Oracle launches ARM-based compute platform to fuel app development

Oracle has launched an ARM-based compute offering on its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), OCI Ampere A1 Compute.

The offering includes a range of tools, solutions, and support for the platform based on ARM-based processors, which also includes flexible VM sizing to allow customers to customise based on memory and core requirements.

Oracle said the solution aims to help customers run cloud-native and general-purpose workloads on ARM instances with “significant price-performance benefits”.

The service is available in either a bare metal instance, a dual-socket 164 instance with 1 TB memory, or a flexible virtual machine. Oracle Cloud Free Tier also gives developers US$300 in free credits for 30 days.

“The increasingly distributed nature of work means modern applications don’t just live in the cloud, it lives at the edge. In Asia Pacific, this is being driven by smart industry-edge applications, real-time analytics and IoT, as businesses seek to improve operations and deliver new experiences to their customers,” Oracle APJ senior vice president of technology and customer strategy Chris Chelliah said.

“These applications need infrastructure that is open, extremely efficient, scalable and secure. This is what ARM architectures deliver and with the price performance on offer we expect to see rapid uptake in the region.”

Oracle partnered with fabless semiconductor manufacturer Ampere Computing to develop the offering.

Ampere Computing CEO Renee James said the solution is “a breakthrough” for developers, with the Oracle Cloud Free Tier option allowing them to test the platform.

“The Oracle dev cloud has all the tools developers need to try new technology, get excited about new platforms and develop new applications,” James said.

Oracle also teamed up with open-source vendors like GitLab, Jenkins, Rancher, Datadog, OnSpecta, NGINX and Genymobile to help customers take further advantage of the ARM platform.