Intel Partners Unveil Nehalem-EX-Based Servers
First Look: Xeon 7500 Nehalem-EXProcessors From Intel
Intel this week unveiled its its new Xeon 7500 series of processors, codenamed Nehalem-EX.
The new processors have up to eight cores inside, letting servers run applications on up to 16 threads per processor. Servers built with four Nehalem-EX sockets can address up to 1 TB of memory, or four times that of servers based on the original Nehalem processor, introduced last year.
Intel said that improved scalability, performance, and reliability in the Xeon 7500 processors will let IT managers consolidate up to 20 older single-core, 4-chip servers onto a single server while maintaining the same level of performance, giving them up to an estimated 92 percent reduction in energy costs.
The company also said it is working with system vendors to deliver highly scalable systems with up to 16 processors for enterprise customers and up to 256 processors with 16 TB of memory for high- performance computing nodes.
Built For Speed
Intel's new Xeon 7500 series processors are available in quad-core, six-core, and eight-core versions, with twice the number of threads as cores thanks to Intel's Hyper-Threading technology.
The high-end models in the new series support up to eight integrated cores and 16 threads, and can scale up to 32 cores and 64 threads per 4-chip platform or 64 cores and 128 threads per 8-chip platform.
The processors feature frequencies of up to 2.66GHz. They also have 24 MB of Intel Smart Cache memory, four Intel QPI (QuickPath) links for dealing with shared memory, and Intel Turbo Boost technology for running a processor core at higher than normal frequency under certain conditions.
Meet The Competition
Intel's Xeon 7500 Nehalem-EX launch came one day after AMD launched its new 12-core Opteron 6000 series processors, codenamed "Magny-Cours."
The new processors support DDR3 memory, and its four memory channels per processor exceed the three memory channels per processor featured by Intel.
The new Opteron 6000, when paired with AMD's new 5600 series chipset, also offers AMD's new HyperTransport 3.0 technology and supports PCI Express 2.0.
Several new servers introduced earlier this week featuring the Magny-Cours processors can be seen by clicking here.
However, for a look at new servers from a variety of vendors supporting the Nehalem-EX processor, go on to the next slide.
AMAX: Nehalem-EX HPC Ready To Go
AMAX, a Fremont, Calif.-based custom system builder, launched its next generation of high-end Intel Xeon-based HPC (high performance computing) solutions based on the Intel Xeon 7500 series of processors, code-named Nehalem-EX.
The new ServMAX X1401 HPC server is a 1U rack mount unit with room for up to four Nehalem-EX processors.
The X1401 includes 32 DDR3 memory DIMM slots and supports up to 256 GB of memory, along with up to three 3.5-inch hot-swap SAS or SATA hard drives.
Inside the chassis are 90%+ power-efficient voltage regulator modules and a high-efficiency 1,400-watt Gold Level power supply.
Dell: Nehalem-EX Racks And Blades
Dell unveiled three new servers based on the Nehalem-EX processors.
The PowerEdge R810 is a 2U rack mount server which is available with two or four processor sockets. Both can access up to 512 GB of memory. They can be configured with up to six, hot-swap 2.5-inch SAS or SATA hard drives for a total internal storage capacity of 3 TB.
Dell's PowerEdge R910, which is targeted more at RISC/UNIX migrations, large database deployments, and server virtualization implementations, is a 4U server with four processor sockets. The server can address up to 1 TB of memory via 64 DIMM slots, as well as up to 16 hot-swap 2.5-inch SAS or solid state drives. It also includes redundant power supplies and a failsafe embedded hypervisor for mission critical applications.
The PowerEdge M910 is a four-socket Intel Nehalem-EX based blade server which can scale to up to 512 GB of memory across 32 DIMM slots. It can be configured with one or two hot-swap 2.5-inch hard drives or SSDs.
NEC: 8-Socket Nehalem-EX On The Way
NEC's new Express5800/A1080a is a rack mount server which can be configured with up to eight Intel Xeon 7500 Nehalem-EX series processors and up to 2 TB of memory.
Customers can order the 7U server with up to 12 2.5-inch SAS hard drives.
It comes in three different models. Both the A1080a-S a single four-socket server and A1080a-D dual four-socket servers can be configured with up to 1 TB of memory, while the A1080a-E eight-socket server can be configured with up to 2 TB of memory.
The NEC Express5800/A1080a is currently available for order, with shipments expected to start on April 24.
SGI: Up To 256 Processors In A Solution
SGI launched its new Altix UV 10, based on the Intel Xeon processor 7500 series, codenamed Nehalem-EX.
The Altix UV 10 is a 4U rack mount server with four processor sockets and up to 512 GB of shared memory in 64 DIMM slots. It supports up to eight hot-swappable 2.5-inch hard drives and ten high-bandwidth I/O expansion slots.
SGI also unveiled the Altix UV 100, a 3U rack mount server which scales to 96 sockets or 768 cores and to up to 6.0 TB of shared memory in two racks.
Also new is the Altix UV 1000, a fully integrated cabinet-level solution with up to 256 sockets or 2,048 cores, and up to 16 TB of shared memory in four racks.
The Altix UV 10 is available immediately. The Altix UV 100 and Altix UV 1000 are expected to ship during the second calendar quarter of 2010.
Four New Rack Mounts From Supermicro
Supermicro, the San Jose, Calif.-based developer of servers and motherboards for system builders and end-user customers, introduced four new servers based on the Intel Xeon processor 7500 series.
Each of the new servers has four processor sockets and room for up to 256 GB of Registered ECC DDR3 memory in 32 DIMMs
Two of the servers are 1U rack mount models. Both of them have three hot-swap hard drive bays for data storage requirements, with the 8016B-T accepting SATA drives and the 8016B-6 accepting SAS or SATA drives.
The other two can be installed as a 4U rack mount server or as a tower server. Both can be configured with up to five hot-swap SAS/SATA hard drives, with one of them, the 8046B-6R, including the latest 6-GB/second SAS RAID-on-chip controller.
All of these servers come standard with onboard Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) 2.0 remote management, and high-efficiency voltage regulation modules and power supplies.