HP is not just the world’s largest PC manufacturer, but also holds the same title among servers. There has been talk about ARM processors thanks to the low price and high efficiency and HP will now take the step, officially.
When you hear ARM you immediately think smartphones and tablets, but ARM chips are found in everything from small chipsets in harddrives to microwaves and washing machines. Over the last few years there has been a lot of talk about using ARM in notebooks and desktops, but also servrar.
So far not one has taken the full step of switching from x86 to ARM, besides Facebook. But Facebook intends to use its ARM servers in-house, and not for resale. HP will according to reports to Wall Street Journal start a cooperation with Calxeda for developing ARM-based servers. ARM is an alternative thanks to its low energy consumption and small fingerprint – two points that are important when building servers with many units, to it many units without being overheated.
In the new cooperation, Calxeda will design the ARM processors, while HP will manufacture the remaining components. Calxeda’s tailored system processor will sport four ARM Cortex-A9 cores consuming 5W including the RAM. This will enable up to 480 cores in a 2U server case.
480 Cortex-A9 cores ina 2U rack
Calxeda counts on its ARM-based architecture will offer 5 to 10 times the energy efficiency of competing solutions. The price will also be very competitive and have an advantage of 15 to 20 fold of competing solutions. The end product will target data center, web servers, tele communication and other areas where high-end performance is not needed.
Windows 8 is coming and should bring to ARM to PCs, and now it seems like HP will go into ARM servers too. While ARM is not for everyone it is becoming clearer and clearer that there is a place for it, even among servers. It is a threat that AMD and Intel should take seriously, and not just boast about superior performance.
