Intel touts RISC alternative
InfoWorld | at | by Mike
Determined to revive interest in its high-end server ambitions, Intel's Itanium 2 launch has reopened the door for enterprises to migrate away from expensive RISC-based servers. Targeted at database environments, ERP systems, scientific computing installations, and business intelligence networks, the processor unveiled this week boasts 3MB of Level 3 on-die cache and a one and a half to two times performance increase above its Itanium predecessor, generally considered to have missed the mark as a high-end 64-bit alternative to RISC chips.
Itanium 2 has received backing from a host of server vendors, including Hewlett-Packard, NEC, Unisys, IBM, Hitachi, and Fujitsu Siemens, paving the way for Microsoft's Windows OS to enter the ultra high-end computing space tightly held by Sun's UltraSparc-based servers, IBM's Power-based systems, and HP's and Compaq's RISC-based servers.