Intel ramps up server platforms

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) will be launching a massive new range of highly modular Xeon server motherboard and chassis later this year, aimed at helping the channel meet the needs of a wider range of end customers.
The new range will grow the number of Intel server boards from 10 to around 30, chassis will rise from eight to 30 with nine different connectivity modules for requirements such as 10Gb/e, Infiniband, FCoE and others.
According to Lisa Graff, VP & general manager of enterprise platforms and services at Intel: “It’s a bit like building in Lego – it’s a very modular system.” The new range will separate chassis into a front, middle and back arrangement and will have designs that offer different size, thermal layout, energy, socket count and connectivity options.
“If the customer says, ‘This is the exact solution I want but I can’t get it off the shelf,’ say they want Infiniband, 10gb Ethernet and 6gb SAS, the [partner] can mix and match the parts to build the solution.” explains Gaff.
In her view, the ability to tailor an Intel server solution down to this level of granularity allows the channel to engage with customers in a unique way. “There is more customer loyalty when they customise the server – more stickiness,” she adds.
With an almost mind-boggling number of permutation of servers on offer, Intel has rebuilt and re-launched a new server configuration and builder tools to allow channel partners to manage this process. The tool has an improved interface and will be updated as new elements appear later this year.
Intel also conducted a channel partner survey within its server space, and Graff highlights more value-add as a key requirement. The firm is now allowing partners to sell an additional two year warranty as an add-on to the existing three year coverage. It is also launching more software as part of its “Bear River” project in what Graff describes as “push button virtualisation”.
Bear River and its new “Datacentre in a box” platform is a modular Intel chassis housing up to six servers that also includes SAN and software tools to perform tasks like backup and virtualisation provisioning and management. The tools will allow a server builder to effectively get the entire infrastructure layer for a small server installation all from Intel. Interestingly, this seems to include the option of using Intel's own branded virtual machine environment.
Pricing and availability for the new motherboards and chassis will emerge over the next few months but Graff insists that the range straddles from entry level to high end fits in with Intel's core strengths. “Our differentiator is all about quality and support – that is our stronghold,” she stresses. “If you want the highest quality boards [that are] rock solid – that is especially important to some of the customers our channel sells into.”