IBM unveils Xeon-based server line

By Bruce Gain, EBN
iApplianceWeb
(09/26/02, 07:47:43 PM EDT)

IBM's introduced a new line of thin blade servers yesterday using Intel's Xeon processors, marking a shift away from the lower-performing Pentium 3.

IBM said its server architecture is two times denser, compared to normal Intel Xeon processor-based servers and can hold 84 blades per rack -- more than 36 blades per rack than the competing HP ProLiant BL20p system.

According to IBM, the server line costs up to 23% lessthan a competing HP blade server configured with an Intel Pentium 3 processor.

While IBM has high hopes for its new blade server line, the design win for Intel mirrors the wide applicability of Intel's Xeon line, analysts said.

"Xeon is Intel's chip of the year for servers, and now that Intel has introduced a faster Xeon with bigger caches, OEMs are looking to use it to add more to their servers," said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst with Insight64, Saratoga, Calif.

For example, Brookwood said an Intel executive told him that Xeon would represent "50% of all server chips shipped by Intel by the fourth quarter." In addition to IBM and start up RLX Technologies Inc., which already ships thin blade servers, Dell and Sun plan to enter the market this year.