IBM unveils latest Itanium server

IBM has announced its second Itanium server, a more powerful machine that can accommodate as many as 16 of the high-end processors from Intel.

The new x455 is a relative of the four-Itanium x450, IBM's first entry into the Itanium market.

As expected, IBM said its x455 systems will let customers stack up as many as four 7-inch-thick modules, each with four Itanium 2 processors.

The x455 will be generally available from 7 December, with a starting price of $21,999, according to IBM.

It will come with Microsoft Windows or with Linux from Red Hat or SuSE Linux.

The machine is a significant IBM endorsement of Intel's Itanium processor family, a 64-bit line intended for high-end computers. The Itanium - which can run software designed for Intel's popular Xeon and Pentium processors only with difficulty - is not yet widely used, but its advocates, most notably Hewlett-Packard, believe this is beginning to change.

IBM, however, has shown mixed feelings about Itanium. For example, on the same day it launched its first Itanium server, it trumpeted the speed of servers that use its own Power processor.

Illuminata analyst Gordon Haff said: "They find it politically expedient to offer Itanium-based servers, because they still have to live in the same world as Intel. It's the path of least resistance for them to offer Itanium, even thought they don't push it.".

However he added that there is a clear trend. "IBM is, if anything, getting further and further behind Power," he said.

Stephen Shankland writes for News.com