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rick.merritt
Yes 5W is amazing. But we will have to wait and see if the performance per Watt ...
KB3001
Very impressive indeed. We have to look more closely into the performance claims ...
Calxeda gives a peek into its ARM server SoC
Rick Merritt
3/11/2011 2:34 PM EST
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Startup Calxeda (Austin) has released a few details about its unannounced ARM-based processor aimed at low power servers.
Calxeda's initial reference design will be based on a quad-core Cortex A9 SoC that consumes 5W including associated DRAM. The chip includes a fabric that acts as an interconnect to other processors, enabling OEMs to pack as many as 120 SoCs in a 2U-sized chassis.
The chip aims to deliver a 5-10x performance advantage and a 15-20x price/performance advantage over traditional server processors. Calxeda also downplayed frequency as a measure of performance, suggesting the chip will run at a relatively low clock rate.
The company said it "will be open for proof of concept proposals this fall," but did not say when it will sample its chips. The startup is behind at least two other companies addressing the market for low power processors, chiefly aimed at large data centers.
Marvell's Armada XL is a 1.6 GHz quad-core Cortex SoC consuming up to 10W and already in test systems at top tier data center customers. Startup Tilera's 64-core, 32-bit processor using a custom architecture not based on ARM is currently shipping, and the company has promised a 100-core, 64-bit version for later this year.
A growing group of data centers, OEMs and chip makers have expressed interest in using non-x86 processors to lower server power. The x86 camp has responded to the trend, too.
Startup SeaMicro recently updated its server using 512 Intel's Atom CPUs to a new version of the chip. Intel itself has designed streamlined x86 boards to act as low power server nodes and is expected to announce news about its so-called micro-server efforts next week.
One sever maker recently debuted a system using a dual-core ARM chip from STMicroelectronics.
ARM rolled out its A15 core last fall with enhanced memory support for servers and networking gear. However, the company has not described plans for a 64-bit core yet.
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iniewski
3/11/2011 4:46 PM EST
Quad-core with 5W power dissipation, pretty impressive...especially with my laptop sitting on my legs while I am typing sipping coffee, must be 100W or more causing that almost burning of my jeans ;-)...Kris
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KB3001
3/12/2011 6:57 AM EST
Very impressive indeed. We have to look more closely into the performance claims though.
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Neo1
3/12/2011 1:03 AM EST
This is quite amazing, think about how many millions of dollars this would save for an enterprise over an year. If they demonstrate the equivalent performance to existing high capacity high demand low latency web servers then they almost have their act together.
I suppose all companies with heavy web traffic but non-critical commerce might readily reap benefits from such server deployment.
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KB3001
3/12/2011 6:56 AM EST
@Neo1, could you please elaborate on your "non-critical commerce" point? Do you imply that such platforms are not suitable for ciritical commerce apps?
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rick.merritt
3/13/2011 4:02 AM EDT
Yes 5W is amazing. But we will have to wait and see if the performance per Watt is really as stunning as the company suggests. And of course it will only work on 32-bit code. A Tilera exec told be even the Web tier code of top tier data center giants has been re-written for 64-bit processors. Thus he said Tilera may not get volume biz for its 32-bit CPU and is moving quickly to a 64-bit device.
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