64-Bit Servers

HP
As the Itanium 2's codeveloper, HP has a lot of time and money invested in this processor, and the company is slowly replacing its PA-RISC systems with Itanium 2–based models. The most impressive of these, the Integrity Superdome server, supports from 2 to 64 1.5GHz Itanium 2 processors and as much as 512GB of RAM. The server, which is based on HP's sx1000 chipset, can be hard-partitioned in four-processor increments, with each partition running 64-bit versions of Windows 2003 Datacenter, HP-UX 11i, or Linux concurrently. According to HP representatives, Superdome buyers will be able to upgrade the server sometime this year to support 128 CPUs. A minimally configured Integrity Superdome server with two Itanium 2 processors and 1GB of RAM in a 16-way cabinet starts at about $242,000, whereas a midlevel configuration with 14 Itanium 2 processors and 1GB of RAM in a 32-processor cabinet sells for about $677,000.

For customers who don't require the Superdome's 64-processor capability, HP offers the Integrity rx7620 and Integrity rx8620, 8- and 16-way Itanium 2 servers, respectively. Like the Superdome, these two models employ HP's sx1000 chipset and offer the Superdome's hard-partitioning and multi-OS capabilities. At press time, HP hadn't finalized pricing for these models, but the company says that a minimally configured rx7620 should sell for about $20,000, and an entry-level–configured rx8620 should sell for about $70,000.

For those with modest needs, HP offers the HP Integrity rx2600, a two-processor Itanium 2 server that supports as much as 24GB of RAM, and the Integrity rx5670, which contains four processors and supports as much as 96GB of RAM. Both servers are based on HP's zx1 core logic chipset. Pricing for entry configurations of the Integrity rx2600 and Integrity rx5670 is about $6000 and $27,000, respectively.

Dell
Rather than introduce a large 64-bit SMP server for database applications or BI functions, Dell has released an Itanium 2—based PowerEdge 3250 dual-processor rack-mounted system designed for high-performance computing clusters in technical and scientific environments. You can configure the PowerEdge 3250 with two 1.3GHz, 1.4GHz, or 1.5GHz Itanium 2 processors; as much as 16GB of RAM; and two hard disks. The server comes with two integrated Gigabit Ethernet adapters, integrated graphics, and three PCI-X expansion slots. Prices for PowerEdge 3250s with two 1.3GHz Itanium 2 processors, 4GB of RAM, and an 18GB Ultra320 SCSI hard disk begin at about $13,500.

IBM
IBM has two Itanium 2 server offerings and a new Opteron-based model. The Itanium 2­based eServer xSeries 455 is a 4U (7") rack-optimized model designed for database-management and BI applications. The other Itanium 2 model, the eServer xSeries 382, and the Opteron offering, the eServer xSeries 325, are 2U (2.5") and 1U (1.75") rack-mount models, respectively, that are designed as elements in high-performance computing clusters for technical and scientific applications.

The four-processor eServer xSeries 455 features an IBM XA-64 core logic chipset that provides advanced capabilities. For example, if you need more than 4 processors, you can attach as many as 3 more eServer xSeries 455 servers to yield a 16-processor configuration that requires only one Windows installation and can be managed as one system. The server also simultaneously writes data to two identical memory cards. If a DIMM's memory errors reach a preset threshold or the module fails completely, the server uses the mirrored memory card until the failed DIMM is replaced. With one 1.3GHz, 3MB L3 cache Itanium 2 processor, 2GB of RAM, and one hard disk, the eServer xSeries 455 sells for about $24,000. With four 1.5GHz, 6MB L3 cache CPUs, 8GB of RAM, and a second hard disk, the server sells for about $62,000.

The eServer xSeries 382 is a dual-processor Itanium 2 server that's based on Intel's 8870 chipset. The server supports as much as 16GB of RAM and two Ultra320 SCSI hard disks. An eServer xSeries 382 server with two 1.5GHz Itanium 2 processors, 6MB of L3 cache, 4GB of RAM, and two disks sells for about $26,500.

The dual-processor Opteron-based eServer xSeries 325 uses the AMD-8000 series core logic chipset and provides capacities and features similar to the eServer xSeries 382 at a lower price. An eServer xSeries 325 configured with two 1.6GHz Opteron processors, two hard disks, and 4GB of RAM sells for about $7700.