Technology  November 24, 2006

HP, Intel pull out stops for one big QuadFest

QuadFest.

It sounds like an extreme sporting event or maybe even an expo for outdoor recreation. Instead, it represents Hewlett-Packard Co.’s ongoing commitment to Intel processors.

HP hosted media representatives, analysts and customers from around the world at an unveiling event — dubbed QuadFesst — in Westminster on Nov. 13. HP and Intel representatives joined forces to announce the launch of the newest line of HP workstations with Intel’s Quad-Core Xeon processors.

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The release of the Quad-Core — four processors in one package — is a big win for Intel, which has been battling rival Advanced Micro Devices to be first with the implementation.

Intel’s Quad-Core is actually two Dual-Core chips packaged together. Rather than result in twice the speed of the latest Dual-Core, for temperature reasons, the new Quad-Core is touted as resulting in a 50 percent performance improvement.

Chris Christopher, senior vice president and general manager of HP’s global business unit for workstations, business and consumer PCs, said that not only does the Quad-Core run faster, it also runs more efficiently.

Christopher said the biggest value for HP’s high-end workstation customers will be the ability to run multiple applications at the same time. Users in the financial services, oil-and-gas and automotive engineering industries and even content creators will be able to run high-demand applications simultaneously.

For example, an oil-and-gas company exploring in the Gulf of Mexico collects tons of data to be sure that there is oil where they intend to drill before sinking even a single $700 million rig. Before the Quad-Core technology, the company would wait days or months after collecting the data for the offsite analysis to be completed and results returned.

Using a high-end HP workstation with the Quad-Core processor, the company is able to crunch its own data in a few hours right from the rig.

“That’s a big deal,” Christopher said.

That sentiment is echoed by Jeff Wood, the director of product marketing for HP Workstations.

Fort Collins is the worldwide headquarters for the HP Workstation group, and now that the biggest changes in workstation technology have occurred — the release of Dual-Core technology followed almost immediately by the Quad-Core — the group’s focus will now shift to the workstation customers. Wood explained that the HP’s high-value, high-touch customers will be those who see the immediate benefits.

“It’s completely changing the way they work,” he said.

‘Storied relationship’ between Intel, HP

HP has had its shakeup in terms of how the company works, especially when it comes to its past with Intel.

Intel and HP have had a “storied relationship,” as one Intel executive put it.

HP and Intel teamed up to develop the Itanium processor in 1994. Ten years later, HP announced it would end its co-development partnership — reaching an agreement to transfer about 250 HP employees to the Intel payroll.

“Over time, we phased design over to Intel,´ said Brian Cox, director of server marketing for HP’s business critical systems group. “That was actually the plan from the get-go.”

Cox explained that HP’s strength is in designing the machines in which the processors go, not in developing processors.

Now, HP is just an Intel customer like any other. And despite the fact that HP also offers products sporting AMD processors, it is not turning away from its former partner.

“The Itanium is extremely important for HP,” Cox said.

The Itanium is featured in HP’s Integrity line of servers. Cox said that the Integrity line is aimed at enterprise businesses that demand a large capacity and increased reliability. HP’s other major server line, the x86, carries Intel Xeon or AMD Opteron processors. Cox explained that the x86 servers — some of which will now have Quad-Core technology — are more suited to small- to medium-sized businesses.

Cox explained that while the company makes fewer sales on the Integrity line compared to its other server lines, it generates additional cash flow through storage options, software and service.

Pull up a virtual chair

QuadFest gave HP an opportunity to not only flex its workstation muscles, but also to show off another new technology. HP threw open the doors of its Fort Collins site to customers, analysts and reporters for a peek at one of only a handful of Halo studios in the U.S.

A Halo studio is a virtual boardroom. It allows teams from up to four different sites around the world to “sit” around a conference table together. The rooms feature three high-resolution screens that create the other side of the conference table as well as a high-definition screen on which to share applications and view objects.

Fort Collins’ Halo room went operational in May. It is usually booked for most of the day so that HP employees can interact with teams at sites around the world without having to leave the building. Today, there are 65 Halo rooms in the world.

“It’s about an experience,´ said Mark Minne, future product marketing manager for Halo.

He explained that a sociologist helped to design the rooms for the best person-to-person interaction. As a result, Halo rooms best fit no more than six people at any one site.

Minne said HP customers that have installed Halo rooms are reporting huge decreases in travel expenses for interagency meetings.

“It’s the next best thing to being there,” Minne said. “And you can be home in time for dinner.”

QuadFest.

It sounds like an extreme sporting event or maybe even an expo for outdoor recreation. Instead, it represents Hewlett-Packard Co.’s ongoing commitment to Intel processors.

HP hosted media representatives, analysts and customers from around the world at an unveiling event — dubbed QuadFesst — in Westminster on Nov. 13. HP and Intel representatives joined forces to announce the launch of the newest line of HP workstations with Intel’s Quad-Core Xeon processors.

The release of the Quad-Core — four processors in one package — is a big win for Intel, which has been battling rival Advanced Micro Devices to be first with the…

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