It will show everyone how to properly make an ARM-powered system

Jan 30, 2014 08:13 GMT  ·  By

The grasp of x86 CPUs over the server industry is not the only thing holding ARM's expansion back. There is also the tiny issue of there not being any streamlined way of building ARM-based servers optimally.

So, to ensure that its potential customers don't have to stumble about in the dark, so to speak, ARM has launched a standard platform.

Called Server Base System Architecture standard, it is an attempt to catch up to the x86 architecture that already has a defined way of how a computer boots, how input/output is handled, how memory is laid out, etc.

Basically, what we're saying is that it's not enough that ARM finally has 64-bit-capable processors up for order.

The 64-bit 8-core ARM-based Opteron A1100 from Advanced Micro Devices is fine and all, but while server builders might want to use them and their energy efficiency, they might not possess the technical acumen needed to do it properly.

The Server Base System Architecture, SBSA for short, defines the basic components of any ARM server, mandates the firmware and boot process, and lays out requirements for version and standards compliance (EHCI 1.1 for USB 2 and XHCI 1.0 for USB 3.0).

It also assures software developers that any operating system they develop while following SBSA will work on any SBSA-ready system.

In fact, incompatible ARM systems has been described in the past as a major pain by Linux creator Linus Torvalds, though not in such kind words.

That Intel has been using the incompatible diversity of ARM systems as ammo against it can't have done anything good for the latter’s chagrin either.

Things might have been different if Calxeda hadn't crashed. It was ARM's major promoter and had the makings of a potential market leader. As it is, AMD's sudden endorsement was more of a necessity rather than a brownie point.