The 7th Annual eWEEK Excellence Awards: The Winners

CATEGORY: SERVER HARDWARE

WINNER

Intel

No matter how speedy computer processors become, a single chip can take on only one task at a time. For chip vendors to keep operating system and application developers stocked with all the horsepower they can handle, multicore is the way forward.

Leading the way toward this multicore future is this years Server Hardware winner, Intels Core 2 Quad processor family. Intel got the jump on rival AMD by shipping server and desktop chips that boast four independent cores in a single package with 8MB of L2 cache and a 1066MHz front side bus—giving servers the headroom to lend four minds to a given task.

According to Intel, the new processors deliver up to 50 percent faster performance within the same thermal envelope and at the same cost as the previous-generation dual-core Intel Xeon processor 5100 series—an improvement that caught our judges eyes.

What remains to be seen is how well developers adapt to making full use of four-headed beasts such as Intels Core 2 Quad chips. That may well be fodder for a future Excellence Awards win.

FINALISTS

Appro

The Appro 1U Quad XtremeServer is built around AMD Opteron processors and DDR2 (double data rate) memory and was designed to deliver a high power-to-density ratio. Appros thermal management scheme centers around an innovative mechanical and air duct design that efficiently delivers cooling to the servers complement of four closely-packed processors.

Hewlett-Packard

BladeSystem c-Class

With its next-generation BladeSystem c-Class, Hewlett-Packard invites companies to rethink how IT infrastructures are built and maintained. HP BladeSystem c-Class was designed for a future where blades can be servers, storage, PCs or workstations and support fully virtualized environments.

Essentially, the BladeSystem is an IT infra-structure in a 17-inch box that consolidates the basic elements of the modern data center computer—storage, power/cooling, connectivity and security—into a modular design with integrated management to address the areas of cost, administrator productivity, change management and energy efficiency.