Intel introduces new processors for servers

Jake Widman
Tuesday, 31 March 2009 03:03

Business IT - Technology

Among the vendors announcing new products based on the Xeon processor 5500 series is Supermicro, which launched a line of 2U Twin2 SuperServers in a 2U form factor with four hot-swappable nodes, as well as 1U two-node SuperServers. The company also launched a SuperBlade serve featuring 10 or 14 blades in a 7U size.

NEC launched its Express5800/SigmaBlade and Express5800 rack servers, which boast optimized virtualization performance as well as dynamic cooling technology.

Cray announced that its CX1 deskside supercomputer will be based on the 5500 series. The company claims the new microarchitecture will increase application performance up to three times without requiring new development efforts.

Parallels introduced the Parallels Workstation Extreme, which it claims is the first enterprise virtualization solution to provide native 3D graphics. The company's FastLane architecture relies on the intelligent performance features in the 5500 processors. "Parallels Workstation Extreme is revolutionary for the users of resource-intensive applications, such as those used for oil and gas exploration," said Serguei Beloussov, CEO of Parallels. "Until now, it has been impossible for them to enjoy the benefits of virtualization, as the impact on graphics performance has been significant."

Nor-Tech announced a line of High-Performance Cluster (HPC) products. The company pointed to the processors' "superior 3-channel memory bandwidth" and described a test of a customer's software in which all 3 memory channels were populated on every CPU, resulting in a dramatic performance boost.

Other vendors announcing products utilizing the 5500 series include Silicon Graphics, Tyan, Rackable Systems, Aberdeen, Appro, and Amax.