Final step next week for HP's Itanium makeover

Hewlett-Packard is expected to announce a new line of NonStop servers next week, the final step in its plan to converge all its high-end server lines onto the Itanium processor, CNET News.com has learned.

The NonStop servers are high-end machines used for demanding tasks such as those required by the Nasdaq stock exchange. The machines today use Silicon Graphics' MIPS processors, making them something of an outcast in HP's product lines, but moving to Itanium likely will boost performance and reduce prices.

The first Itanium-based NonStop models are expected to be generally available in June and will use the current "Madison" version of the processor, sources familiar with the situation said. HP will announce the servers June 1, according to another source familiar with the company's plans.

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What's new:
Hewlett-Packard is expected to announce a new line of NonStop servers next week, the final step in its plan to converge all its high-end server lines onto the Itanium processor.

Bottom line:
The completion of HP's years-long plan to move NonStop to Itanium could help make the servers more competitive. It also could help HP cut development expenses during a time when its server group is under fierce profitability pressure.

More stories on NonStop

Itanium, a chip family HP helped Intel develop, fell well short of early expectations, but it's a more mainstream hardware and software foundation than MIPS. As a result, HP's years-long plan to move NonStop to Itanium likely will help make the servers more competitive, said Illuminata analyst Jonathan Eunice.

"I think that will fix a lot of the historical price and price-performance bugaboos," Eunice said. "NonStop will never be cheap--but at least it won't be wholly out of line with the rest of the world."

HP declined to comment for this report.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based printer and computer maker expects a major performance boost out of the Itanium systems. The top-end MIPS-based S88000 introduced in 2004 has about 1.3 times the performance of its predecessor S86000, but HP believes the first Itanium systems will have as much as 2.6 times that performance, according to an HP presentation seen by CNET News.com.

And future versions will doubtless be faster. A second-generation Itanium NonStop model is scheduled to debut in late 2006 using Intel's "Montecito" version of Itanium, which employs dual processing cores and which is due to arrive at the end of 2005, the presentation said.

And a system with Montecito's "Montvale" successor is scheduled for the second half of 2008. Further Itanium NonStop sequels are scheduled for late 2009 and early 2011, the presentation said.

The new line is expected to pick up not just the Itanium processor but also the Integrity brand name that's used for HP's mainstream Itanium