IBM expanding further into Intel's server market

By Stephen Shankland, CNET News, 14 March, 2003 09:48

NEWS

In its attempt to conquer the Intel server market, IBM is working on two new systems that will expand the boundaries of Big Blue's product line. One system, the 32-processor x445 coming later this year, is based on a second version of IBM's EXA chip, said Tom Bradicich, chief technology officer of IBM's xSeries Intel server line. At the other extreme of the product line will be a single-processor "blade" server, he said in a Tuesday interview. The new systems are part of IBM's striving to shift from being largely irrelevant in the $16bn (£10bn) Intel server market to becoming a leading advocate that applies its own considerable server-technology expertise. IBM now is third in the Intel server market behind Hewlett-Packard and Dell. Some, including Merrill Lynch analyst Steve Milunovich, say Big Blue's effort is beginning to pay off. "IBM now makes money in Intel servers," Milunovich said in a Tuesday report. Intel servers are increasingly important for IBM. They're the most common foundation for Linux, the Unix-like operating system IBM has wholeheartedly embraced, and Gartner Group expects more revenue from sales of Intel servers than from Unix servers, which for years have been the largest segment of the market. The current EXA chipset is the foundation of the current x440 system that accommodates as many as 16 Intel Xeon processors and of an Itanium version that IBM Web sites refer to as the x450. Big Blue will begin selling the Itanium product within one or two months, said Susan Whitney, general manager of IBM's Intel server group, in an interview. "We'll have IA-64 (Itanium) capability in the next 30 to 60 days," she said. The EXA chipset shuttles data between a computer's processors, memory banks and input-output systems. The second-generation EXA chips have "directory tables" embedded into the silicon that speed up transfers of data from one part of the system to the other, making it possible to join more of the four-processor modules, Bradicich said. IBM was the second-ranked seller of higher-end Intel servers with four or eight processors in the fourth quarter of 2002, according to IDC. No. 1 HP sold $484m worth of the systems versus IBM's $377m. IBM's high-end servers haven't been able to live up to their full potential because Windows and Linux don't currently work well on servers such as the x440, x445 and x450, whose designs make for varying response times when a processor needs to retrieve information from memory. IBM has customers running a single instance of Windows on eight-processor servers today, but Windows Server 2003, coming April 24, will mean the operating system will be able to work well on 16-processor machines as well, Whitney said. The increasing sophistication of Intel servers plays to IBM's technical strengths, and the company is gleeful about the growing maturity. "In 1998, a PC server was a PC (turned) on its side. Today, we have 16-way SMP (symmetrical multiprocessing) systems, with virtualised partitions and robust system management tools at one end and highly dense, integrated blades at the other end," Whitney said. Blade servers are smaller systems that slide side by side into a single chassis, sharing components such as network connections and power supplies. Where Hewlett-Packard, Compaq and Sun Microsystems began their blade lines with lower-end uniprocessor systems, IBM entered the blade fray with more powerful dual-processor and, next, four-processor models. IBM still is planning more powerful blades, though. In the second half of 2003, Big Blue will release blades with four Xeon chips and blades with two PowerPC 970 chips, IBM executives have said.

See Chips Central for the latest headlines on processors and semiconductors. To find out more about the computers and hardware that these chips are being used in, see ZDNet UK's Hardware News Section. Let the Chips Central editor know what you think by email. And sign up for the weekly Chips Central newsletter.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

Don't forget to check out apps like GoodReader or SlideShark either, they're indispensible for people on the go in presentation situations. Best...

1 hour ago by tinycg on Four top iPad apps for people on the move

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

6 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

15 hours ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

23 hours ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

1 day ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

1 day ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

1 day ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

1 day ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

1 day ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

2 days ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 days ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 days ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 days ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

2 days ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

2 days ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

IBM expanding further into Intel's server market

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

IBM sells mainframe for grid research

IBM: Our Unix licence is irrevocable

IBM eyes video-surveillance business

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Post your comment

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in IT Strategy

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

PHP Web Developer - html, css, javascript

Java Developer, Online Gaming, London

Quant Dev, Hedge Fund, FX, Excel VBA

Inside ZDNet UK

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Make faster, smarter decisions using BI

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault

News & Analysis

Reviews

Blogs

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features

ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Business of IT / IT Strategy

IBM expanding further into Intel's server market

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

Post your comment

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in IT Strategy

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Inside ZDNet UK

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features