Taking aim at the server market, Intel is planning to bring its Nehalem-EX processors to market later this month. With the eight-core Xeon processors, the chipmaker is building on its x86 design, layering in features found in high-end processors like the Itanium family.

The latest offering from follows efforts from both Intel and rival AMD to expand their share of the market for top-shelf servers companies require for mission-critical operations. Hardware Central has the details about Intel's rollout of the Nehalem-EX processors.

Intel's Nehalem-EX, an eight-core Xeon processor based on the x86 design but with many features found in Itanium and other high-end processors used in the most mission-critical scenarios, is set to ship later this month.

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and AMD (NYSE: AMD) have made great strides over the last few years in the server market, taking more and more market share from what had been the exclusive domain of RISC-based servers and mainframes. In the most recent stats from IDC, x86 servers accounted for more than 90 percent of the market.

But those few RISC servers sold are very expensive, sometimes carrying million-dollar price tags. Companies are willing to pay the big bucks because they need these high-end servers for their most important, mission-critical environments that demand 24/7/365 operation with no downtime and immediate recovery from any potential errors.

Intel customers have competed in this field with systems built on Intel's Itanium processor including the just released four-core Itanium 9300, a.k.a. Tukwila. But Nehalem-EX gives it a serious run for the money.

Read the full story at Hardware Central:
Intel to Begin Nehalem-EX Shipments This Month