Intels Barrett Touts Macroprocessing

SAN FRANCISCO—Intel Corp. is set to deliver “macroprocessing” technology to handle large, complex tasks using clusters of Intel-based machines, according to company CEO Craig Barrett.

Barrett, in his keynote address at Oracle OpenWorld here on Monday, came onstage to a blaring rock beat, amid a piped in rock concert atmosphere complete with crowd cheers, chants and smoke rising from the base of the stage.

In a play on the popular tune, “We Will Rock You,” Intel instead displayed a sign reading “We will RAC you,” in reference to Intels support for Oracle Corp.s real application clustering technology.

Barrett said the economics of the macroprocessing follow the Internet craze and fall into the typical cycle of new enabling technologies. In this case, innovation around a common Intel architecture will bring value to the data center.

Barrett described macroprocessing as “the elegant solution to adding just enough capacity that you need.”

From a deployment standpoint, that processing capacity can be delivered in a proprietary fashion or via standards-based macroprocessing. In a dig at microprocessor competitor Sun Microsystems Inc., Barrett said: “Im not going to talk about the [proprietary] side. Scott McNealy [CEO of Sun] will take care of that on Thursday.”

Barrett described four examples of organizations—Oracle, the Federal Aviation Administration, Dell Computer Corp. and a European nuclear research facility—using clusters of Intel IA64 technology to handle their data center needs.

Charles Rozwat, executive vice president of Oracle, said that out of the cooperation between Oracle and Intel, the companies developed a unified messaging technology they are “close to going to market with.” The system is a combination voice and data messaging system that goes beyond voicemail and can be accessed via static devices as well as handhelds and cell phones.

Dell representatives spoke of moving their IT infrastructure to an Oracle9i RAC, while the FAA said Intel-based clusters represent a way the agencys automation handles communication involving thousands of pieces of information between various points in their system.

However, Barrett said macroprocessing is “much more than just the hardware, its about the total solution.”

Barrett said the Internet is all about commerce, information access, communications and entertainment.

“The evolution of e-business will continue, and were going to web services,” Barrett said. “If you see yourself going to this in a seamless fashion, thats what macroprocessing is all about.”

With that, Barrett called upon Intel staff to demonstrate the next version of Intels IA64 processor, code-named McKinley, running Oracles application server, Web server and other software in a data center environment.