Intel flexes server muscle

security portfolio as a result of its merger with McAfee, says The Wall Street Journal.

The company unwrapped plans to introduce new server processors in a clear attempt to downplay the threat from ARM Holdings, the chip design company that has become dominant in the mobile computing market and is now eyeing to move up to bigger machines, including servers.

Intel says the server chips target such needs as low-end hosting or lightweight Web servers.

According to Information Week, Intel is currently in production with Xeon E3 45-watt and 20-watt processors, and plans to provide a 15-watt chip based on its recently released 32-nanometer Sandy Bridge micro architecture in the second half of the year.

However, the company declined to say whether the chips would be under the Xeon or some other brand. In 2012, Intel promised to release a sub-10-watt Atom server processor.

The latest processors are aimed at an emerging category of data centre computer called a micro server.

Window IT Pro reveals that Intel's new chips might throw a wrench into the established wisdom about virtualisation and server consolidation.

But the company already has its first important customer: Facebook - no stranger to the needs of cloud computing - is already backing the platform and says it plans a large-scale deployment.