Momentum Builds for Industry Specification of Server System Components

Broad Support for Intel-lead Server System Infrastructure Specification to Result in Lower costs and Higher Availability for Server Buyers

INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, PALM SPRINGS, Calif., Sept.16, 1998 – Intel Corporation today announced growing industry support for the Server System Infrastructure (SSI) initiative. Leading SSI council members and participants, including Intel, Compaq, Data General, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Micron Electronics and NEC, are helping to drive an open-industry specification for two common elements of today's and tomorrow's server system infrastructures: power supplies and electronics bay design. By developing specifications for common server elements, manufacturers can focus on quicker time to market of new technology and minimize system integration time and expense. End users gain from a wide range of suppliers and compatible products.

The SSI initiative is driven by the desire of server vendors to avoid redesigning elements, such as the power supply and electronics bay, with each new generation of server systems. The goal of the SSI initiative is to design reusability into servers by specifying long-lived server elements. These specifications are intended to contribute to reduced time to market and reduced system integration efforts in the server design cycle, leading to an improved ROI for the server industry. By maximizing the reuse of server components, server industry participants could be able to redirect research and development investments into areas of server technology which offer a high degree of end user benefit. Benefits to the industry include lower procurement costs, increased supply flexibility, lower development and qualification costs, as well as lower service costs and fewer incompatible parts.

"This is a key initiative that supports Intel's Standard High Volume Server (SHV) thrust in moving toward server building blocks," said Mitch Shults, director of Intel's Server Platform Marketing. "Common elements like these reduce costs for OEMs and developers so that they can concentrate on delivering new, innovative technologies for greater differentiation and customer benefits."

SSI initiative participants plan to first address power supplies and electronics bay designs. Power supplies are traditionally redesigned for each new server generation, and have relatively long lead times in the server development cycle. Specifying power supplies can help improve power system scalability and configurability and lower development and qualification costs. Plans to specify electronics bay (E-bay) designs -- including the microprocessor and memory complex within servers -- can help improve reuse and upgradability for server systems. The SSI initiative was announced in February of 1998 and is supported by more than 50 server-industry original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and independent hardware vendors (IHVs), which are reviewing and contributing to the specifications being developed. Visit www.ssiforum.org for more information regarding the SSI initiative, including specifications, information on council members, initiative news and the opportunity to provide specification feedback.

The Intel Developer Forum is a three-day intensive semi-annual forum providing hardware OEMs and IHVs in-depth information on Intel technologies and initiatives. More information on the Intel Developer Forum can be found at developer.intel.com/design/idf. Updated information between Intel Developer Forums is available by subscribing to the Intel Developer Update Magazine at www.intel.com/update/.

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