AMD Announces Broad Enterprise Support For The AMD Opteron Processor

With 25 percent of the Fortune Global 100 now using AMD Opteron processor-based systems, AMD announced broad enterprise support for the AMD Opteron processor, the world’s first 32-bit and 64-bit processor compatible with the x86 architecture. Since its introduction more than one year ago, Fortune 500 companies from industries including financial services, insurance, manufacturing, automotive, and energy have selected AMD Opteron processor-based systems to run their critical enterprise applications. The AMD Opteron processor provides investment protection by enabling enterprises to run existing 32-bit applications with outstanding performance while offering a seamless migration path to 64-bit computing.

“World-class operations like Microsoft Treasury confirm that AMD is transforming the enterprise by making pervasive 64-bit computing a reality,” said Henri Richard, executive vice president, Worldwide Sales and Marketing, AMD. "AMD64 provides a single architecture for servers, desktops, and mobile platforms, and with the availability of Windows®, Solaris and Linux, AMD64 technology also offers to enterprises the broadest choice of operating systems for 64-bit servers in the world.”

Microsoft Treasury, which oversees more than $60 billion dollars in financial assets for Microsoft Corporation, required the highest-performing processors available to help measure and analyze the global investment portfolio of the world’s most successful software company. Microsoft Treasury ultimately selected servers running the public beta version of the Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition, comprised of four-way and two-way AMD Opteron processor-based servers based on AMD64 with Direct Connect Architecture.

“Before using 64-bit Windows Server 2003 on AMD64-based systems, we would often have to split up financial holdings before running the program, to avoid overloading the system,” said Max Giolitti, group risk manager for Microsoft Treasury. “Now, we can load all the data sets and still run the application as it was designed to operate. And best of all, because of the high-level of compatibility, we didn’t have to re-write a single line of code.”

Bell Helicopter, a leading producer of commercial and military helicopters and a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortune 500 company Textron, Inc., is a pioneer in the helicopter industry most recognized for its revolutionary tiltrotor aircraft. Faced with expiring workstation leases on close to 250 workstations that serve the company’s critical engineering and product design teams, Bell wanted to replace their existing systems with a higher performing platform in order to optimize the applications that are used to design their most advanced helicopters.

After surveying the landscape of workstations available on the market, Bell selected a platform based on the AMD Opteron processor. “The idea of a seamless migration from 32-bit computing to 64-bit computing made the selection of AMD Opteron processor-based systems a ‘no-brainer’ for us,” reports Nick Miller, IT services manager, CAD/CAM/CAE Group, Bell Helicopter, a Textron company. “The risk was minimal, and it made a lot of sense in my mind to secure a seamless migration path from 32-bit to 64-bit computing - only the AMD Opteron processor was proven to provide that capability.”

“AMD64 technology is helping leading enterprises in highly competitive industries, including Bell Helicopter, realize improved performance on 32-bit computing applications today, and providing migration protection to 64-bit computing when they are ready,” said Kevin Knox, vice president, Worldwide Enterprise Sales and Marketing, AMD.

The AMD Opteron processor continues to be recognized for x86 server and workstation performance leadership. Industry benchmarks for workstation applications including MCAD, MCAE & digital content creation confirm that the AMD Opteron processor delivers industry-leading performance for 1P & 2P workstations, while industry benchmarks for enterprise-critical applications including messaging and collaboration, high-performance computing and Web serving confirm that the AMD Opteron processor powers the world’s highest performing 2P and 4P servers.

For more information on how companies such as BNP Paribas, Sabre Holdings, VeriSign, Genialloyd and many others are benefiting from AMD Opteron processor-based platforms, please visit www.amd.com/enterprise.

About the AMD Opteron™ Processor

The world’s first 32-bit and 64-bit processor compatible with the x86 architecture, the AMD Opteron processor is based on AMD64 technology with Direct Connect Architecture. Direct Connect Architecture helps eliminate the bottlenecks inherent in a front-side bus by directly connecting the processors, the memory controller and the I/O to the central processor unit to enable improved overall system performance and efficiency. AMD was the first to announce the completion of an x86-based dual-core processor design and the first to demonstrate an x86-based dual-core processor for 32- and 64-bit computing. As more solution providers join the AMD64 ecosystem, the industry is approaching the day when 32-bit-only systems will become obsolete.