INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM CONFERENCE, SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 22, 2000 -- Intel Corporation today introduced the industry's first gigahertz processor for servers and high-end workstations. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will offer systems featuring the gigahertz IntelŪ PentiumŪ III Xeon™ processor starting this quarter, targeting the rapidly growing high-end workstation and "front-end" server segments.
Front-end or Internet servers, featuring one or two processors, have become the solution of choice for companies conducting e-Business over the Internet. Reliable and affordable Intel-based servers address the infrastructure trend of "scaling out," where dot.coms, e-corporations and service providers quickly deploy more servers to accommodate unpredictable, explosive growth.
"An overwhelming percentage of e-companies and service providers run their entire e-Businesses on Intel-based front-end and general purpose servers," said Mike Fister, vice president and general manager of Intel's Enterprise Platform Group. "Our continued efforts to deliver more powerful and high-performing processors will only fuel this trend."
According to International Data Corporation, 75 percent of all deployed Internet servers are based on Intel's open architecture.
Server Technology Innovation
Intel's Pentium III Xeon processors
are specifically designed to meet the scalability, availability and
manageability needs of the server market segment. The 133 MHz system bus, faster
clock speeds and cache configurations integrated on the processor die provide
headroom for computation- and I/O-intensive workloads.
Built on the SC330 cartridge, the processors enable server manufacturers to use existing server platform components for faster time-to-market. On-cartridge voltage management and system manageability features provide increased system reliability, along with remote monitoring and system diagnostics.
The 1 GHz version of the Pentium III Xeon processor family is based on Intel's advanced 0.18-micron process technology and features a 256 Kbyte cache. This boosts performance by four to15 percent** over previous versions of the processor by placing a full-speed, level-two cache memory directly on the processor die and increasing the width of the data pathway to the processor.
Pentium III Xeon Processor for Workstations
The 1 GHz Intel Pentium
III Xeon processor will also be used in high-performance workstations to drive
the next level of content creation, design suites and simulation tools for
today's Internet environment. The increased speed, performance and dual
processor capability are key attributes for demanding workstation applications.
New Server Motherboards
Intel today also introduced the Intel SBT2
server board, which is specifically designed to support systems featuring dual
PentiumŪ III Xeon™ processors. With integrated networking capabilities, the SBT2
board supports ten "hot-swap" drives. These allow customers to pull out a drive
and swap redundant power supplies while a system is running, thus providing
higher availability and reliability.
Pricing and Availability
The Pentium III Xeon processor at 1 GHz is
available now in SC330 packaging. The processor is priced at $719 in 1,000-unit
quantities. The SBT2 server motherboard is priced at $575.
Other Intel Developer Forum Server News
In other Intel-based server
news, Intel today provided an update on the progress of the Itanium™ processor
rollout, which includes shipping more than 6,000 prototype development servers
and workstations containing more than 18,000 processors. Additionally, the
company revealed plans to deliver a suite of Infiniband products when the
specification is finalized later this year. Developed by Intel and other
industry leaders, InfiniBand is a new server I/O architecture that simplifies
and speeds server-to-server connections and links to other server-related
systems such as remote storage and networking devices, improving overall server
performance and reliability.
About IDF
The IDF Conference is Intel's premier technical forum
comprising nearly 250 sessions and hands-on labs and more than 100
demonstrations of cutting-edge products and technologies. IDF attracts thousands
of hardware and software developers worldwide. Now in its third year, the
semi-annual conference provides hardware OEMs (original equipment
manufacturers), IHVs (independent hardware vendors), and ISVs (independent
software vendors) with in-depth information on Intel technologies and
initiatives. More information on the Intel Developer Forum can be found at http://developer.intel.com/idf.
Updated information is available between Intel Developer Forums by subscribing
to the Intel Developer Update Magazine at http://developer.intel.com/update/.
Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.
*Third party marks and brands are property of their respective
holders.
** For complete benchmark information on Intel Pentium III Xeon
processors, visit the Intel Web site at: www.intel.com/procs/servers/performance/benchmark.htm.