The Server Room Blog

IDF: Something for Everyone

james.j.greene@intel.com — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 06:41:58 GMT

It has been a couple of years since I’ve had the opportunity and pleasure of attending an IDF, but I remember the experience well. While I had been in the technology industry for many years and was familiar with major tradeshows like Comdex, Interop, CeBit, etc, I recall being amazed that a single company could be the catalyst for such a huge event. But as I experienced it, it made more sense: after all, Intel sells a very broad line of products to a huge array of customers. And our products are among the most technologically advanced and complex in the world—yet they are only critical components to solutions that require a wide range of complementary parts—system boards, test tools, compilers, software, BIOS and integrators—to name just a few. And IDF is the critical venue to galvanize this huge and surprisingly efficient cadre of fellow travelers that will help build upon and deliver our technologies to the world. It is where we educate, communicate and differentiate, and it is a great showcase for Intel.

This year, I’m excited to be able to participate. As I wrote a few weeks ago, I’m looking forward to being able to use this showcase to help establish Intel’s focus on server security. We’ve got a couple of key new features—Intel® Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) and Advanced Encryption Standard new instructions (AES-NI) for encryption processing—that promise to make secure processing for servers more complete and efficient. You can get a glimpse of what Leslie Xu and Michael Kounavis will cover for AESNI. I’ll be working with Mahesh Natu and some friends in the fellow traveler community to help introduce TXT for servers. Like many others, we’ll be using this opportunity to: conduct training for developers (session ECTS002); show the technology in action in a really cool Server Zone demo (Booth #517), and generally help build awareness for TXT and security in general. I’m really looking forward to the demo. It is one thing to offer a cool feature, but it is a whole new level of anticipation when one can so clearly visualize how this technology can be deployed to make users’ environments better.

I know that we’re eager to share our enthusiasm and engage the developers and customers that will make our technologies a success. I’m also keen to get to see other great things coming out of Intel and our fellow travelers. What are you eager to see and hear about at IDF?

Can Information Technology Refresh Improve a Prison System?

christopher.p.peters@intel.com — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:16:42 GMT

Yes.

I had the recent opportunity to work on this case study published jointly by Intel, Dell and Motion Computing that reviewed how information technology investment by Correctional Health Services Corporation in Puerto Rico drove a transformation of their health services in their prison system.

There are tons of case studies out in market and web but to me this one stood out in it's dramatic impacts from improved efficiency of employees and workers at the prison, improved health care of inmates, the ability to meet minimum documentation standards, and a lowering of costs to manage the IT infrastructure.

If you read one case study this year .. this one is recommend. Definitely a feel good story all around. http://www.intel.com/references/pdfs/Correctional_Health_casestudy_LRs.pdf

Chris

http://www.twitter.com/chris_p_intel

What does Server Virtualization mean to you?

william.h.lea@intel.com — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:07:12 GMT

Here's a cool new site I came across where you can contribute to defining what Server Virtualization is all about: Virtualization Conversation

You can also listen in to some Webcasts coming this month with Iddo Kadim, Director of Virtualization Technologies at Intel and Bob Zuber of IBM:

Check it out, there's also a cool new widget that let's you draw your ideas on a whiteboard: Share Your Definition

These new widgets are really getting cool

45nm and Beyond

christopher.p.peters@intel.com — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:45:18 GMT

Technology moves at such a rapid pace - it can often be mind-boggling. Even working directly with the product teams at Intel, I sometimes have difficulty keeping pace. The good news is that there is a tremendous opportunity today to be captured thanks to this rapid innovation, as well as a steady stream of advanced technology that IT can use to better support business and gain a competitive advantage. Recently I was interviewed by Tim Phillips from the Register about the current 45nm Quad-Core Intel Xeon products and the next generation Intel platforms based on the Nehalem processor.

A few years back, Intel fundamentally changed the way we design and develop our underlying micro-processor technology. We streamlined our innovation and accelerated it's pace. Internally, we call this new model Tick-Tock. I like to call it shrink and innovate.

A "Tick" is a manufacturing process shrink that delivers smaller silicon with higher speeds, more transistors and lower power consumption (example: moving from 65nm to 45nm process technology). The 45nm quad-core xeon processors (available since Nov '07) utilize unique materials (a high-k, dielectric) that are delivering industry leading performance / watt as measured by the industry's first and only standard benchmark, SPECPower

A "Tock" represents a more extensive architectural innovation (ex. Intel Core Microarchitecture) introducing new micro-architecture features and functionality fully utilizing the higher transistor count set up by the shrink. For Intel Xeon-based servers, the next "tock" is Nehalem. In addition to the new micro-architecture based on 45nm, a system re-design will incorporate next generation memory, I/O and virtualization technology for high performance, high bandwidth solutions compatible with today's leading software solutions

Listen to my podcast interview to learn more about the benefits of using today's products and the timing of next generation Intel technology featuring Nehalem. Is this information useful to you? If so ... how? Have any questions?

I'd be happy to hear from you. Chris

http://www.podtech.net/home/5105/45nm-and-beyond-with-christopher-peters

Which Xeon is right for me?

christopher.p.peters@intel.com — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 07:01:36 GMT

I recently found this simple animation that breaks down the Xeon processor family into bite-sized chunks and explains which Xeon-based servers are best suited to meet common IT and business needs.

I shared it last week when traveling with customers in Taiwan and it was well received.

What do you think of this video?