Facebook on Thursday said it would use Intel-powered computer servers in expanding the social network's data center infrastructure.

The "collaboration agreement" between the two companies also has them working together on "technology evaluation, benchmarking, and optimization of software for Intel architecture." Facebook applications are mostly built on open source technologies.

The deal is an expansion of the business relationship already in place between the two companies. "Intel has demonstrated that the performance of their systems can help Facebook scale our infrastructure," Jonathan Heiliger, VP of technical operations at Facebook, said in a statement.

The agreement means Intel remains a partner with one of the fastest-growing social networks on the Web. Facebook in April was the 14th largest Internet property with 35.7 million visitors, according to ComScore.

"Intel is excited to engage with Facebook as they are a dynamic force in the evolution of the Internet," said Kirk Skaugen, VP and general manager of Intel's Server Platforms Group.

Facebook has chosen Intel's Xeon 5400 series processors for the Web company's current round of new deployments that started this month. Financial terms were not disclosed.

So-called Web 2.0 companies that deliver services to millions of users over the Internet are a big prize for tech vendors. Such companies, which include eBay, Google, Amazon.com, and Facebook rival MySpace, have huge data centers that need constant maintenance and upgrading.

Intel this week joined Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo, government agencies, and academia in launching a global multi-data center test bed for experimentation and research in delivering application services over the Internet.

The initiative aims at building a computing network comprised of six data centers spanning three continents. The idea is to have a large-scale platform for testing all technology -- hardware and software -- related to cloud computing.