Coming sooner than you think: Intel next-generation enterprise platforms

"2006 marks a year of transitions for Intel -- a transition to a new process technology and a powerful new microarchitecture, along with the delivery of new platforms solving tough problems for our customers," said Sam Al-Schamma, Intel's General Manager for the GCC. "This year we have a line-up of enterprise platforms and technologies that will inspire developers with opportunities and excite IT managers with critical capabilities to manage costs and run their business."

At the center of Intel's efforts is a commitment to energy-efficient performance based on a next-generation microarchitecture reviewed during the IDF. These multi-core products designed with the Intel® Core™ microarchitecture will enable unique designs and fuel the industry's most sophisticated office PCs. It will also help IT managers increase responsiveness and productivity while at the same time reducing real-estate and electricity burdens companies face as server data centers grow.

By the end of 2006, Intel Core microarchitecture will be at the heart of PC and server platforms. Noting its remarkable gains in performance for desktop PCs, Intel showcased Conroe, a dual-core processor that can reduce power consumption by 40 percent while delivering greater than 40 percent improvements in computing performance1.

Additionally, Intel announced that Conroe will now also be a part of Intel's Professional Business Platform -- codenamed Averill -- available in the second-half of 2006. Averill will deliver world-class IT security and manageability capabilities for businesses through the Conroe dual-core processor along with a new chipset codenamed Broadwater, Intel® Virtualization Technology and the second generation of Intel® Active Management Technology.

For dual-processor servers and workstations, Intel will ship three new processors in 2006. Sossaman, an ultra-low-power processor, is scheduled to ship next week and is designed for server blades, storage devices and telecommunications equipment. Dempsey is scheduled to ship by the end of the month and is the first processor for a new Intel® Xeon®-based platform, codenamed Bensley. With the majority of its volume shipping below 100 watts, Bensley will deliver performance-per-watt leadership.

In the third quarter of 2006, Intel will update the Bensley platform with the Woodcrest processor, which will further reduce power consumption by 35 percent while delivering greater than 80 percent improvement in computing performance2.

Further reinforcing Intel's near-term portfolio of leading multicore products, developers had their first public view of a running quad-core processor, codenamed Clovertown, for dual-processor servers. Clovertown is socket-compatible with the Bensley platform and is slated to ship in early 2007. It will deliver increased processing capacity and is well-suited for multi-threaded applications, such as those used in databases, financial services and supply-chain management. Additionally, the company also plans to ship a quad-core processor -- codenamed Kentsfield -- for high-end desktop PCs in early 2007.

Intel provided a look at the next generation of Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT) for enterprise servers. Server virtualization helps IT organizations streamline their infrastructure, optimize utilization, reduce total costs and improve business agility.

Intel began to ship processors with Intel® VT last year. Intel's next generation of virtualization, Intel Virtualization for Directed I/O (Intel® VT-d), will include I/O virtualization to assign I/O devices to virtual machines, providing a more robust, higher performance platform for virtualized systems. The company also announced the immediate availability of a specification for developers to evaluate and design future Intel® VT-d supported products.

The Company reviewed Intel's next generation of Intel® AMT and a new feature codenamed Circuit Breaker. This feature proactively protects against such incoming threats as viruses, isolating infected PCs before they impact the network, and alerting IT when threats are removed.

Further advancing the security capabilities of future PC platforms, Intel announced that a preliminary specification for LaGrande Technology (LT) is now available for developers. LT consists of hardware extensions to Intel silicon that enable the platform to protect against software-based attacks and protect the confidentiality and integrity of data on the PC.

Intel will also make LT hardware available this year on select business desktop PC platforms, including platforms based on Averill, to encourage innovation of new PC security capabilities and help developers identify enhancements to LT in preparation for growing customer adoption of these new applications.