Itanium brand logo

The Intel Itanium processor.

The Intel Itanium architecture.

In computing, the Itanium is an IA-64 microprocessor developed jointly by Hewlett-Packard and Intel. Image File history File links Itanium. ... Image File history File links Itanium. ... Image File history File links Itanium. ... Image File history File links Itanium. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1419x1064, 62 KB) Summary The Itanium architecture. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1419x1064, 62 KB) Summary The Itanium architecture. ... Originally, the word computing was synonymous with counting and calculating, and a science that deals with the original sense of computing mathematical calculations. ... In computing, IA-64 (Intel Architecture-64) is a 64-bit processor architecture developed in cooperation by Intel and Hewlett-Packard, implemented by processors such as Itanium and Itanium 2. ... Microprocessors, including an Intel 80486DX2 and an Intel 80386 A microprocessor (sometimes abbreviated µP) is a digital electronic component with miniaturized transistors on a single semiconductor integrated circuit (IC). ... The Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), commonly known as HP, is a very large, global company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. ... Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC, HKEx: 4335), founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation, is a U.S.-based multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ...

Merced

HP and Intel first collaborated on chip for servers and workstations in 1989. HP needed a next generation replacement for its successful PA-RISC line of servers and workstations, and wanted to tap Intel's volume and expertise in chip design and manufacturing.

It would use Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing where the compiler would line up instructions for parallel execution. Features were added to insure compatibility with BOTH Intel x86 and HP applications. It was expected to dominate servers, workstations, and perhaps even desktops, bumping the ubiquitous x86 architecture. Importantly, it was not expected AMD would be able to clone it. Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing (EPIC) is a computing paradigm that began to be researched in the 1990s. ...

Software support

Microsoft has ported Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 to Itanium. Microsoft server applications include SQL Server, Operations Manager, CRM Server, IIS, Visual Studio, and the .NET Framework. The decision was made in recent years to not include support for client applications and Operating Systems for the Itanium, because the performance demands are so low that they do not justify the use of anything beyond x86 or extended x86. Microsoft has announced support for Itanium on it's upcoming Longhorn Server Operating System. It is being positioned as the top end processor for the most demanding Longhorn workloads such as Database Servers, Operations Management, and Customer Relationship Management. Microsoft . ...

In June 2003 OpenVMS was added to the line up of Operating Systems able to run on these processors. OpenVMS (Open Virtual Memory System or just VMS) is the name of a high-end computer server operating system that runs on the VAX and Alpha family of computers developed by Digital Equipment Corporation of Maynard, Massachusetts (now owned by Hewlett-Packard), and more recently on Hewlett-Packard systems built...

The HP Nonstop operating system also runs on Itanium. Nonstop is used in many of the world's trading and financial markets.

Multiple Linux variants run on Itanium, such as RedHat, SUSE, SCO, SGI. In Jan 2002, Gelato.org, a community for the propagation of Linux on Itanium was created.

SUN Solaris was also ported to the Itanium processor, however in recent years they have jettisoned the processor in order to use their own processor architecture SPARC Sun UltraSPARC II Microprocessor Sun UltraSPARC T1 (Niagara 8 Core) SPARC (Scalable Processor ARChitecture) is a pure big-endian RISC microprocessor architecture originally designed in 1985 by Sun Microsystems. ...

Market trends

The following companies anounced a new "Itanium Alliance" in September 2005 to promote hardware and software development for the chip: Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, Fujitsu, NEC, Unisys, Bull, Silicon Graphics, Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat, Novell, BEA Systems, SAP, SAS, and Intel. [1]

Dell and IBM have dropped the chip from their product lines.[2][3] The word Dell can refer to the following: Dell, Inc. ... International Business Machines Corporation (IBM, or colloquially, Big Blue) NYSE: IBM (incorporated June 15, 1911, in operation since 1888) is headquartered in Armonk, NY, USA. The company manufactures and sells computer hardware, software, and consulting services. ...

Total revenue tripled for the Itanium from 2003-2004, but it is still $26.6bn short of Intel's 2000 projection. [4]

Intel has also delayed the dual-core Montecito version of Itanium for 3 months.[5] Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC, HKEx: 4335), founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation, is a U.S.-based multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ...

Technical criticism

The first version, code named Merced, shipped in June 2001. Manufactured in a 180 nm process, it was offered at speeds of 733 and 800 MHz, with a choice of 2 MB or 4 MB off-die L3 cache. Prices ranged from US$1200 to over US$4000. 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... A nanometre (American spelling: nanometer, symbol: nm) is 1. ... MegaHertz (MHz) is the name given to one million (106) Hertz, a measure of frequency. ... A megabyte is a unit of information or computer storage equal to one million bytes. ... Diagram of a CPU memory cache A CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing unit of a computer to reduce the average time to access memory. ...

