The blade server maker says the system will be able to run in the same BladeFrame system as 32-bit, Xeon-based blades, allowing users to consolidate diverse applications on the same system.Blade server maker Egenera Inc. is developing a two-way system powered by Intel Corp.s 64-bit Itanium processor.
Officials with the Marlboro, Mass., company announced the development plans Tuesday, saying its customers that run high-end databases and transaction-based applications will benefit from the performance and memory addressability offered by the chip.
They also said that when the Itanium-based Egenera Processing Blade is developed, it will be able to run in the same BladeFrame system as 32-bit, Xeon-based blades.
That will enable users to consolidate applications requiring different processors and memory configurations onto the same system, according to a company representative.
Intels Itanium and Xeon processors will share a common socket starting in 2007. Click here to read more.
No time frame for the release of the Itanium 2 systems has been set, a spokesperson said.
Egenera offers high-end "stateless" blades—no disks, just a processor and memory—coupled with virtualization software designed to give businesses a flexible IT infrastructure in a utility computing environment.
The company has been growing its hardware and software offerings over the past four years, most recently releasing a four-way system based on Intels 3GHz Xeon MP processor earlier this month.
In February, the company picked Robert Dutkowsky, former CEO of software vendor J.D. Edwards & Co., as its chief executive. Last month, Egenera registered with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, one of the first steps toward an initial public offering.
Click here for an interview with Dutkowsky on the companys direction.
Intel has been aggressive in pushing its Itanium processor into denser form factors. Hewlett-Packard Co. last month announced it was developing an Itanium-based blade to complement blade servers its building that are powered by Advanced Micro Devices Inc.s 64-bit Opteron processor.
HP, of Palo Alto, Calif., also will put the new Nocona chip—a Xeon processor with 64-bit extensions—into some of its ProLiant blade systems.
NEC Solutions America Inc., of Rancho Cordova, Calif., announced last month that it will start shipping the Express5800/1200Ba, a two-way blade server powered by Intels upcoming Itanium 2 9M chip, in September.
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