<s>
The	O
SystemPro	O
from	O
Compaq	O
,	O
released	O
in	O
November	O
1989	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
computer	O
capable	O
of	O
running	O
server-based	O
computer	O
operating	O
systems	O
and	O
was	O
arguably	O
the	O
first	O
true	O
PC	O
based	O
server	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
supports	O
Intel	O
's	O
486	B-General_Concept
chip	O
,	O
a	O
32-bit	O
bus	O
,	O
RAID	B-Architecture
disk	O
and	O
dual-processor	O
support	O
well	O
before	O
its	O
main	O
rivals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SystemPro	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
the	O
simultaneously	O
released	O
Compaq	B-Device
Deskpro	I-Device
486	B-General_Concept
,	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
two	O
commercially	O
available	O
computer	O
systems	O
containing	O
the	O
new	O
EISA	B-Device
bus	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SystemPro	O
was	O
also	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
PC-style	O
systems	O
specifically	O
designed	O
as	O
a	O
network	B-Application
server	I-Application
,	O
and	O
as	O
such	O
was	O
built	O
from	O
the	O
ground	O
up	O
to	O
take	O
full	O
advantage	O
of	O
the	O
EISA	B-Device
bus	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
included	O
such	O
features	O
as	O
multiprocessing	B-Operating_System
(	O
the	O
original	O
systems	O
were	O
asymmetric-only	O
)	O
,	O
hardware	O
RAID	B-Architecture
,	O
and	O
bus-mastering	O
network	O
cards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
models	O
of	O
SystemPro	O
used	O
a	O
full-height	B-Device
tower	O
configuration	O
,	O
with	O
eight	O
internal	B-Device
hard	I-Device
drive	I-Device
bays	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
its	O
initial	O
release	O
in	O
November	O
1989	O
,	O
the	O
SystemPro	O
supported	O
up	O
to	O
two	O
33	O
MHz	O
386	B-General_Concept
processors	O
,	O
but	O
early	O
in	O
1990	O
,	O
33	O
MHz	O
486	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
became	O
an	O
option	O
(	O
the	O
processors	O
were	O
housed	O
on	O
proprietary	O
daughterboards	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
the	O
system	O
was	O
asymmetric	B-Operating_System
,	O
386	B-General_Concept
and	O
486	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
could	O
be	O
mixed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
only	O
operating	O
system	O
which	O
fully	O
supported	O
the	O
SystemPro	O
's	O
asymmetric	B-Operating_System
multiprocessing	I-Operating_System
was	O
a	O
custom	O
version	O
of	O
SCO	B-Operating_System
Unix	I-Operating_System
,	O
sold	O
by	O
Compaq	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
when	O
running	O
OS/2	B-Application
,	O
certain	O
applications	O
(	O
notably	O
Sybase	B-Application
SQL	I-Application
Server	I-Application
)	O
could	O
be	O
offloaded	O
to	O
the	O
second	O
processor	O
,	O
and	O
later	O
,	O
Novell	B-Operating_System
NetWare	I-Operating_System
SFT-III	O
was	O
able	O
to	O
offload	O
its	O
I/O	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
(	O
3.1	O
)	O
included	O
a	O
hardware	B-Operating_System
abstraction	I-Operating_System
layer	I-Operating_System
specifically	O
for	O
the	O
SystemPro	O
;	O
despite	O
NT	O
's	O
symmetric	B-Operating_System
multiprocessing	I-Operating_System
design	O
,	O
this	O
HAL	O
could	O
offload	O
some	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
tasks	O
to	O
the	O
second	O
CPU	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
made	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
3.1	O
the	O
only	O
version	O
of	O
Windows	O
to	O
support	O
multiprocessor	B-Operating_System
386-based	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	O
used	O
a	O
state-of-the-art	O
