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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / JULY 7, 2003: VOL. 2 NO. 27

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Breaking News - Platforms:

New Intel Server Processors Strengthen High-End Line-Up

Intel Corporation introduced new Intel Itanium 2 processors and Intel Xeon processors MP, further strengthening Intel's products for high-end enterprise computing. These processors set a new precedent for world-class performance and breadth and scale of systems. This builds on the broad choice of software and operating systems and architectural strengths that have made Intel processors the choice for the majority of server deployments.

"The combination of our two enterprise architectures has addressed the diverse needs of enterprise computing from top to bottom," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and chief operating officer. "These new Itanium 2 processors and Intel Xeon processors MP deliver world-class performance and price- performance, strengthening Intel's leadership over competitive enterprise solutions."

More than 85 percent of servers shipping today are based on Intel architecture, according to industry analysts. Today's new products extend Intel's strength in multi-processor, business-critical server deployments, commonly referred to as the high end of a company's computing data center. Servers with four or more processors accounted for more than 60 percent of the total server market revenue in 2002, according to analysts.

The Intel Xeon processor MP continues to deliver scalability with leading price-performance for the enterprise application and mid-range data tier, including business logic, application servers and databases. The Itanium processor family delivers industry-leading performance, price-performance and flexibility for large-scale, data center applications. These include large databases, enterprise resource planning and business intelligence applications that require maximum CPU resource utilization, support for large numbers of users, massive data sets or higher memory capacity.

Broad Customer Adoption

The Intel Xeon processor MP has a strong established base of enterprise customers, including Coremetrics, Lehman Brothers, Mohawk Industries, Morgan Stanley, Precision Response Corporation, Rite Aid and SunAmerica.

The Itanium 2 processor is broadly deployed in scientific computing environments, and is growing in commercial high-performance computing and enterprise installations, including 123 Multimedia, Airbus, British Petroleum, Burlington Coat Factory, ChevronTexaco, Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research, DaimlerChrysler, Electra Sweden AB, Exact Holding NV (Netherlands), Fiat Auto (Spain), First Trust, Fuji Film, Lower Saxony Police (Germany), Raymond James Financial, Verisign and Wells Fargo.

Additionally, leading companies are benefiting from the complementary benefits of using Intel Xeon processors MP and Itanium 2 processors together in their computing environments, including CompUSA, Fiat Auto (Italy), Fortis Health, incomBank (Vietnam), JetBlue and Tenet Health Services.

Industry Support

The number of server and workstation models based on the Itanium 2 processor is expected to double this year, with leading system manufacturers such as Dell, HP and IBM offering more than 40 two- and four-processor systems and more than 10 "big-iron" systems with eight or more processors. These companies are applying their expertise and technology to deliver large-scale Itanium 2- based systems this year, including a 32-processor server from Unisys that combines Itanium 2 and Intel Xeon processors MP into one system, a 32- processor server from NEC, a 64-processor Superdome server from HP, and a server from SGI with 128 or more processors.

Server suppliers also plan to offer more than 50 Intel Xeon processor MP-based systems ranging from four to 32 processors this year. These new high- performing platforms will deliver outstanding application and collaboration performance as well as enable the opportunity to consolidate numerous applications onto fewer servers.

Intel continues to enable OEMs and integrators with Intel Xeon processor MP- based and Itanium 2-based building blocks, including the new dual-processor Itanium 2-based Intel Server Platform SR870BH2, a 2U rack-optimized system expected to be available in the third quarter.

Intel-based enterprise platforms are supported by thousands of applications, including a steadily growing list of Itanium-optimized software. In the past year the number of applications and tools optimized for the Itanium Processor Family has quadrupled, including optimized database solutions from IBM, Microsoft and Oracle, and major enterprise applications from BEA, SAP and SAS. In addition, later this year Intel plans to introduce the Low Voltage Itanium 2 processor (code-named Deerfield), targeted at dual-processor, lower-power- consumption systems, and the IA-32 Execution Layer, a software technology that will enhance the performance of 32-bit applications running on the Itanium processor family-based platforms. Prior to the IA-32 Execution Layer release, Microsoft will offer a preview of the technology to end users who participate in the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 beta program.

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