However, performance was disappointing. In IA-64 mode, it performed only slightly better than an equivalently clocked x86 design, and when running legacy x86 code, performance was extremely poor, about 1/8th that of a similarly clocked x86 processor. Software emulation would have been faster.

The main (though by no means only) structural design flaw with the Itanium was the high latency of its level three cache. Intel's engineers had evidently been hoping that the amount of bandwidth available would offset this, but the latency was so high that it actually slowed the cache, to the point where it was not significantly faster than the main memory interface. With the faster first and second-level caches set relatively small (32KB and 96KB respectively), this further increased the load on the main system bus.

Compounding the performance impact of the lack of available cache bandwidth, was the fact IA-64 code has a larger footprint than x86 code. So the amount of instructions that could be contained in the cache was in fact even smaller than the sizes alone would suggest. All of which might have been mitigated, had Itanium been designed around a fast processor bus. However, at a mere 266MHz it was only equal to consumer Athlons of the period, and a full 33% slower than first generation Pentium 4s. Again, this was worse than it would appear, due to the fact that Itaniums were designed to be used in systems with several processors. Itanium clock speeds were also disappointing, relative to the GHz speeds being delivered by the Athlon architecture of the period. Athlon is the brand name applied to a series of different x86 processors designed and manufactured by AMD. The original Athlon, or Athlon Classic, was the first seventh-generation x86 processor and, in a first, retained the initial performance lead it had over Intels competing processors for a significant... Pentium 4 (with hyper-threading) brand logo The Pentium 4 is a seventh-generation x86 architecture microprocessor produced by Intel and is their first all-new CPU design, called the NetBurst architecture, since the Pentium Pro of 1995. ... A gigahertz is a billion hertz or a thousand megahertz, a measure of frequency. ...

Overall, it is generally believed that the technical specifications indicate an original 1998–99 target launch date. But the repeated and lengthy project delays, effectively meant the processor was out of date before it had even begun shipping. Hence, the Itanium was not a competitive product when launched, although it would have been two years earlier. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

It was succeeded by the Itanium 2. Itanium 2 brand logo The Itanium 2 is the successor of the first Itanium processor and is an IA-64 architecture microprocessor. ...

Itanic nickname

Itanic is a derisive nickname referring to Intel's IA-64 semiconductor architecture, as supported by the Itanium and Itanium 2 series of processors. The name is a reference to the Titanic, a famous ocean liner which sank in 1912. The IA-64 architecture is considered by some to be a white elephant, who believe that it cost Intel and partner Hewlett-Packard many billions of dollars while failing to achieve expected sales in the originally projected timeframe. The following article is about the multinational corporation; intel is also an abbreviation for intelligence, used in reference to military intelligence and espionage. ... In computing, IA-64 (Intel Architecture-64) is a 64-bit processor architecture developed in cooperation by Intel and Hewlett-Packard, implemented by processors such as Itanium and Itanium 2. ... Itanium 2 brand logo The Itanium 2 is the successor of the first Itanium processor and is an IA-64 architecture microprocessor. ... The New York Herald reports the disaster. ... An ocean liner is a large passenger ship, typically a motorized vessel that undertakes longer voyages on the open sea primarily for the purpose of transporting people from one place to another. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... A white elephant is a valuable possession whose upkeep is excessively expensive, by comparison with the animal. ... The Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), commonly known as HP, is a very large, global company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. ...

Sales of IA-64 processors have most recently been hampered by competition from AMD's AMD64 architecture on the low end, and to a lesser extent IBM's POWER architecture on the high end. Some early IA-64 vendors, such as Dell and IBM have dropped or drastically scaled back support for the architecture, Dell choosing AMD64-compatible processors in line with their high-volume business model, while IBM continues to develop servers built on its own POWER architecture. For other possible meanings of AMD see AMD (disambiguation) Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ... AMD64 Logo AMD64 (also x86-64 or x64) is a 64-bit microprocessor architecture and corresponding instruction set designed by Advanced Micro Devices. ... International Business Machines Corporation (IBM, or colloquially, Big Blue) (NYSE: IBM) (incorporated June 15, 1911, in operation since 1888) is headquartered in Armonk, New York, USA. The company manufactures and sells computer hardware, software, and services. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Dell, Inc. ...

See also

• IA-64 Architecture
• Itanium 2
• Itanium: A Cautionary Tale Intel takes over the world - with the lowly x86
• Intel Itanium opened cartridge processor images at cpu-collection.de

In computing, IA-64 (Intel Architecture-64) is a 64-bit processor architecture developed in cooperation by Intel and Hewlett-Packard, implemented by processors such as Itanium and Itanium 2. ... Itanium 2 brand logo The Itanium 2 is the successor of the first Itanium processor and is an IA-64 architecture microprocessor. ...