Intel To Ship Barebones Server

Intel is readying a barebones server product for its system-builder channel that will bundle a chassis with several standard components.

Jeff Richardson, general manager of Intel's Enterprise Platforms and Services Division, also reiterated past company statements that Intel is readying a series of new supporting technologies for its Xeon and Itanium platforms.

Richardson made his remarks at the Intel Solutions Summit in Las Vegas, where executives of the chip maker are meeting with more than 200 custom-system builders and solution providers from the Intel Product Dealer channel.

In particular, he responded during a question-and-answer session to a remark that some system builders find availability of server components spotty, and that availability often varies from distributor to distributor, forcing system builders to order parts from several distributors just to build a single server.

"It's sometimes difficult to order what you want," Richardson said. "You order one part, you get everything."Richardson said Intel is still hammering out specifics of the barebones offering, which would ship with Intel components but without memory or a CPU. He said the company plans to have a product,which is not yet named,in the channel by the third quarter.