Vastly faster servers needed to power "mega data centres".
Vastly faster servers needed to power "mega data centres".
Targetting the next generation data centres for hosted applications, Intel has unfolded a set of new research projects that aim to deliver terra-scale chips.
Intel chief executive Paul Otellini at the Intel Developer Forum showed off a prototype of the TerraFLOP processor. The chip features 80 processor cores, each running at 3.1GHz. It delivers a combined performance of more than one teraflop and has the ability to transfer terabytes of data per second, Otellini touted. A production model of the chip is slated for availability by 2010.
"This kind of performance for the first time gives us the capability to imagine things like real time video search or real time speech translation from one language to another," Otellini told delegates.
The TerraFLOP processor is required to power what Intel described as the mega data centre, delivering online applications. Intel touted Google and Youtube as examples of providers that will require this level of computing power. The chipmaker projected that by 2010 terra-scale servers will make up about 25 percent of all server sales.
"We're talking about a fundamental change in the way that the whole computing infrastructure is built," Intel chief technology officer Justin Rattner said in a keynote presentation.
"At the core of that infrastructure will be the future data centre, what we refer to as the mega data centre."
Intel's TerraFLOP processor could be compared to Sun's Niagara chip or IBM's Cell processor. The Cell features 8 processor cores and was originally designed for the PS3 gaming console. Sun's 8 core, 32-threaded Niagara processor targets high throughput applications such as web servers.
The terra-scale data centre requires Intel to create improvements on technologies such as the power supply, input/output speeds between system components and bandwidth within the chip.
To increase interconnect speeds, Intel is currently developing silicon based laser technology. The chipmaker earlier this month unveiled that it had achieved a breakthrough in the production process that will allow it to build lasers using a regular chip manufacturing process.
A group of 25 of these lasers will be able to deliver 1 terabit of throughput, Rattner said.