SAN FRANCISCO-- Intel Corp. is upgrading its high-end chips for
server systems, adding new circuitry specifically tailored to speed
up a growing class of computing chores known by the phrase Big
Data.
The big microprocessor maker said it improved performance of the
new Xeon E7 v3 line in standard ways, including by adding
calculating engines on each piece of silicon. Intel's new family
includes models with up to 18 such processor cores, up from a
maximum of 15 for earlier chips.
But Intel also is taking the rare step of adding to the set of
instructions its processors are designed to execute. The
additions--called TSX, for transactional synchronization
extensions--make use of new circuitry that Intel says significantly
accelerates jobs where data is stored on chips rather than on disk
drives.
TSX is designed to ease delays that arise when segments of
programs, known as threads, try to access the same portion of
memory circuitry at the same time and are blocked from retrieving
data. Programmers can address such bottlenecks by altering their
software, but Intel says TSX can do it much more easily.
"It moves that complex process from software down into the
hardware," said Diane Bryant, senior vice president in charge of
Intel's data center group, at an event here.
Ms. Bryant said a version of SAP SE's Hana database that was
modified to use the new Xeon E7 circuitry operates six times faster
than prior versions.
The new offerings underscore Intel's determination to expand its
already huge franchise for server chips further. Other members of
the company's Xeon line, which evolved from its popular PC chips,
power almost all of the server systems used for mainstream
computing chores like running Web applications.
Intel's Xeon line is its most lucrative, featuring chips with
unusually high price tags. Where most of the company's chips sell
for hundreds of dollars, the top-line member of the latest Xeon
chip family lists for $7,175.
But chips developed by Oracle Corp. and International Business
Machines Corp. for their own server systems still are used for
running large databases and processing many standard business
transactions.
Some companies that haven't been satisfied with improvements in
the Xeon lines have been experimenting with other kinds of chips to
accelerate certain workloads, noted Patrick Moorhead, an analyst
with the research firm Moor Insights & Strategy. Google Inc.,
for example, has participated in an effort to encourage broader use
of IBM's Power line of chips, he noted.
Ms. Bryant said the new chips make Xeon the clear performance
leader for Big Data applications, benefiting businesses as they
analyze larger volumes of data more quickly.
She cited the case of an unidentified energy utility that now
polls electrical meters once a day and will now use the new chip
technology to gather the same data every 15 minutes. The more
accurate readings allow the utility to more finely tune how much
energy it generates, saving about $9 million a year, she said.
Write to Don Clark at don.clark@wsj.com
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