processor. Another important point in favor of the independent controller is obvious when a system fails.

If a motherboard goes bad on a server with a PCI-based controller, the user loses access to the RAID. In the same situation with an independent controller, the user simply needs any machine with an inexpensive SCSI card to which to attach the RAID. Access may be temporarily slowed, but it is there.

More drive channels equals faster throughput. RAID strips data onto a series of drives simultaneously. By doing this, it takes advantage of the combined speed of the drives.

Let's say the RAID systems have five drive channels and are running RAID Level 3. In this configuration, the first drive is used for parity, and the next four are used for stripping the data. If the drives are capable of 15MB throughput, the result of the transfer out of the RAID system is 60MBs (15x4).

Research by Hybinette and input from the RAID Advisory Board concludes that RAID Level 3 is the most efficient for moving large files. Still, the fastest RAID system with the fastest processor is no good if many files are contending for a piece of a 100MB backbone.

Serving the Server: Xinet's Scott Seebass on Life at the Server

Scott Seebass was developing UNIX operating systems before his freshman year at the University of California, Berkeley. Today, he is in the power seat at Xinet, a Berkeley, CA-based company focused on server-based software designed to enhance prepress workflows. Seebass, CEO at Xinet, believes that, in prepress, a central server is the answer to performance.

Recently, Printing Impressions asked Seebass to deliver a few other thoughts on one of his favorite topics: the server.

PI: From your perspective as a developer of prepress server software, what's happening in the server arena?

Seebass: Xinet and a few other companies have been dedicated for a long time to helping prepress managers understand that a central server-based workflow is the most productive way to run a prepress operation. In the beginning, many people didn't agree with that approach. As transfers of large graphic files have multiplied and shops have tried to realize the benefits of digital workflows, however, it's become pretty well established that central servers are required for maximizing performance and for keeping the work flowing. The argument now focuses on "which" server.

PI: What is Xinet's take on the platform wars?

Seebass: One of the most recent developments is that there are more platform choices. Last year, it was the NT/UNIX debate. Now, we've got the NT/UNIX/Linux/OS X server debate. Overall, debating what hardware or what OS to run is beside the point. The bottom line is that if a server does its job right, it shouldn't matter whether it's running UNIX, NT or some other operating system because you shouldn't notice the server. It's just a black box that sits in a closet somewhere. The main thing the server should do is stay up and provide services to the users.

PI: How then should users make the platform decision?

Seebass: Often shops will want to choose the server hardware first, or choose the OS, and then choose the software. Look at software options first. No matter what hardware a prepress operation selects, it's going to replace it in less than five years, as there will be new hardware available that is much faster.

The most important investment when implementing a server-based workflow or upgrading to a more powerful machine is in designing the shop's digital infrastructure to fully leverage the power of the server. Training your operators to use it is also critical. Once you have decided on the server software that will do the job, you can pick server hardware and an OS appropriate for your shop's needs.

Flat Panel Displays a Brighter, Clearer Picture

The future of desktop monitors is here today and, like other technological improvements, this will soon become the standard for production workflows and how commercial printers and prepress shops view the world.

The evolution of display technology coincides with other market forces (smaller, faster and cheaper—well, not yet) for lighter and smaller profiles than the current devices with which graphic arts technicians are accustomed.

In the years ahead, these flat panel display designs will easily date us, similar to looking at 10-year-old news footage. But this alone won't cause the industry to take notice. Display monitors are one of the few remaining links in the digital chain.

All of the major computer monitor players are represented, including Apple, IBM and SGI, and others will soon follow. Most new offerings feature bright, color-accurate, flicker-free resolution; energy-efficient, low power consumption; and space-saving, light-weight designs.

Their compact dimensions employ thin film transistor, or TFT technology, making them an attractive, compact alternative to conventional CRT monitors. According to research conducted by IBM, a flat panel monitor is typically one-sixth the depth and 85 percent of the width/height of an equivalent CRT product.

In the case of SGI's Model 1600SW, for example, the super-wide screen format enables the simultaneous display of two entire 8.5x11˝ pages. It features a wide viewing angle; the 17.3˝ diagonal screen is said to be comparable in viewable size to a 19˝ CRT.

With 24-bit true color support and no dithering, fast pixel response, and a second-generation, open LDI digital interface, and adjustable height and tilt, it can play video, interact with 3D models without ghosting or artifacts, and has 16.7 million simultaneous colors and 110 dpi at a 0.23mm dot pitch. Virtually all high-end flat panel monitors offer a coarse dot pitch of 0.28mm to 0.31mm.

Incorporating Flat Panels
SGI has also incorporated an exclusive new technology that enables the user to adjust the color temperature independently from greyscale, a feature important for desktop publishing, digital content creation and image processing. This unique capability provides support for future color-calibration solutions, as well.

The SGI 1600SW flat panel monitor is not only innovative in its technology offering, but also in its ease of use. All key characteristics of the display—including brightness and white balance—are adjustable from simple, point-and-click panels in the user interface. The tilt of the display is adjustable within a 20-degree range, and the monitor can be raised or lowered 3.5˝ via a control arm.

Also, the perfect companion to Apple's new G4 power workstation is a newly introduced 22˝ flat-panel color monitor, dubbed the Apple Cinema Display—a 1,600x1,024 pixel display monitor that lists at $3,999.

For more information, contact: www.apple.com, www.ibm.com and www.sgi.com on the Web.

— Mark Visconti