Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: How long has the Xeon processor been in use for?
Xeon (/ˈziːɒn/ ZEE-on) is a brand of x86 microprocessors designed, manufactured, and marketed by Intel, targeted at the non-consumer workstation, server, and embedded system markets. It was introduced in June 1998. Xeon processors are based on the same architecture as regular desktop-grade CPUs, but have some advanced features such as support for ECC memory, higher core counts, support for larger amounts of RAM, larger cache memory and extra provision for enterprise-grade reliability, availability and serviceability features responsible for handling hardware exceptions through the Machine Check Architecture. They are often capable of safely continuing execution where a normal processor cannot due to these extra RAS features, depending on the type and severity of the Machine Check Exception. Some also support multi-socket systems with two, four, or eight sockets through use of the Quick Path Interconnect bus.
Starting with Westmere-EX, the naming scheme has changed once again, with "E7-xxxx" now signifying the high-end line of Xeon processors using a package that supports larger than two-CPU configurations, formerly the 7xxx series. Similarly, the 3xxx uniprocessor and 5xxx dual-processor series turned into E3-xxxx and E5-xxxx, respectively, for later processors.
Introduced in October 2015, Xeon E3-12xxv5 is the first Xeon series based on the Skylake microarchitecture. It uses new LGA 1151 socket, which was introduced with the desktop Core i5/i7 Skylake processors. Although it uses the same socket as consumer processors, it is limited to the C200 server chipset series and will not work with consumer chipsets like Z170. As before, the main difference between the desktop and server versions is added support for ECC memory in the Xeon-branded parts.
Lenovo launched the P Series at SIGGRAPH 2014 in Vancouver, Canada. The P Series is designed for use in engineering, architecture, professional video, energy production, finance, and other computationally intensive industries. The series includes the P900, P700, P500, and P300 models. The P Series uses Xeon processors from Intel and Quadro video cards from NVIDIA. The P300 line uses Haswell-based Xeons and supports dual channel memory. The P500 uses single Haswell-E Xeons and quad channel memory. The P700 uses dual Haswell-E Xeons. The P900 is similar to the P700 but uses multi-PCIe and has enhanced IO. The P Series is ISV-certified for all applications.
Gainestown or Nehalem-EP, the successor to the Xeon Core microarchitecture, is based on the Nehalem microarchitecture and uses the same 45nm manufacturing methods as Intel's Penryn. The first processor released with the Nehalem microarchitecture is the desktop Intel Core i7, which was released in November 2008. Server processors of the Xeon 55xx range were first supplied to testers in December 2008.[30]
The Xeon E5-16xx processors follow the previous Xeon 3500/3600-series products as the high-end single-socket platform, using the LGA 2011 package introduced with this processor. They share the Sandy Bridge-E platform with the single-socket Core i7-38xx and i7-39xx processors. The CPU chips have no integrated GPU but eight CPU cores, some of which are disabled in the entry-level products. The Xeon E5-26xx line has the same features but also enables multi-socket operation like the earlier Xeon 5000-series and Xeon 7000-series processors.
The Xeon E7 v2 line was an update, released in February 2014 to replace the original Xeon E7 processors with a variant based on the Ivy Bridge shrink. There was no Sandy Bridge version of these processors.
The uni-processor version without QPI comes as LC35xx and EC35xx, while the dual-processor version is sold as LC55xx and EC55xx and uses QPI for communication between the processors. Both versions use a DMI link to communicate with the 3420 that is also used in the 3400-series Lynfield Xeon processors, but use an LGA 1366 package that is otherwise used for processors with QPI but no DMI or PCI Express links. The CPUID code of both Lynnfield and Jasper forest is 106Ex, i.e., family 6, model 30.
The "Tukwila" Itanium processor model had been designed to share a common chipset with the Intel Xeon processor EX (Intel's Xeon processor designed for four processor and larger servers). The goal was to streamline system development and reduce costs for server OEMs, many of which develop both Itanium- and Xeon-based servers. However, in 2013, this goal was pushed back to "evaluated for future implementation opportunities".
