Windows Server 2008 R2 to Phase Out Itanium

[zalbard]

Source: http://blogs.technet.com/

I’ve written previously about 64-bit and Windows Server and the long, steady adoption of 64-bit computing over the years. Having been involved in Windows Server support for Alpha processors in the past, and seeing many of the early chapters of 64-bit Windows Server written on Intel’s Itanium architecture, it’s with a sense of nostalgia that I pass on some important news.

Windows Server 2008 R2 will be the last version of Windows Server to support the Intel Itanium architecture. SQL Server 2008 R2 and Visual Studio 2010 are also the last versions to support Itanium.

Current support for Itanium remains unchanged. Each of these products represent the state of the art of their respective product lines. Each fully support Itanium, support the recently-released Itanium 9300 (“Tukwila”) processor, and Microsoft’s support for these products will continue – following the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy. Mainstream support for Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems (and R2) will end, in accordance with that policy, on July 9, 2013, while extended support will continue until July 10, 2018. That’s 8 more years of support.

Why the change? The natural evolution of the x86 64-bit (“x64”) architecture has led to the creation of processors and servers which deliver the scalability and reliability needed for today’s “mission-critical” workloads. Just this week, both Intel and AMD have released new high core-count processors, and servers with 8 or more x64 processors have now been announced by a full dozen server manufacturers. Such servers contain 64 to 96 processor cores, with more on the horizon.

Windows Server 2008 R2 was designed to support the business-critical capabilities these processors and servers make available. It supports up to 256 logical processors (cores or hyper-threading units), so it’s ready for the ever-increasing number of cores. It supports technologies such as Intel’s Machine Check Architecture, which allow for the detection and correction of bit-level hardware errors. And NEC just published a new world record TPC-E benchmark for online transaction processing of 3,141.76 tpsE on a system with 8 x64 processors – a result more than 50% higher than the previous record.

Microsoft will continue to focus on the x64 architecture, and it’s new business-critical role, while we continue to support Itanium customers for the next 8 years as this transition is completed.

Dan Reger

Senior Technical Product Manager

Windows Server

Not good for Itanium or anyone hoping for mainstream market to ever move away from x86.

[alfaunits]

I don't see why this mean mainstream market won't move away from x86.
The main reason the mainstream does not move from x86 is that there is NO NEED for most the software to move away.

[zalbard]

IA64 is another dying architecture so one option less is my point in this case.

[zanzabar]

IA64 is another dying architecture so one option less is my point in this case.

it wasnt to useful for a windows server, and i dont think that it sold well. wasnt it also a closed HP/intel standard anyways we intel was the only one allowed to make the chips and they wernt faster than quad core chips of today (they do have a new one out this summer though)

we are going to be stuck with x86 for a long time its like apple with ppc or cars and fossil fuels it will only change once its imposable to make it how it was.

[Mats]

Didn't really think Windows was the obvious OS for Itanium anyway, I dunno.

[Katanai]

IA64 is another dying architecture so one option less is my point in this case.

Itanium is far from dying. Tukwila isn't even properly released into the market. It's just that pretty much nobody wants a Microsoft OS on a mission critical system. I don't know why they even bothered in the first place. Itanium servers run HP-UX, almost exclusively...

[Mats]

I don't know why they even bothered in the first place. Itanium servers run HP-UX, almost exclusively...

Windows 2000 was the first version to support IA-64, about the time Intel decided to use IA-64 as a successor to the x86 architcture.
To me it seems like this Windows version is just a relic from a time when IA-64 was meant to be used for much more than what it does today.
I'm purely speculating, of course!

[Katanai]

I'm purely speculating, of course!

Of course you are, like most people do. I always have to fight against this misconception that Itanium as a whole is some sort of failure. Far from it my friend. You, for example, are probably interacting with an Itanium server every day without even knowing it. You know, a big part of telecommunications servers are Itanium based, so when you make a call on your mobile phone there's a very big chance that it's routed through an Itanium system. Or when you get money out of an ATM, there's a chance that the main server of that bank is Itanium based. Even now when you posted this message, chances are that a node somewhere was Itanium. I configure and help sell servers every day and I can tell you that, yes x86 sells more but the Itanium architecture is far far from being a failure and sells on a constant basis.

[zanzabar]

what about i64 windows being dead previously or near dead, MS servers are normally to control MS clients and or exchange/forefront the i64 isnt faster for those and they cost more. the i64 are normally for backbone and as u said they normally are on HP unix.

so without the price drop and wider availability it dosnt make sense for the markets that MS likes now

[Mats]

Of course you are, like most people do. I always have to fight against this misconception that Itanium as a whole is some sort of failure. Far from it my friend. You, for example, are probably interacting with an Itanium server every day without even knowing it. You know, a big part of telecommunications servers are Itanium based, so when you make a call on your mobile phone there's a very big chance that it's routed through an Itanium system. Or when you get money out of an ATM, there's a chance that the main server of that bank is Itanium based. Even now when you posted this message, chances are that a node somewhere was Itanium. I configure and help sell servers every day and I can tell you that, yes x86 sells more but the Itanium architecture is far far from being a failure and sells on a constant basis.

Did you even read my post???? I never said it was a failure, you made that up.

My only point was that when IA-64 showed up, the plans for it regarding what it would be used for was much wider,
not only for what you describe, and that it's supporting Windows is a relic from that time.
Intel even planned to use IA-64 instead of x86-64.

It's not really much speculation from my side anyway, here's what Craig Barrett said about it:

At the time, the best computer architects from Hewlett-Packard and Intel got together to create the next-generation big iron architecture, the Itanium family. The thought was it would cascade down to low-end computers because it was believed the 32-bit x86 architecture would run out of gas. You remember we went through the PowerPC alliance against Intel. And x86 kept growing upwards. We beat back PowerPC. We beat back the ACE consortium. We fooled ourselves a little bit because x86 beat back the Itanium challenge. The x86 Xeon servers and Opteron grew up faster into the server space than anyone thought they would. Itanium is profitable today. It’s growing market share in big iron architecture. But it certainly didn’t move down into the PC market as we had anticipated in the early 1990s. It made life difficult for Sun Microsystems. It did replace Precision Architecture at HP. So it is the big iron architecture, still battling with IBM at the very high end.

[Olivon]

Intel: "Itanium Will Survive Even Without Microsoft’s Support" - X-Bit Labs

Windows represents less than 6% of current Itanium sales according to IDC's Q3 2009 server tracker report. Most Itanium users run Unix, specifically HP-UX

At present Intel’s most powerful Itanium processor is model 9300 previously known as Tukwila that has four cores and is made using relatively old 65nm fabrication process. It is projected that in 2012 the world’s largest maker of chips will release 32nm eight-core IA64 chip code-named Poulson, which will also feature micro-architectural enhancements, including new instructions. In 2014 Intel plans to release code-named Kittson chip. Unfortunately, Intel does not make official claims about the future of Itanium at this point.