Google switched the server from Intel to IBM 's "OpenPOWER" camp, making a big blow for Intel

Gordon Makinen, senior director of the Google+ project, has released a picture of IBM's motherboard for Google's new server on the Google+ blog. This motherboard adopts CPU developed by IBM "Power 8", which means that we switched from an Intel chip server that we used consistently since our establishment in 1998 to an IBM server, Google It is drawing attention as a symbol that Intel's Honeymoon relationship has ended.

Gordon MacKean - Google+ - Today I'm excited to show off a Google POWER 8 server ...
https://plus.google.com/111282580643669107165/posts/Uwh9W3XiZTQ

This Google Motherboard Means Trouble for Intel | Enterprise | WIRED
http://www.wired.com/2014/04/openpower/

Intel says factory to stay shut for now
http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/20140113intel-says-factory-stay-shut-now.html

The motherboard for the new server released by Google is a CPU developed by IBMPower 8"Is carried. Power8 is a CPU with 12 cores (96 threads) with maximum frequency of 5 GHz and L3 cache of 96 MB, single thread performance 1.6 times higher than previous model Power 7, doubling the number of parallel executable threads,Presented in August 2013It was done. Google is using this motherboard for Power8-equipped servers,IBM Impact 2014I am planning to announce at.


In the past, all Google 's huge server group was equipped with Intel chips, and for Intel, Google was a customer who could expect a lot of orders. Switching from Intel server to IBM server by Google means that the relationship is over. Because we need to revamp both hardware and software as we change trains, this decision is a big decision with the risk of trouble.

As a reason why Google switched servers even if taking such riskWIREDI guess that "Google thinks that continuing reliance on Intel is far more risky than continuing it." In order for Google to continue to expand its data server and to introduce new services one after another, a higher performance server is required. To that end, it is said that it took a risk shake strategy "to nurture an IBM server to be able to compete with an Intel server" by placing a large amount of order on IBM again with this attitude dependent on Intel is. In addition, IBM is an organization promoting an open development environment based on POWER microarchitecture "OpenPOWER Foundation"Establishment of a major IT companies such as Hitachi, Micron, Samsung, etc. participate in this, the server related business is gaining momentum.


Intel is believed to be shifting its focus to the server business to respond to the rapidly shrinking PC market with the rapid expansion of the mobile terminal market, and it is expected that not only the servers of the OpenPOWER camp but also the servers with the ARM-based MPU While going through the battle of Google, it seems that it will be a big hurd to go away from Google.

Intel 's next - generation semiconductor factory "Fab 42", which began construction in 2011, announced that construction will be suspended in January 2014, and the operating time has been significantly postponed from the end of 2013. The estimate of the start of operation of Fab 42, which is said to be investing more than 5 billion dollars (about 500 billion yen), may have been further deviated by Google's policy change.