On May 23, 2006, Intel released the dual-core CPU (Xeon branded 5000 series) codenamed Dempsey (product code 80555). Released as the Dual-Core Xeon 5000-series, Dempsey is a NetBurst microarchitecture processor produced using a 65nm process, and is virtually identical to Intel's "Presler" Pentium Extreme Edition, except for the addition of SMP support, which lets Dempsey operate in dual-processor systems. Dempsey ranges between 2.50GHz and 3.73GHz (model numbers 5020–5080). Some models have a 667MT/s FSB, and others have a 1066MT/s FSB. Dempsey has 4MB of L2 Cache (2MB per core). A Medium Voltage model, at 3.2GHz and 1066MT/s FSB (model number 5063), has also been released. Dempsey also introduces a new interface for Xeon processors: LGA 771, also known as Socket J. Dempsey was the first Xeon core in a long time to be somewhat competitive with its Opteron-based counterparts, although it could not claim a decisive lead in any performance metric – that would have to wait for its successor, the Woodcrest.
The second version, named "Cascades", was based on the Pentium III "Coppermine" core. The "Cascades" Xeon used a 133MHz bus and relatively small 256kB on-die L2 cache resulting in almost the same capabilities as the Slot 1 Coppermine processors, which were capable of dual-processor operation but not quad-processor operation.
The SGI 540 has been reported to handle up to 900 MHz quad Xeon processors. These are the fastest Pentium 3 Xeons with the 100 MHz front side bus speed of the 540.
The Xeon brand has been maintained over several generations of IA-32 and x86-64 processors. Older models added the Xeon moniker to the end of the name of their corresponding desktop processor, but more recent models used the name Xeon on its own. The Xeon CPUs generally have more cache than their desktop counterparts in addition to multiprocessing capabilities.
Trinity was built in 2 stages. The first stage incorporated the Intel Xeon Haswell processor while the second stage added a significant performance increase using the Intel Xeon Phi Knights Landing Processor.
There are 301,952 Haswell and 678,912 Knights Landing processors in the combined system, yielding a total peak performance of over 40 PF/s (Petaflops per second)
The first Xeon-branded processor was the Pentium II Xeon (code-named "Drake"). It was released in 1998, replacing the Pentium Pro in Intel's server lineup. The Pentium II Xeon was a "Deschutes" Pentium II (and shared the same product code: 80523) with a full-speed 512kB, 1MB, or 2MB L2 cache. The L2 cache was implemented with custom 512 kB SRAMs developed by Intel. The number of SRAMs depended on the amount of cache. A 512 kB configuration required one SRAM, a 1 MB configuration: two SRAMs, and a 2 MB configuration: four SRAMs on both sides of the PCB. Each SRAM was a 12.90mm by 17.23mm (222.21mm²) die fabricated in a 0.35µm four-layer metal CMOS process and packaged in a cavity-down wire-bonded land grid array (LGA).[2] The additional cache required a larger module and thus the Pentium II Xeon used a larger slot, Slot 2. It was supported by the 440GX dual-processor workstation chipset and the 450NX quad- or octo-processor chipset.
At low end of the 3400-series is not a Lynnfield but a Clarkdale processor, which is also used in the Core i3-500 and Core i5-600 processors as well as the Celeron G1000 and G6000 Pentium series. A single model was released in March 2010, the Xeon L3406. Compared to all other Clarkdale-based products, this one does not support integrated graphics, but has a much lower thermal design power of just 30 W. Compared to the Lynnfield-based Xeon 3400 models, it only offers two cores.
Sun Fire is a series of server computers introduced in 2001 by Sun Microsystems (since 2010, part of Oracle Corporation). The Sun Fire branding coincided with the introduction of the UltraSPARC III processor, superseding the UltraSPARC II-based Sun Enterprise series. In 2003, Sun broadened the Sun Fire brand, introducing Sun Fire servers using the Intel Xeon processor. In 2004, these early Intel Xeon models were superseded by models powered by AMD Opteron processors. Also in 2004, Sun introduced Sun Fire servers powered by the UltraSPARC IV dual-core processor. In 2007, Sun again introduced Intel Xeon Sun Fire servers, while continuing to offer the AMD Opteron versions as well.
