Editing Sequent Computer Systems (section)

{{Infobox company 
| name  = Sequent Computer Systems
| logo  = File:Sequent Computer Systems logo.svg
| type          = 
| caption        = 
| fate          = Acquired
| successor     = IBM
| foundation    = 1983
| defunct       = 1999
| location      = 
| industry      = High-end computer hardware
| key_people    = 
| products      = 
| num_employees = 
| parent        = 
| subsid        = 
| website       = {{web archive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980203152329/http://www.sequent.com/|title=sequent.com}}
}}
'''Sequent Computer Systems, Inc.''' was a computer company that designed and manufactured [[multiprocessing]] [[computer system]]s. They were among the pioneers in high-performance [[symmetric multiprocessing]] (SMP) [[Open system (computing)|open systems]], innovating in both hardware (e.g., [[cache (computing)|cache]] management and [[interrupt]] handling) and software (e.g., [[read-copy-update]]).

Through a partnership with [[Oracle Corporation]], Sequent became a dominant high-end [[Unix|UNIX]] platform in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Later they introduced a next-generation high-end platform for UNIX and [[Windows NT]] based on a [[non-uniform memory access]] architecture, NUMA-Q. As hardware prices fell in the late 1990s, and [[Intel]] shifted their server focus to the [[Itanium]] processor family, Sequent joined the [[Project Monterey]] effort in October 1998, which aimed to move a standard Unix to several new platforms.<ref name="CNET">[http://news.cnet.com/Sequent+was+overmatched,+CEO+says/2100-1001_3-228478.html Sequent was overmatched, CEO says], a July 1999 article from [[CNET Networks]]</ref>

In July 1999 Sequent agreed to be [[Data Sciences Ltd|acquired by IBM]].<ref name="nytimes">[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE2DB113CF930A25754C0A96F958260 Sequent Computer Systems To Be Acquired by I.B.M.], a July 13, 1999 article from ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref> At the time, Sequent's CEO said its technology would "find its way through IBM's entire product field"<ref name="CNET"/> and IBM announced it would "both sell Sequent machines, and fold Sequent's technology...into its own servers",<ref name="nytimes"/> but by May 2002 a decline in sales of the models acquired from Sequent, among other reasons, led to the retirement of Sequent-heritage products.<ref>[http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2002/05/20/daily45.html IBM lays off 250 in Beaverton], a May 2002 article from ''[[Portland Business Journal]]'', one of the [[American City Business Journals]]</ref>

Vestiges of Sequent's innovations live on in the form of data clustering software from [[PolyServe]] (subsequently acquired by HP),<ref>{{cite web
   |title=HP pays for PolyServe while IBM and Dell watch
   |website=[[The Register]]
 |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/27/hp_buys_polyserve
   |date=February 27, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
   |title=Hewlett-Packard to buy PolyServe
   |date=March 2007|url=https://www.infoworld.com/article/2635806/hewlett-packard-to-buy-polyserve.html}}</ref> various projects within [[OSDL]], IBM contributions to the [[Linux kernel]], and claims in the ''[[SCO Group, Inc. v. International Business Machines Corp.|SCO v. IBM]]'' lawsuit.<ref>{{cite web | title=SCO Falls Downstairs, Hitting its Head on Every Step — Updated: SCOsource is Born | website=Groklaw | date=17 May 2003 | url=http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=6 | access-date=27 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Oh, That is Why They Are Saying That | website=Groklaw | date=17 June 2003 | url=http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=59 | access-date=27 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=And They Call Linus Careless | website=Groklaw | date=18 June 2003 | url=http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=66 | access-date=27 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Why Cringley Says SCO Will Lose | website=Groklaw | date=20 June 2003 | url=http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=72 | access-date=27 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author1=Aliza Earnshaw |title=PolyServe to join HP division |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2007/02/26/daily23.html |access-date=27 September 2023 |work=Portland Business Journal |date=28 February 2007}}</ref>