Intel Aims High With Xeon E7 v2 Chips as Server Makers Sign On

by Jeffrey Burt

According to Intel’s Bryant, the new Intel chips offer twice the performance of the previous generation, more than twice the in-memory processing capabilities and four times the I/O capacity.

Intel is offering 20 configurations of the chip with different core counts, frequencies and memory caches, enabling them to be optimized for a wide range of workloads. The 15 cores represent the most on an Intel chip.

The new 22-nanometer chips—code-named Ivytown—are built on Intel’s Ivy Bridge architecture, and include the chip maker’s 3D Tri-Gate transistor architecture for greater performance and power efficiency.

Intel’s Bryant told the people in the room and on the webcast that with the Xeon E7 v2 family of chips, Intel’s architecture now rivals the performance of IBM’s Power platform and Oracle’s SPARC chip with high-end workloads.

Several OEM partners appeared at the event to talk about how they were adopting the new processors and how their systems help their customers. Jim Ganthier, vice president of global marketing for HP’s Servers Group, left, talks with VelociData CEO Chris O’Malley about the need for greater system performance to handle new workloads.

Adalio Sanchez, left, general manager of IBM Systems x servers, and Moiz Kohari, vice president of advanced platform engineering for the London Stock Exchange, talk about performance, reliability and efficiency. “We need denser platforms to really consolidate our data centers,” Kohari said.

David Yen, left, senior vice president and general manager of data center technology at Cisco Systems, talks with Dan Morales, vice president of technology-enabling functions for eBay, about how the online auction site is using data analytics to improve the site and increase revenues.

Dell is one of 21 system makers that will offer more than 40 designs based on the Xeon E7 v2 chips, according to Intel’s Bryant. Dell later this quarter will start selling the 920R, a four-socket, 4U (7-inch) system that is aimed at such workloads as ERP, databases and virtualization.

The tech giant introduced the DL580 Gen8 system, a four-socket system that not only includes the new Intel chips but also HP’s range of Gen8 management and RAS features.

Cisco announced a new rack-based Unified Computing System (UCS)—the C460 M4—and two new blade servers, the four-socket B460 M4 (pictured) and the two-socket B260 M4.

Fujitsu officials said the vendor’s new family of PrimeQuest 2000 servers—which offer up to eight sockets—provide the performance of RISC systems but with x86 cost efficiencies.

The company launched the Express5800/A2000 series of scalable enterprise systems, which offer up to four sockets and are up to two times more powerful than NEC’s traditional servers, officials said.

The vendor unveiled the four-socket X10 SuperServer, which includes such architecture innovations as SuperMicro’s dual-zone cooling technology.