Microsoft asks Intel for a 16-core Atom server chip
The Intel Atom processor line is associated with low power usage in devices such as a netbook or nettop computer. The emphasis is definitely not on performance, it’s on pushing up battery life on a device with a small display and mid-range graphics requirements while still managing a decent desktop experience.
Microsoft thinks Atom can do more, though, and wants to use it in servers. With that in mind it is calling on Intel to up the cores in an Atom chip to 16, and deploying it as a low power server chip solution.
That call comes from distinguished engineer Dr. Dileep Bhandarkar, of Microsoft Global Foundation Services, a core part of the team that looks after Microsoft’s data centers. So you can assume he knows what he’s talking about in ther server space and that Intel will take his request seriously.
