Asianometry The Remarkable Computers Built Not to Fail
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Jan 11, 2026 Discover the groundbreaking Tandem NonStop computers that were built not to fail, revolutionizing critical industries like banking and hospitality. Learn about the innovative design featuring modular processors and hot-swapping capabilities. Explore the competitive landscape, including Tandem's visionary approach against IBM and Stratus. Delve into the evolution of their software, partnerships with industry giants, and the challenges that led to strategic pivots. Ultimately, uncover how Tandem's legacy endures in mission-critical systems today.
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Origin Story From A Hotel Breakfast
- Jim TriBerg pitched a computer built from the ground up not to fail after seeing real-world transaction problems like hotel dine-and-dash and ATM fraud.
- He left HP, raised VC money from Kleiner Perkins, and founded Tandem to pursue fault-tolerant systems.
Real-Time Needs Raise Availability Bar
- Real-time transaction systems demand far higher availability than batch processing, making typical 99.6% uptime unacceptable.
- This urgency created a market opportunity for systems designed to never fail.
Modularity As Fault Tolerance
- Tandem built modular processors with independent power, memory, I/O, and OS copies to enable hot replacement and linear scalability.
- This hardware modularity reduced maintenance outages and made capacity expansion simple.