IBM is not only discontinuing support for Intel's Itanium processor in a new generation of server technology, it's going a step further, dropping Itanium servers from the product line altogether, sources familiar with the situation said.
The world's largest server maker, which favors its own Power processor family, has never been enthusiastic about Itanium the way chip co-developer Hewlett-Packard and some other Itanium allies have been. But what support IBM now has, in the form of its x455 server, likely will come to an end.
"IBM told me they had no other plans for any other Itanium systems," said Illuminata analyst Gordon Haff, citing a discussion with Jay Bretzmann, IBM's manager of product marketing for its xSeries line of Intel-based servers.
Another source familiar with the situation said IBM won't release a server using Intel's next-generation Itanium processor, code-named Montecito and expected to boost performance significantly upon arrival at the end of 2005. Montecito has dual processing engines, or cores, and each core is able to process two simultaneous instruction sequences, called threads.
IBM didn't respond to requests for comment. Intel declined to comment on IBM's product plans.
The move isn't surprising: Intel is aiming Itanium directly at the two prevailing RISC, or reduced instruction set computing, processor designs prevailing in the server market today--Power from IBM and Sparc from Sun Microsystems and Fujitsu.
"It makes official what has really been the reality," Haff said of IBM's Itanium rejection. "They have made it clear...that they really are very serious about making Power into a widely used computer architecture."
IBM remains a major supporter of Intel's Xeon processor, a server-oriented member of the x86 family of chips such as Pentium. The company is building servers that support as many as 32 dual-core Xeon processors--specifically, the "Potomac" version that will include 64-bit features that permit easy use of large amounts of memory.
As first reported by CNET News.com, IBM's new X3 chipset--essential technology that joins processors to each other and to all computer subsystems--supports Intel's Xeon processor, but not Itanium. That's a change from earlier models that could use both processors.
Tom Bradicich, IBM's xSeries chief technology officer, said the decision to drop Itanium support in X3 was because of "the market acceptance of Itanium," or the lack thereof. He also said support could be restored in a next-generation X4 chipset if IBM chooses.
Ceasing chipset development doesn't preclude IBM from selling Itanium servers. But it would need to use a server design from another source--either a comparatively neutral supplier such as Intel or an IBM rival that offers Itanium chipsets: HP, Fujitsu, SGI, NEC, Hitachi or Unisys.
But Intel isn't a likely Itanium chipset source. It had plans for a new chipset code-named Bayshore for Montecito-based Itanium servers, but it canceled those plans in 2004, the company said.
Montecito will still work with Intel's existing 8870 chipset, but that model was introduced in 2002 and lacks support for newer, faster communications technologies such as DDR2, or double data rate 2, memory or PCI Express input-output. Intel will not be updating the 8870, spokeswoman Erica Fields said.
market demand on IBM's decision. Itanium hasn't translated into huge sales volumes like everyone was predicting. Opteron and Intel's 64-bit Xeons are getting more enthusiastic response from customers and vendors alike. IBM not only supports Xeon, it will begin shipping Opteron technology as well. That doesn't sound like a company that is simply looking out for POWER.
No, I think IBM's decision is driven by the fact that it hasn't been a profitable architecture. POWER vs. Itanium probably had something to do with it, but that's because POWER, as a more mature, robust 64-bit technology, will deliver more better sales volumes and profits.
market demand on IBM's decision. Itanium hasn't translated into huge sales volumes like everyone was predicting. Opteron and Intel's 64-bit Xeons are getting more enthusiastic response from customers and vendors alike. IBM not only supports Xeon, it will begin shipping Opteron technology as well. That doesn't sound like a company that is simply looking out for POWER.
No, I think IBM's decision is driven by the fact that it hasn't been a profitable architecture. POWER vs. Itanium probably had something to do with it, but that's because POWER, as a more mature, robust 64-bit technology, will deliver more better sales volumes and profits.
Chamtech's spray-on antenna uses a nano material to provide a low-power boost to antenna range. The wireless-in-a-can product may some day bring an end to unsightly cell towers.
Whether Apple will release a new iPad next month doesn't seem to be the question as much as what day it will happen. A new rumor has it down to the day.
Tommy Jordan, the man who shot his daughter's laptop for YouTube, gets a visit from police and child protection services. Oh, and Good Morning America.
Along with green-lighting Google's buy of Motorola, the Justice Department today OKs an Apple-Microsoft-RIM partnership deal to buy Nortel patents, and Apple's plan to acquire Novell patents.
EnerG2 opens a plant to make an engineered carbon that will improve performance of energy storage devices and make storage for start-stop hybrid cars less expensive.
"Never Stop Playing" campaign for upcoming portable marks Sony's largest platform launch marketing spend, with ads to reach YouTube, Facebook, TV, and billboards in major cities.
As UC Berkeley students, the co-founders of "Back to the Roots" discovered they could grow mushrooms using recycled coffee grounds. Now their mushroom kit sells at grocery stores across the country.
No, I think IBM's decision is driven by the fact that it hasn't been a profitable architecture. POWER vs. Itanium probably had something to do with it, but that's because POWER, as a more mature, robust 64-bit technology, will deliver more better sales volumes and profits.
No, I think IBM's decision is driven by the fact that it hasn't been a profitable architecture. POWER vs. Itanium probably had something to do with it, but that's because POWER, as a more mature, robust 64-bit technology, will deliver more better sales volumes and profits.