Intel Itanium, how is it doing?

Itanium in practice

Though the future looks bright the current advantages of the Itanium are becoming more and more apparent. The Itanium is being implemented more frequently. Through the availability of Windows Server 2003 and various Linux variants it offers a suitable alternative to, for example, HP-UX, Solaris and IBM's operating systems. The Itanium is more than at home as a HPC machine or extremely intensive database server. Already several manufacturers have announced systems based on Intel's latest prodigy. Bull has implemented the Itanium in its NovaScale 3005 nad 5005 systems. The 3005 will offer room for up to four dual core Itaniums in a 2 to 4u case. The powerful 5005 offers space for up to a maximum of 32 processors. Competitor HP has recently revealed its Integrity rx3600 and rx6600. The first offers space for two processors, the second for up to four. It is expected that more manufacturers will be releasing systems based on the new Itanium 2.

Conclusion

The Itanium is undergoing a silent revolution which is taking a lot longer than Intel expected. The platform is slowly but surely increasing in popularity and in reference to the Itanium we can finally say that we are dealing with a "grownup" processor with great possibilities. It offers a definite alternative to products from both IBM and Sun. The fact that a lock-in scenario is far less likely with the Itanium when compared to the competition is a definite bonus. It is clear from Intel's plans that the Itanium hasn't been forgotten or ignored and this can only act as an encouragement to add this platform to the selection process.