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ARM server running on pedal power demoed at Red Hat Summit
With x86 and a few high-powered RISC chips dominating the list of the most powerful computers on Earth, you might be wondering what's the big deal with ARM and it's push into the server space. Well, this is the big deal. The image above is of Jon Masters powering a Calxeda-server from HP with nothing more than a bicycle. OK, so there's a bit more to the setup -- including a 400 watt inverter, a 35 Ah battery, a UPS and a Pedal-a-Watt -- but the gist of it is that Masters was able keep 32 ARM cores humming along just by pedaling his road bike at the Red Hat Summit. The demo was mostly meant as a proof of concept, but we can easily imagine our future robot overlords putting us to work keeping their network of servers running. On the plus side, pedaling to power the Internet might help solve our global obesity epidemic. For a quick tour of the rig, check out the video after the break.
Dell begins test deployment of ARM-based Copper servers
Back in February, Dell revealed its intentions to enter the ARM server field. Today, the company announced that it is shipping ARM-based Copper servers to a limited number of customers. Copper is lower power than x86 servers, and Dell thinks this makes it a good fit for energy-intensive platforms such as Hadoop. In that same vein, the company views Copper as a cost-effective option that can be used for light workloads and for testing performance. In addition to deploying its new servers to select clients, Dell will be looking to the open source community for help in further developing its ARM system (the platform currently runs Linux). No word on when Copper will move beyond the testing phase.
Dell wants in on ARM server field, says software still has some maturing to do
While the company wouldn't reveal specific plans, Dell did say it's interested in entering the server arena with an ARM-based product. Earlier this year HP debuted its first ARMv8-powered server, but Dell seems to think the launch was a tad rushed. As it said during the Q&A session of its earnings call today, CEO Michael Dell said the company had "been experimenting with making an ARM server for over a year ... but the software stack just isn't mature enough yet." It is, however, intrigued and sees "some interesting opportunities emerging."
