Itanium Problem Fixed, Compaq Starts Production on Server by Ken Popovich

Compaq Computer Corp. has started production on its first Itanium-based server after a five-month delay it blamed on problems with Intel Corp.'s new 64-bit chip.

While the new system may bolster Intel's efforts to promote the slow-selling Itanium, Compaq's disclosures of troubles with the chip—some details of which Intel disputes—may dampen system managers' interest in it.

"I'm always kind of wary of any new technology that hasn't proven itself in the marketplace," said Lee Johnson, CAD support specialist for Western Star Trucks, in Kelowna, British Columbia. "Hearing that there are problems with (Itanium) just compounds that wariness."

Houston-based Compaq first confirmed problems with its new Itanium-based ProLiant 590/64 server last month, saying it had held off shipping the system, announced in July, because it failed pass stress tests done by a company lab. At the time, Compaq said the problem appeared to reside with the chip.

But two weeks later, an Intel representative blamed the trouble on the BIOS program packaged with the processor, and said it developed a BIOS modification to resolve the issue. The BIOS is the first software a processor accesses when it starts up. The BIOS determines what other computer components are present and loads up the operating system.

"There's no problem with the chip itself," Intel spokesman Bill Kircos said Nov. 27.

However, on Tuesday a spokesman for Compaq said that the chip caused the problems that delayed the server's release.

"There was a problem with the Itanium processor that was corrected by an Intel Itanium microcode update. This was not a Compaq BIOS problem," said Compaq spokesman Tim Willeford.

Microcode is software Intel developed in the early 1990s to help it fix errata, or bugs, on early production versions of its chips. The software enables Intel to install temporary workarounds that can resolve issues until modifications can be made in future generations of the chip.

But an Intel spokeswoman on Tuesday rejected Compaq's explanation of how the "sightings"—an industry term used to describe worse-than-expected system performance—were resolved.

"The sighting from Compaq has absolutely nothing to do with the microcode," said Barbara Grimes, an Intel spokeswoman, in Portland, Ore. "Microcode is something that is built into the processor to provide the legacy 32-bit support. The microcode is not used in any of the 64-bit functionality of the processor. It is in no way related to the Compaq sighting."

While Intel disagreed with Compaq's explanation of how the problem was resolved, the chipmaker admitted that the problem rested with its chip.

"The issue was specific to the Itanium processor," Grimes said. "It was not a problem specific to Compaq."

While no other computer makers reported having similar problems, she said, Intel has sent the BIOS update to all of its customers.

In addition, the problem won't require Intel to modify the manufacturing of future versions of the chip, she said.

"It's not an erratum, it's not something in the hardware in the processor that we need to go back and correct," Grimes said.

Itanium was officially launched in late May after more than seven years of development and numerous delays. Intel, based in Santa Clara, Calif., is counting on the new chip to break into the high-end enterprise computing market dominated by Unix-based systems developed by Sun Microsystems Inc., IBM and Hewlett-Packard Co.

Servers built using 64-bit processors, which can handle heavier workloads than the more common 32-bit chips, are among the most expensive computer systems sold, and can cost several million dollars a piece.

Such high-selling prices could offer Intel far greater profit margins than it currently garners from selling processors for PCs and low- to mid-range servers. For example, Intel currently sells an 800MHz Itanium processor with 4MB of cache for $4,227. By contrast, it sells a 2GHz Pentium 4 for $401, in 1,000 unit quantities.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in PC Magazine.