Yesterday Intel officially released the Intel Xeon Processor 5500 series. Running on Nehalem architecture akin to that in the i7 range of processors and featuring advanced hyper-threading, Intel claims that a single unit will be able to replace up to nine single core servers.<\/p>\n
The 5500 series marks a distinct jump in capability from its predecessor the 5400. Intel reports an up to 145% performance increase across a range of workloads in the processor, chalking it up as the most significant step for Intel in the server market since the companies initial launch into the market in 1995. <\/p>\n
The 45nm, quad core series will include Intel turbo boost technology, hyper-threading, power gating, extended page tables and virtualization technology which will increase performance and decrease energy. If adequately cooled the 5500 series will also have the ability to remain permanently overclocked which would offer an enormous boost in terms of capability.
According to Hannes Fourie from the IDC, "power and cooling costs within data centres are growing at eight times the initial server investment" which prompted him to point out that a move from older server processors to the Xeon 5500 range would significantly decrease data centre running costs due to the improved technologies in processors.<\/p>\n
Several multinational companies including Apple, Cisco and IBM have already made the move to the Xeon 5500 series; this is bound to make an impact on Intel’s 80% share of the global server market. <\/p>\n