shared	O
memory	O
bus	O
design	O
,	O
called	O
Tri-Flex	O
Architecture	O
,	O
to	O
facilitate	O
its	O
multiprocessing	B-Operating_System
capabilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SystemPro	O
also	O
offered	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
implementations	O
of	O
RAID	B-Architecture
(	O
including	O
RAID	B-Architecture
5	O
)	O
available	O
on	O
a	O
PC-based	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
RAID	B-Architecture
card	O
,	O
called	O
the	O
IDA	O
(	O
Intelligent	O
Drive	O
Array	O
)	O
used	O
a	O
proprietary	O
form	O
of	O
IDE	B-Protocol
,	O
supporting	O
up	O
to	O
4	O
drives	O
internally	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
IDA	O
cards	O
could	O
be	O
installed	O
,	O
allowing	O
all	O
8	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
bays	O
to	O
be	O
filled	O
(	O
each	O
IDA	O
controller	O
array	O
would	O
appear	O
as	O
a	O
separate	O
logical	O
drive	O
to	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
,	O
however	O
)	O
,	O
providing	O
a	O
grand	O
total	O
of	O
1.2	O
GB	O
using	O
RAID	B-Architecture
5	O
,	O
or	O
1.6	O
GB	O
using	O
non-redundant	O
striping	O
(	O
RAID	B-Architecture
0	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
option	O
called	O
the	O
IDA	O
Expansion	O
Array	O
provided	O
support	O
for	O
up	O
to	O
7	O
drives	O
in	O
a	O
single	O
array	O
(	O
housed	O
in	O
an	O
external	O
tower	O
chassis	O
looking	O
virtually	O
identical	O
to	O
the	O
SystemPro	O
itself	O
)	O
,	O
using	O
an	O
early	O
(	O
and	O
very	O
proprietary	O
)	O
form	O
of	O
differential	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Note	O
that	O
all	O
hard	B-Device
drives	I-Device
in	O
the	O
SystemPro	O
or	O
the	O
Expansion	O
Array	O
were	O
internally	O
mounted	O
drives	O
;	O
hot	B-Device
swapping	I-Device
was	O
not	O
an	O
option	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
System	O
for	O
RAID	B-Architecture
performance	O
and	O
health	O
monitoring	O
patented	O
in	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SystemPro	O
was	O
marketed	O
for	O
those	O
who	O
had	O
scaled	O
up	O
to	O
the	O
top	O
end	O
of	O
LAN	O
hardware	O
,	O
or	O
those	O
who	O
were	O
scaling	O
down	O
from	O
minicomputers	B-Architecture
and	O
its	O
pricing	O
was	O
set	O
accordingly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
launch	O
,	O
the	O
"	O
low-end	O
"	O
SystemPro	O
(	O
a	O
single	O
33-MHz	O
386	B-General_Concept
CPU	O
,	O
4	O
MB	O
RAM	O
,	O
and	O
two	O
120-MB	O
hard	B-Device
drives	I-Device
)	O
listed	O
for	O
$	O
15,999	O
(	O
USD	O
)	O
;	O
the	O
same	O
machine	O
with	O
840	O
MB	O
of	O
storage	O
(	O
four	O
210-MB	O
hard	B-Device
drives	I-Device
)	O
listed	O
for	O
$	O
25,999	O
(	O
USD	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
second	O
386	B-General_Concept
processor	O
card	O
cost	O
$	O
3,500	O
(	O
USD	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
additional	O
32	O
MB	O
of	O
RAM	O
was	O
$	O
21,999	O
(	O
USD	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
XL	O
was	O
the	O
only	O
model	O
that	O
supported	O
symmetric	B-Operating_System
multiprocessing	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
replaced	O
,	O
also	O
in	O
1992	O
,	O
by	O
Compaq	O
's	O
ProSignia	O
line	O
,	O
and	O
later	O
the	O
ProLiant	B-Device
series	O
,	O
which	O
introduced	O
hot	B-Device
swappable	I-Device
drives	O
and	O
the	O
rack	B-Application
mount	I-Application
chassis	I-Application
now	O
popular	O
in	O
data	B-Operating_System
centers	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
SystemPro	O
is	O
notable	O
for	O
having	O
established	O
the	O
PC-based	O
server	B-Application
market	O
,	O
and	O
setting	O
a	O
high-water	O
mark	O
for	O
the	O
servers	O
that	O
followed	O
.	O
</s>
