Dell unveils ARM-based servers

Dell has started shipping server computers called Copper based on the ARM processor architecture to selected customers, EDN reports.

The servers are based on Marvell's quad-core Armada XP SoC products.

Dell says it is responding to demands from its customers for it to enable the development of an ecosystem for ARM-based servers and that it believes they are well-suited to Web-hosting front-ends and Hadoop environments.

According to Data Centre Dynamics, the idea is to give key developers access to the new machines so they can start testing operating systems and applications on them.

ARM licenses its processor design, which has been attractive in the data centre space because of its low energy use, to many processor makers.

The Dell Copper ARM servers are based on the PowerEdge C5000 chassis already used for Dell's microserver line, writes V3.co.uk.

Each 3U chassis can be configured with up to 12 sled modules, while each sled consists of four separate ARM-based servers, enabling up to 48 individual server nodes to fit into each enclosure.

Unlike standard commercial servers, each ARM node is fitted with just 8GB memory, reflecting the fact that these systems are designed for handling specialised distributed workloads spread across thousands of nodes, rather than monolithic server applications calling for hundreds of gigabytes of RAM.