14 DAY TRIAL // The ARM architecture hasn't made its mark on the server ecosystem yet, but it is only a matter of time, so Dell and its prospective customers are doing what they can to get ready.
What we mean by this is that Dell has developed an ARM-based server that builders of data centers and such can test out.
It is called “Copper” and focuses on what ARM is best at: working on very little energy.
“The ARM server ecosystem is still immature, with a limited software ecosystem and (until now) no ARM-based servers from a tier one OEM. Plus, ARM is currently 32-bit technology, which means current 64-bit code would have to be modified to run on 32-bit, and likely be modified again when 64-bit comes out in the next year or two,” Steve Cumings, executive director of Dell Cloud Computing Solutions, wrote on the company blog.
“So customers have told us they don’t plan to put ARM servers into a production environment, but instead want servers to test and validate in their labs.”
Here we should mention that there is, in fact, an ARM “server-on-a-chip” with support for 64-bit registers. It is an impressive piece of work that AppliedMicro revealed back in April.
That's just one chip though, and we can understand why Dell would feel it would take a year or two for 64-bit ARM to spread.
That said, the Copper has a shared infrastructure design, which means that it can easily be reconfigured and connect to others like it.
It has twelve sleds, each with four ARM server nodes, bringing the total to 48 server nodes in a single 3U C5000 chassis. Add to that the power draw of just 15W per node and a full case doesn't consume more than 750W.
Dell is shipping the Copper to “key ecosystem partners” in order to “support their development activities,” but it is also deploying remote-accessible clusters at Dell Solution Centers and through its partnership with Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC). They will be up and running until the end of the year.
