Vertical scalability is top prediction for 2006

ServerWatch has published predictions on what 2006 will bring for server processors.

"The trend toward more powerful servers occupying smaller footprints and replacing older boxes will continue, the article states.

"User enterprises now realise not every application or workload can be adequately scaled with racks of one- or two-way servers - vertical scalability, as a result, will become more fashionable."

Also predicted is a boom in AMD Opteron-based systems. "`Intel Inside` used to be more or less a given in x86 servers. In the past year, AMD has made huge strides with its server chips," explains the report.

IBM has confirmed that it is creating a new organisation to handle processors and some technology licensing, according to technology news service ZDNet.

"IBM`s microelectronics work, such as building the company`s Power5+ processors and the brain for Microsoft`s Xbox 360 game console, now is one element of the technology collaboration solutions organisation," says the report.

IBM also announced that Adalio Sanchez, who has led IBM`s pSeries Unix server group, will become GM of the technology collaboration solutions work.

ServerBeach, who for years have built their own one- or two-way white box servers using AMD processors, recently added Dell PowerEdge servers to its line-up, according to ServerWatch.

"We were losing more and more bigger deals by not having a branded offering," says ServerBeach COO Robert Miggins.

The company has added almost 1 000 Dell PowerEdge SC430 servers to its operations in the last six months, the report states, adding the servers have either an Intel Pentium 4 processor or a Pentium-D (dual-core) processor.