Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
eWEEK.com
Search
eWEEK.com
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud
    • IT Management
    • Networking
    • PC Hardware

    Facebook Taps Intel’s Xeon Processors

    By
    SCOTT FERGUSON
    -
    July 31, 2008
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Facebook is turning to Intel for the processing power needed to expand its data center infrastructure.

      In a joint agreement announced July 31, Facebook will use “thousands” of Intel-based servers to expand its business operations and build out its data center infrastructure to meet the needs of customers who are using new media applications, such as video, within the social networking sites.

      The agreements calls for Facebook to buy several thousand systems that use Intel’s 5400 series quad-core Xeon processors, which are built on the chip maker’s newer 45-nanometer process, which offer better performance and power savings than the older generation of Xeon chips built on 65-nm.

      Intel will also work with Facebook to optimize its software to run on Intel Architecture, with a particular focus on tuning applications to run on multicore processors. At its recent F8 conference, Facebook announced that it would begin to expand its platform. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asked 400,000 developers to connect their Web sites with Facebook. The use of Intel processors is expected to support the data center capacity required for that expansion.

      The announcement is also a significant step for Intel as the chip maker looks to Web 2.0 companies such as Facebook as fertile ground to continue to grow its main x86 server chip business by showing that its microarchitecture can support large-scale Web applications.

      The agreement will also demonstrate that Intel processors can support the massive data centers that will support cloud-computing infrastructures. While Facebook does not provide cloud-computing services per se, it does deliver Web-type services to its users on a scale that a cloud infrastructure can theoretically deliver business applications and computing power to enterprises on demand.

      “It’s a big win for Intel in the general category of Web infrastructure and by that I mean categories like cloud computing,” said John Spooner, an analyst with Technology Business Research. “Facebook has a large computing infrastructure that delivers these types of Web services on demand and it requires the same level of service and infrastructure as a cloud-computing provider.”

      Earlier this week, Intel, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard announced a pact to develop a series of cloud computing centers for research and development.

      While the agreement between Facebook and Intel did not mention specifics, it seems likely Facebook will use mid-range Xeon processors such as the E5410, which has a clock speed of 2.3GHz and a 1333MHz front side bus, compared to the more high-end models that have clock speeds of 3GHz or better.

      A spokesperson for Facebook declined to comment on what specific OEMs would build the actual servers, but two sources confirmed that Facebook plans to use systems from HP and Dell.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      CHRIS PREIMESBERGER - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      CHRIS PREIMESBERGER - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      EWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      ZEUS KERRAVALA - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      WAYNE RASH - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Info

      © 2020 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×