IBM has announced a range of x86-based servers to take
advantage of Intel’s new quad-core processors, slated to be
officially launched next week. The new Intel Xeon 5300 processor,
codenamed Clovertown, has four processing cores to boost
application performance.
AMD is set to launch its own quad-core solution by the middle of
next year, and Intel is trying to steal a march on its smaller
rival by winning the backing of the likes IBM, HP and Dell for its
first quad-core solutions.
Dell announced its Intel quad-core roadmap earlier this week and
HP is expected to do so next week. IBM was also expected to make an
announcement next week, but brought forward news of its plans after
Dell spilled the beans.
The quad-core IBM systems are the x3650, x3550, x3500 and x3400
servers, and the BladeCenter HS21 blade server solution.
IBM said it was open to orders for the new solutions from 14
November, with volume shipping for the x3650 and x3550 expected in
December, and in January for the other three servers.
IBM this week said it planned to make more use of flash memory
in its blade server systems, which would be targeted at Linux-based
environments. As Windows code takes up more memory, IBM said its
flash plans did not encompass Windows environments, for now.
Intel quad-cores >>