SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Intel, which makes processors for basically anything electronic, is looking at the data center with a new perspective: It’s not just focusing on chips for servers anymore; it’s also making them for every other piece of equipment inside those data centers.
This also includes processors for everything from motion-sensor chips and video surveillance for external security to storage arrays to backup power systems. That also means all the networking hardware, such as routers, switches and all the peripherals that go with them, as well as the power and cooling systems that enable all the IT to work.
It likely even makes a chip that controls the timer for the restroom lights.
This clear data center-centric trend is one that has engulfed a number of Tier 1 IT systems providers, including Cisco Systems, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, EMC, Dell, Oracle, Emerson Power/Avocent and others. These companies all come at building the 21st-century data center from their various specialties, and Intel is doing the same from the chip perspective.
"This transition opens up incredible new opportunities for us in x86 storage, wired networking and software products," Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager of Intel’s Data Center Group, (pictured) told attendees at the company’s annual Investor Meeting May 17 here on its Silicon Valley campus.
"Looking out at the 2015-2016 horizon, we think we have unprecedented growth in front of us in both revenue and operating margin around products for the data center. This is due to a number of factors: growth in cloud computing and high-performance computing; fast-emerging markets in Asia, Eastern Europe and South America; and the explosion in devices around super-computing.
"This is a potential multi-billion-dollar revenue source for us."
For more, read the eWEEK article: Intel Sees Insatiable Need for Data Center Processors Through 2015.
