New Itanium processor code named Tukwila
is quad-core with 8 threads/core
Intel has launched new version of Itanium server-specific
processors code named Tukawila with four processor cores.
The highlights of this new server processor family are,
eight threads per processor, more cache, up to 800 percent
the interconnect bandwidth, up to 500 percent the memory
bandwidth, and up to 700 percent the memory capacity using-industry
standard DDR3 memory interface.
Itanium is designed to crunch lot more bytes of data compared
to present day servers. When the terabyte is becoming norm
in desktop computers, the servers must be heading petabytes
and beyond. The complex digital data, which also includes
high definition audio and video usage both in business and
consumers, demands servers to get ready to handle peta-byte
range of data.
Itanium has 2 billion transistors. Prevents machine crash
by using machine-check architecture to handle errors across
hardware, firmware and operating system.
The Itanium 9300 processor feature Intel Virtualization
Technology that enables to consolidate multiple environments
into single server. Its Intel 7500 chipset can directly
assign I/O devices to virtual machines.
"Intel is committed to delivering a new era of mission-critical
computing, and we are delighted 80 percent of Global 100
companies have chosen Itanium-based servers for their most
demanding workloads," said Kirk Skaugen, vice president
Intel Architecture Group and general manager Data Center
Group. "Intel is continuing to drive the economics
of Moore's Law into mission-critical computing with today's
Itanium 9300 processor announcement, more than doubling
performance for our customers once again."
"Customers need a flexible technology infrastructure
that can efficiently and quickly meet changing mission-critical
demands," said Martin Fink, senior vice president and
general manager, Business Critical Systems, HP. "Intel's
Itanium processor 9300 series, combined with HP Integrity
servers, helps customers achieve new levels of scalability
and resiliency with advanced virtualization capabilities
to meet those needs."
Intel Itanium processors in development today are being
designed for socket and binary compatibility with Intel
Itanium 9300 processor-based systems and software. They
are designed to scale in performance and capacity through
component upgrades, without software recompilation.
The power consumption of the chip is automatically altered
based on the utilization of the processor to save power.
Price: The Intel Itanium processor 9300 series are priced
in the range of $946 to $3,838 for 1K units
Availability: OEM systems are expected to ship within 90
days.