State of Technology: Dual Chips In The Spotlight

Single-processor servers continue to hog the channel stage, but the spotlight is slowly moving toward multiway servers, especially those with dual processors.

"The market is definitely showing some interest in multiway servers, but it's not huge yet," says Reza Zarafshar, president and CEO of Advanced Computer Concepts, Arlington, Va. "But we expect the market will expand dramatically within the next two quarters."

In the past 12 months, about 47 percent of solution providers' server sales were based on single processors, while 26 percent of server sales were based on two-way processors, according to VARBusiness' State of Technology research. But single-processor servers are expected to lose some ground. Within the next year, solution providers predict that sales of those servers will drop to 39 percent. Two-way processor sales are expected to increase, representing 32 percent of server revenue in the next year, according to the survey.

"I see multiway servers coming down the path in the not-too-distant future," says Robert Green, president of Crossroads Business Solutions, an Indianapolis-based VAR and integrator.

In 2005, four-way processors accounted for roughly 7 percent of server revenue. By the end of 2006, solution providers expect that number to have crept up to 8 percent.

Meanwhile, the server market as a whole continues to grow at a steady clip. Factory revenue for the worldwide server market reached $12.5 billion in the third quarter of 2005, according to Framingham, Mass.-based IDC. And with that, dual-core-processor sales are expected to keep growing, says John Humphreys, research manager of enterprise servers at IDC.

Dual-core servers, in fact, represent about one-quarter of all server spending today, Humphreys says. And Martin Reynolds, a fellow at Gartner, San Jose, Calif., agrees. "Two-way servers will continue to be the sweet spot because they deliver the optimum balance of packaging and power," he says.

By its third generation, multicore processing will "have a significant impact" on IT infrastructure, predicts IDC, adding that more developers--both chip-makers, such as Intel and AMD, and vendors, such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard--are making strides in this space.

Adds Reynolds: "Four-way servers are the sweet spot for [AMD] Opteron. As we get to more virtualization and optimization, four-way servers are more doable."

As prices drop and capabilities increase, midsize companies currently investigating multiway technology may be prepared to invest in dual-core servers for virtualization and clustering solutions, says Bruce Crochetiere, president of Focus Technology Solutions, Seabrook, N.H.

"Customers who consider multiway servers are mostly considering server consolidation," Zarafshar says. "Given that server consolidation will put several applications from being hosted by individual servers into one multiway server, the need for redundancy and high availability increases. In that regard, any of the high-availability technologies, such as clustering, acts as an enabler."

Of course, return on investment is crucial, channel executives caution.

"If just the price of the server is taken into account, multiway servers probably can't be [cost-]justified," Zarafshar says. "But if the total cost of maintaining a data center--cooling, power and flooring, as well as management costs--are taken into account, multiway servers and consolidation of several servers into one can be very compelling to many customers."

Alison Diana, a partner in ProfessionalInk.biz, is a freelance writer and editor who specializes in channel and technology issues.