Intel has agreed a deal with Facebook under which it will power the social networking site's infrastructure.

Facebook is set to deploy thousands of servers using Intel Xeon processors over the coming year to provide for rapid global growth.

It says it will help support the processing needs of the company's "increasingly rich media applications", including videos, music and photos.

Vice-president of technical operations at Facebook Jonathan Heiliger comments: "Intel has demonstrated that the performance of their systems can help Facebook scale our infrastructure and continue to deliver the best experience to users around the world."

Kirk Skaugen, vice-president and general manager of Intel's Server Platforms Group, adds: "Intel is excited to engage with Facebook as they are a dynamic force in the evolution of the internet."

Meanwhile, Intel has just announced it is to collaborate with the Portuguese government on a new education initiative.

As part of a new technology plan, the government aims to deliver 500,000 computers based on the Intel-powered Classmate PC to primary schoolchildren in the country.

More than half of small businesses (53%) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support, London based Connect conducted the research in 2007.