IDF: Intel pushes processor diversity for datacentre server lines

Intel has outlined plans to avoid a 'one size fits all' model for its server and datacentre platforms, and to maintain a number of platforms to cater to various markets and sectors.

Frank Jensen, an Intel Xeon performance engineer, said at IDF that Intel will take an approach similar to a car manufacturer in keeping various models for different price points and requirements.

The Xeon E3 line will continue as the company's economy server offering, while the E5 chip will be targeted at the mid-market and the E7 at high-performance applications.

Intel is also looking to broaden its approach to other server components. Intel storage architect Andy Rudoff said that solid state drives have seen their role in the market shift dramatically.

"Flash in the datacentre started off as a replacement for a hard drive or a faster hard drive. Now it's more like a new building block, so a designer has a larger pallet to choose from when building datacentre nodes," he said.

Jensen added that Intel will also give customers a better long-term outlook to help with IT budgets. Companis can be better served by spending more for hardware upfront and saving on update and maintenance costs down the road, he claimed.

"The industry assumes most people keep their servers three to four years, and when you look at keeping a system that long there's a lot more than just initial acquisition costs, " he said.

"There are all kinds of opportunities and choices that you have to make to figure out which is the right one for you."