Intel rolled out a new range of Xeon processor chips Tuesday that are based on the chipmaker’s 32nm logic technology featuring second-generation high-k metal gate transistors. Called the Intel Xeon Processor 5600 series, the new server and workstation devices promise to decrease energy consumption in data-center applications even as they boost processing speeds.
Xeon 5600 processors also deliver two new security features for faster encryption and decryption. When deployed in virtualized environments, they provide data centers with a stronger foundation for cloud security, said Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager of the Intel Architecture Group.
“The Intel Xeon Processor 5600 series will be the backbone of mainstream computing environments,” Skaugen said. They are designed to foster productivity and efficiency for a broad range of applications — “from data transactions to workstations performing medical imaging and digital prototyping,” he added.
Robust Security Features
The Xeon 5600 chips, which come in four-core and six-core versions, deliver up to 60 percent greater performance than Intel’s earlier 45nm Xeon 5500 series. As a result, data centers will be able to replace 15 single-core servers with one new server and achieve a return on their investment in as little as five months, Intel said.
“With a CPU upgrade to the new Intel Xeon processor 5600 series, the accelerated version of SAP BusinessObjects Explorer achieved a 1.64x improvement in query throughput,” said SAP Vice President Roland Kurz. “It would take us many person-years to optimize our software stack to achieve the same performance gain.”
For security, the Xeon 5600 chips include Intel AES-NI — a set of instructions for accelerating the performance of systems running the Advanced Encryption Standard adopted by the U.S. government. “This faster, more robust encryption will benefit a broad range of Oracle solutions, including Oracle Database, and our customers can now secure data better without…