New Intel chips target virtualization, AMD not far behind
By Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 19:29:00 09/21/2008
Filed Under: Technology (general), Hardware, Semiconductors & active components
MANILA, Philippines -- Intel has launched its new multi-core Xeon server microprocessors and is counting on a growing trend toward server virtualization.
The new Xeon chips are based on Intel’s 45-nanometer technology and use 10 percent less power and enables performance gains by as much as 50 percent, according to Jermyn Wong, Intel Philippines enterprise business development manager.
Codenamed Dunnington, the new Xeon 7400 series processors come in four-core and six-core versions. Intel began moving from 65-nanometer to 45-nanometer chip architecture late last year.
Wong said the new Xeon chips deliver performance per watt of 1.5 times over the previous 65-nanometer Xeon 7300 series. Intel sees end-users adopting readily because of socket compatibility with the previous Xeon chips, he added.
In particular, Intel is touting its new Xeon chips to suit virtualized servers, or running multiple operating systems.
The Xeon 7400 series incorporates Intel’s VT (Virtualization Technology) FlexMigration, which allows the systems to be inserted into an existing server pool for virtualization.
"The biggest hesitation for end-users right now is that virtualization reduces headroom (to allow for "spikes" in mission critical applications) and redundancy," Wong said in a press briefing. "But real-world deployments show that hardware utilization (in virtualized servers) increased from 20 to 30 percent, which leaves a lot more headroom for running different apps."
Intel also announced four-socket rack and blade servers from hardware vendors such as Dell, Sun Microsystems, HP, Fujitsu and Unisys.
Meanwhile, the arrival of Intel's latest Xeon chips sets the stage for competition with rival AMD, noted David Mitchell, senior vice president for IT research at industry analyst Ovum.
AMD is reportedly rolling out a six-core processor next year and is expected to launch its first 45-nanometer chips later this year.
"However, the real challenge will be to see whether today's software is able to unlock that power and deliver real economic benefits," Mitchell said in comments sent to INQUIRER.net.
Not all software will be able to unlock the huge processor power that the new six-core chips will provide, Mitchell said.
He cited as an example Unisys' ES7000 Model 7600R enterprise server launched early this week. "It is a 16-socket server and so, in theory, it offers a massive 96 cores of processing power," Mitchell noted.
"However, the practical problem for CIOs (chief information officers) looking to deploy Windows Server on this machine is that Windows only supports 64 cores in a single instance, leaving 32 cores unused," he explained.
But Mitchell believes the 64-core limitation won't be much of an issue since Linux and Sun's OpenSolaris can already support 64 cores.
"The real obstacle to unlocking power will be at the business application level," he said. "A huge percentage of the software used by business today is single-threaded."
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