Intel announces Xeon E7 server processors

Intel has launched its latest Xeon processor, the E7, to target the enterprise server market.

Designed with mission-critical applications in mind, such as business analytics and virtualisation, the E7 doubles the amount of memory from the previous generation to 2TB.

Talking to IT PRO, Richard George, enterprise channel director at Intel, claimed this improvement would make a big difference to businesses.

"It was the memory that was holding them back," he said. "The evolution of the past two to three years saw customers moving to much more powerful processing but, as a result, they populated [servers] with a much larger footprint."

"Doubling the amount of memory to 2TB will give them more [space] and better performance."

Along with a memory boost, there are now up to 10 cores and 20 threads, which Intel claims will give 40 per cent improved performance.

There is also 30MB of last level cache and extra security features built in to secure and reassure customers looking towards the cloud.

The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) should also speed up the process of both encrypting and decrypting databases. Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) creates a safety net around applications to keep them free from malware.

"Security is an important part of the cloud so it has to be something we address and customers feel safe," added George, giving further weight to suggestions that security is a space Intel is keen on moving into, following the acquisition of McAfee back in August 2010.

Server lines featuring the new chips are set to emerge over the next 45 days, George said, whilst he claimed the list of vendors associated with the company had "slightly increased."