IBM Debunks Microsoft TerraServer Claims

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July 10, 1998 (12:00 AM EDT)

By Jeff Bliss & Stuart Glascock,

Add IBM to the list of complainants over Microsoft's online satellite photo database.

IBM, Armonk, N.Y., joins a slew of users, who have complained about mishaps with Microsoft's TerraServer (www.terraserver.microsoft.com), when trying to download satellite photos.

In June, Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., set up the site -- billed as the world's largest and most detailed atlas -- to test the features of Microsoft SQL Server database, version 7.0 Enterprise Edition. Microsoft's TerraServer holds 1.01 Tbytes of compressed data and 3.5 Tbytes in uncompressed form.

IBM said it vehemently disputes Microsoft's claims of having the biggest capacity server. IBM said its own online database of U.S. patents dwarfs Microsoft's TerraServer. IBM's patent site, (www.patents.ibm.com), includes drawings and descriptions of all U.S. patents since 1971 and is 1.5 Tbytes compressed and 15 Tbytes uncompressed.

The war of words over TerraSever is an outgrowth of an ongoing battle between the two to make inroads into the lucrative enterprise market. Microsoft's Windows NT is already making headway in heavy duty corporate environments that IBM has long dominated with its software.

Microsoft's performance claims are not in line with the subsequent reality of TerraServer crashes and are typical of how the Redmond, Wash.-based vendor's words do not match its deeds, said Steve Mills, general manager of IBM's Software Solutions division. "You don't get to Carnegie Hall because you got a saxophone and you can blow a note," he said.

Microsoft could not be reached for comment. But the company acknowledged the TerraServer difficulties in a message posted on its website. "We are gratified by the interest shown in this site. We are humbled that we didn't anticipate the amount of interest and we apologize for the delays. Thanks for your patience," the notice said.

Houston-based Compaq, a long standing partner with Microsoft on Win NT solutions, is supplying hardware for the powerful website with its 64-bit AlphaServer 8400 system.

Aerial Images is providing the SPIN 2 high-resolution satellite and digital imagery that it acquired from Sovinformsputnik, a branch of the Russian Space Agency. Users were invited to the site to download images of their neighborhood or other geographic areas.