HP debuts first enterprise-class 64-bit ARM server

HP has unveiled what it claims is the first commercially available enterprise-class, 64-bit ARM server.

The HP ProLiant m400 is the latest in the vendor's line of Moonshot high-density, low-power servers. The launch is being positioned as a milestone for the server market, dominated by x86 CPUs from Intel.

The 64-bit server is several years in the making and is part of a strategy that “shifts the focus from discreet and siloed servers to a big pool of processing resources, scaled to any workload”, according to a spokesperson.

The introduction of ARM will “change the dynamic” in enterprise IT, said director and general manager for HP South Pacific Servers & Converged Systems, Enterprise Group, Raj Thakur.

“It’s quite exciting for us because enterprise-grade [64-bit ARM] servers just weren’t available before this,” he said.

HP is claiming reductions in total cost of ownership with ARM, compared with rack-based servers. ARM servers are designed to reduce the space needed in a data centre, as well as power usage and cooling.

Each ARM servers, or “cartridge”, plugs in to shared power, cooling, management, networking and storage – each Moonshot server has space for 45 hot-pluggable cartridges. Specific cartridges suit specific workloads.

The new Proliant m400 uses an ARM processors from Applied Micro. HP has also announced a 32-bit ARM server, called the HP ProLiant m800.

In Australia, Thakur said Moonshot is being trialed with a couple of large, unnamed enterprise customers and also in production at a telco that provides analytics for their own business. Moonshot has also been introduced for delivering hosted desktops in a couple of large unnamed agencies in Canberra.

Part of the challenge for HP in encouraging adoption of ARM servers will be the software ecosystem. The vendor has four labs worldwide, including Singapore, where developers can test and port applications to the ARM Moonshot platform.

Thakur said there are 200 proof of concepts so far being tested in the four locations, with 50 partners including software vendors and ISVs involved, as well as 20 reference customers.

AMD also introduced its first 64-bit ARM server chip earlier this year – the AMD Opteron A1100 Series processor, codenamed Seattle.