When you think of what makes a powerful server, you think of how much RAM it has, its processing power, and how much of hard drive space it has. Those are the core components that IT professionals examine. They’re the components that companies like Dell and HP have strived the most to improve over the years, but there is more to a server, especially in the age of cloud computing. Networks of servers vital to cloud-based services can use large amounts of power, and now a new strain of processor is looking to revolutionize the server industry.
One of the reasons for the success of cloud companies is that they use multitudes of servers to share the workload of high volumes of customers. The result is a data center that consumes a great deal of power. For example, the popular Xeon processor from Intel uses 45 Watts of power. A data center with ten Xeon servers would consume high volumes of power, let alone a data center with one hundred servers.
ARM, which is the company responsible for the processors in iPhones and other mobile devices, has been working on reducing the power strain of their processors. A company called Calxeda, which uses the ARM architecture, introduced its first chip yesterday, the EnergyCore. This processor will use 1.5 Watts of power, far less than the Xeon or even Intel’s low energy N570 Atom processor, which uses 8.5 Watts.
While HP and Intel may both step up and try to compete with the ARM chips, it seems HP is the only one serious about it at the moment. With the growing rate of cloud computing however, companies that run data centers are going to be insistent that the processors they use take up as little power as possible.
Two things are going to develop from this. The obvious one is that data centers are going to be far cheaper to run once their power consumtion dives to record lows. The other is that as companies focus on power efficient technology, the environmental impact they make will decrease. If we’re going to continue the trend towards an ever-expanding digital age, we’re going to need to consider things like power consumption more heavily.
If you want to read more about these processors, check out this article in Wired.
Tags: arm, calxeda, cloud computing, data center, dell, efficiency, energycore, hp, intel, iphone, processor, xeon