The first Xeon-based machines in the top-10 appeared in November 2002, two clusters at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and at NOAA. The first Xeon-based machine to be in the first place of the TOP500 was the Chinese Tianhe-IA in November 2010, which used a mixed Xeon-Nvidia GPU configuration; it was overtaken by the Japanese K computer in 2012, but the Tianhe-2 system using 12-core Xeon E5-2692 processors and Xeon Phi cards occupied the first place in both TOP500 lists of 2013. The SuperMUC system, using eight-core Xeon E5-2680 processors but no accelerator cards, managed fourth place in June 2012 and had dropped to tenth by November 2013 Xeon processor-based systems are among the top 20 fastest systems by memory bandwidth as measured by the STREAM benchmark.[44] An Intel Xeon virtual SMP system using ScaleMP's Versatile SMP (vSMP) architecture with 128 cores and 1TB RAM.[45] This system aggregates 16 Stoakley platform (Seaburg chipset) systems with total of 32 Harpertown processors.
Intel Xeon is a distinct product line from the similarly-named Intel Xeon Phi. The first-generation Xeon Phi is a completely different type of device more comparable to a graphics card; it is designed for a PCI Express slot and is meant to be used as a multi-core coprocessor, like the Nvidia Tesla. In the second generation, Xeon Phi evolved into a main processor more similar to the Xeon. It conforms to the same socket as a Xeon processor and is x86-compatible; however, as compared to Xeon, the design point of the Xeon Phi emphasizes more cores with higher memory bandwidth.
Bloomfield is the codename for the successor to the Xeon Core microarchitecture, is based on the Nehalem microarchitecture and uses the same 45nm manufacturing methods as Intel's Penryn. The first processor released with the Nehalem architecture is the desktop Intel Core i7, which was released in November 2008. This is the server version for single CPU systems. This is a single-socket Intel Xeon processor. The performance improvements over previous Xeon processors are based mainly on:
LGA 1567 or Socket LS, is a CPU socket used for the high-end server segment. It has 1567 protruding pins to make contact with the pads on the processor.
It supports Intel Nehalem, codenamed Beckton, Xeon 7500 and Xeon 6500 series processors first released in March 2010. The 6500 series is scalable up to 2 sockets, while the 7500 series is scalable up to 4/8 sockets on a supporting motherboard.
Around the time that the Pentium III processor was introduced, Intel's Xeon line diverged from its line of desktop processors, which at the time was using the Pentium branding.
The amount of vendor investment in mainframe development varies with market share. Fujitsu and Hitachi both continue to use custom S/390-compatible processors, as well as other CPUs (including POWER and Xeon) for lower-end systems. Bull uses a mixture of Itanium and Xeon processors. NEC uses Xeon processors for its low-end ACOS-2 line, but develops the custom NOAH-6 processor for its high-end ACOS-4 series. IBM continues to pursue a different business strategy of mainframe investment and growth. IBM has its own large research and development organization designing new, homegrown CPUs, including mainframe processors such as 2012's 5.5 GHz six-core zEC12 mainframe microprocessor. Unisys produces code compatible mainframe systems that range from laptops to cabinet-sized mainframes that utilize homegrown CPUs as well as Xeon processors. IBM is rapidly expanding its software business, including its mainframe software portfolio, to seek additional revenue and profits.
As a budget processor, the Celeron does not support a dual processor configuration using multiple CPU sockets, however it has been discovered that multiprocessing could be enabled on Slot 1 Celeron processors by connecting a pin on the CPU core to a contact on the processor card's connector. In addition, Mendocino Socket 370 processors can use multiprocessing when used on specific dual Slot 1 motherboards by using a slot adapter.
The unofficial SMP support was removed in the Coppermine Celerons, and dual-socket support is now limited to higher-end Xeon server-class processors. Conroe/Allendale based Celeron processors and later support multiprocessing using multi-core chips, but are still limited to one socket.
The first processor to implement Intel 64 was the multi-socket processor Xeon code-named "Nocona" in June 2004. In contrast, the initial Prescott chips (February 2004) did not enable this feature. Intel subsequently began selling Intel 64-enabled Pentium 4s using the E0 revision of the Prescott core, being sold on the OEM market as the Pentium 4, model F. The E0 revision also adds eXecute Disable (XD) (Intel's name for the NX bit) to Intel 64, and has been included in then current Xeon code-named "Irwindale". Intel's official launch of Intel 64 (under the name EM64T at that time) in mainstream desktop processors was the N0 stepping Prescott-2M.