Rebirth for the x86

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Your basic everyday x86 server doesn't look so average anymore. In fact, with 64-bit extensions on the table and multi-core processors in the works, this venerable PC server is looking downright jazzy.

The x86 rebirth buzz began with Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD) and Intel's move to add 64-bit support to their processors. The 64-bit extensions show up in AMD's Opteron and Intel's Xeon chips. But it grows significantly louder when you throw in the multi-core angle.

Essentially, a multi-core processor gets you two processors on one chip. IBM, for example, offers a dual-core Power5 processor, while Sun has released a dual-core UltraSparc chip. PC vendors are not to be outdone. AMD is developing multi-core processors for servers and high-end workstations, and Intel recently moved up plans to ship dual-core processors for its server and desktop systems. Intel's and AMD's offerings are expected in late 2005.

The core issue

Although it will take years before multi-core designs become pervasive, the fact that they typically are designed to run at lower frequencies that burn less power than the latest single-core processors eventually will make data center servers denser than today's single-core systems, says Tom Halfhill, senior analyst with Microprocessor Report.

"The whole idea of having two cores on one chip is that they are more efficient. For the same amount of data center square footage, you can have more processing power crammed in," he says.

But vendors must resolve the thorny issue of software licensing before dual-core processors will achieve mainstream acceptance. As far as applications or the computer's operating systems are concerned, a dual-core processor looks like a two-processor system. But should it be licensed as such? Not according to Scott Wolfe, IT enterprise architect with Boeing Employees Credit Union in Tukwila, Wash.

"We license Oracle per processor. . . . So now when we do dual cores, is that two processors?" he asks. "That dual-core processor is not as powerful as two single processors, so now we're paying essentially twice the licensing for less than twice the computer power."

Most vendors, including Microsoft and Novell, have not disclosed how they expect to treat multi-core processor licenses. However, the decision among those already decided on this issue is not uniform. A dual-core processor will be licensed as if it is two separate chips, as far as Oracle is concerned, but that same processor would require only one license from Red Hat.

While PC software vendors have some time to decide how they'll handle licensing, Al Gillen, a research director at IDC, expects most will follow Oracle and license PC multi-core systems as if they are multiprocessor machines.

Perhaps the new systems will spur software vendors to reconsider their processor-based pricing models. That's the hope of users like Dave Gallaher, director of IT development for Jefferson County in Golden, Colo. "At some point, I would have to call it the equivalent of counting the lug nuts on a car and using that as the basis of what you pay for the car," he says. He advocates that software vendors move from this model and instead focus on one question in particular: "What's the value of your product?"