Tech Bytes: Schwab to Use IBM Parallel Server System

Charles Schwab & Co. said it plans to use new technology from International Business Machines Corp. to prepare for increased on-line trading.

Schwab said it would use what IBM calls "Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex" technology, which enables servers located up to 25 miles apart to share data as if they were side by side.

Schwab will link two data centers, each running 10 enterprise servers. If one center is disrupted, the other would instantly take over. The system expands on IBM's Parallel Sysplex technology-already in use at Schwab-where one server can take up the slack for another that shuts down.

Installation of the new technology is expected "to make end-user service disruptions a thing of the past," the companies said.

Like other on-line brokerages, Schwab suffered well-publicized service outages earlier this year when trading volume swelled.

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