Via may seek greater role for Nano in servers

Via Technologies may try to extend the use of its Nano processors from netbooks to servers in a potential challenge to Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, although the battle will be an uphill one, analysts said.

Via introduced a new Nano-based motherboard on Thursday for multimedia servers. It is Via's first server product based on the Nano chip, and some analysts said it could mark the start of an effort by Via to expand the chip's role in servers.

The Nano consumes less power and generates less heat than most server chips, but it is also less powerful. It runs at a maximum clockspeed of 1.6GHz and is available in only a single-core edition.

But some analysts say the chip could have potential in some types of servers. Via could offer the Nano as a co-processor to offload specific server workloads and tasks, or it could group the chips together in a blade server to act as the primary computing engine.

The VB8002 Mini-ITX motherboard announced Thursday is designed for servers that deliver video and audio content to TVs, multimedia PCs and other consumer devices. The Nano works with other components on the board to execute tasks like high-definition video encoding, Via said.

Nano chips are suitable for such work because of their strong floating point capabilities, said Dan Olds, principal analyst with Gabriel Consulting Group. They could be used in other types of servers to offload multimedia tasks, allowing the primary processor to focus on other types of data-intensive work.

"It's a way for Via to get into different markets and applications. They do have something to offer in there," Olds said.

But Nano chips are primarily seen in netbooks, like Samsung's NC20, where they are used for their low power consumption. Breaking into the server market with the chips could be tough for Via, analysts said.

Via has weak ties with server makers compared to Intel and AMD, and it would have to offer a strong platform to convince server makers to use its parts, said Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist at In-Stat.

Multiple Via chips could be pooled together in a blade server, to match the performance of a general-purpose low-end or midrange server, he said. But a stack of those could easily be replaced by a single Intel server chip, he said.

In addition, Intel and AMD have been releasing lower-power versions of their own products. "There's a bunch of other chips in the 35-watt range more suited for servers," McGregor said. AMD released quad-core Opteron EE server chips last week that draw 40 watts of power, for example.

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