Hewlett-Packard (HP) unveiled a new, low-power server platform on Tuesday, June 19, as part of its Moonshot initiative. The platform is called "Gemini" and comes as the first implementation to use an upcoming Intel Atom processor dubbed "Centerton." HP announced its Moonshot project in November 2011, stirring talks about a potential ARM server business.
According to Paul Santeler, general manager of HP's hyperscale business unit, Gemini servers will be used for workloads that don't require the power of a traditional server CPU such as an Intel Xeon. Gemini servers also target workloads that run more efficiently when broken down across a large number of less powerful cores.
Santeler further explained such workloads include serving up Web pages, running distributed memory cache and server hosting environments for dedicated rather than virtualized hardware, or big data analytics. A Gemini system will use as little as one-tenth the power of a x86 server, and occupy one-tenth the space, said HP.
Plans for the Gemini platform, however, extend beyond Intel's Atom processors. Although HP offered only a few details about the platform, it did mention the Gemini uses processor "cartridges" that are capable of supporting different processor types, depending on the workload. Santeler said future Gemini systems will feature ARM-based processors in those cartridges, which could mean chips from Marvell and Calxeda. HP is keeping its lips tight for now.
Intel said its Centerton Atom processor will be in production within the next six months, but did not provide a more specific time frame. HP said it will use Intel's 32-nanometer process node, the same one being used for Sandy Bridge Xeon chips. The company added that the processors will be dual-core Hyperthreaded units with 64-bit support, ECC memory support, as well as Intel's virtualization technology, but did not detail chip speeds.
"This announcement today that the first...servers will be based on Intel's Atom processor is a win for Intel, which has been arguing about the value of x86 in low-power servers for a while," Pund-IT Research principal analyst Charles King told eWEEK.
According to the analyst, HP's decision to move with Intel is good for the company, as well as its developer community. ARM-based systems will follow in the future, but for now it is important that developers can start off with familiar x86 tools, said the analyst. HP said its servers using Intel's Certeton Atom chip will be shipping by the end of the year.
