Intel extends 64 bit Xeon to the storage arena

By Steve Malone

Posted on 27 Oct 2004 at 08:10

Intel has introduced a version of the Xeon server processor with Extended Memory 64 Technology (EM64T) aimed at increasing throughput from larger servers. In particular, the new chip will remove the 4Gbyte memory addressing which is far short of today's storage applications.

Aimed at the storage server market, the new Xeon 2.8 GHz is supplied with an 800 MHz System Bus and supports DDR2 400 memory and PCI-Express. The chip is a low voltage part which is claimed to offer a a 50-percent reduction to cut down problems occurring in heat sensitive NAS and SAN environments.

Mike Wall, general manager of the Intel Storage Components Division said `Extending the capabilities of EM64T to the storage arena will benefit the growing number of storage applications, such as a large database programs. This translates into better overall system performance end-users.`

The Intel Xeon processor is priced at $260 in quantities of 1,000.