IBM is debuting a new custom chip technology and
xSeries
server in a move to gain more market share versus Dell
and HP in the Intel server market.
The company unveiled X3 architecture and the new Hurricane
chipset, the fruit of a three-year, $100 million research and development effort. IBM
also introduced IBM eServer xSeries 366, the first server to use X3
technology.
The move may seem curious to some server experts who view the
Intel-based
server market as commoditizing. But for IBM, the effort is as much an
exercise in proving its technological might as it is its marketing
force.
It is fair to say IBM is obsessed with furthering its Intel server
cause,
partly because IDC estimates the Intel server market is currently worth
$25
billion and is expected to rise to $37 billion by 2008. Another reason
is
that IBM has come so far in such a short period of time.
According to IDC, IBM’s Intel server market share in 2001 was about 14
percent, compared to Dell’s 19 percent and HP’s 35 percent shares.
Since
2001, with the introduction of its first X-Architecture, Summit, IBM
has
grown market share to 20 percent using a methodical blend of new
functionality and performance to lure customers from Dell and Intel.
“Superior technology from IBM in Intel servers is proving more
appealing
than Dell’s off the rack, low tech commodity boxes,” IBM said in a
statement.
IBM director of eServers Jay Bretzman said that is where the X3 comes
in,
providing up to 40 percent more performance than previous Xeon-based
systems
and supporting both 32- and 64-bit applications.
The first machine to leverage IBM’s X3 architecture is the xSeries 366,
a
four-way server that will be mostly powered by the forthcoming Intel
Xeon DP
Cranford processor. With Extended Memory 64 technology and demand-based
switching with SpeedStep technology, Cranford can improve system
performance
by more than 35 percent when a maximum of 64 gigabytes of memory is
used.
At the heart of the x366 is the Hurricane Node Controller, which
provides
latency reduction that improves response times and allows machines to
run
with two chips instead of three. This technology will make the x366 the
fastest four-socket x86 server in the market, he said.
“We think our innovations will be quickly adopted with the mid-tier
applications, the business logic software that sits between the Web
server
and the back end,” Bretzman said.
X3 is intended to complement Cranford, for which Bretzman declined to
name
pricing or clock speeds. But he said the public can expect to hear more
about Cranford in the next 90 days.
The IBM eServer xSeries 366 server will be available within 90 days,
with
pricing to be announced at that time. X3 systems will arrive
concurrently
with new 64-bit x86 operating system software from technology partners
such
as Microsoft, Red Hat and Novell.