Celestica introduces an Itanium® 2-based reference design for workstations

The reference design will enable broader adoption of Itanium 2-based workstations Celestica Inc. (NYSE, TSX: CLS), introduced an Intel® Itanium® 2 processor-based workstation reference design. Based on Intel's industry-leading processor, the reference design will provide high performance, cost efficiencies and a roadmap for growth to the workstation market.This design will enable OEMs and system builders to offer their technical computing customers a strong performance and scaleable workstation that meets the needs of graphics rich, complex computing environments."We are delighted to be working with Intel to bring these innovative products to market," said Dan Shea, senior vice president and group general manager, Celestica. "With a heritage in engineering and technology leadership, Celestica has been a leading supplier of electronics manufacturing services to workstation and server markets for many years. We have expanded our capability to provide 64-bit solutions to meet our customers' specific product needs."Celestica will be offering two products. The single processor product is an entry level solution that will feature either the upcoming Itanium 2 processor 6M (codenamed Madison) or the upcoming Low Voltage Intel Itanium 2 processor (codenamed Deerfield), five PCI slots, four hard drive bays, 8GB memory capability and AGP 4X graphics. The dual processor product is focused on the performance workstation user and will feature either two Intel Itanium 2 processors 6M or two Low Voltage Intel Itanium 2 processors, four PCI slots, four hard drive bays, 16GB memory capability and AGP 8X graphics.The Itanium processor family is designed to address the needs of high- performance servers and workstations, and is supported by a broad ecosystem of leading hardware and software vendors worldwide."The Itanium processor family is designed to provide higher performance at a lower cost and with greater choice than proprietary RISC offerings," said Mike Fister, senior vice president and general manager, Intel Enterprise Platforms Group. "The Itanium 2-based workstation reference design from Celestica achieves these goals and will enable broader adoption of Itanium 2-based workstations by providing hardware and software vendors with a high- performance, cost-effective solution."These products will be offered broadly to the OEM market, with a single- processor Itanium 2-based workstation available in the Fall 2003 and the dual- processor Itanium 2-based workstation available in the Spring of 2004. To ensure evolving OEM needs are met, Celestica will provide roadmap refreshes as technology advances.