Intel unveils chips for servers

Generating buzz for a new microchip — one that is for servers, no less — is challenging. But Intel gave it a try with its latest line of microprocessors, the Xeon E7, unveiled by renting a former bank and briefing reporters in the vault.

With this goofiness, Intel wanted to highlight the security and reliability of its new chips, which are intended for what it called “mission critical” operations like bank and stock transactions. So inside the bank, Intel posted secret service agent lookalikes who wore sunglasses and checked for identification. Reporters were invited to the basement for the sales pitch.

Kirk Skaugen, vice president of Intel’s data centre group, explained that the Xeon E7 is faster — up to 40 per cent faster than the previous Xeon 7500 series, he said — and more energy efficient. One rack of servers using the new chip has more power than 18 dual-core Intel servers from five years ago. The single server would also use 93 per cent less energy, a major cost for data centers.

The chips run built-in encryption faster as well, which is particularly important because some IT managers turned off encryption built into chips to avoid slow performance. Intel already sells nearly 90 per cent of the chips that go inside servers. The key for the company, therefore, is to get customers to upgrade to newer chips.

E7 chips are available in 35 server systems including from IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Cisco Systems and Dell.

©2011 The New York
Times News Service