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The only thing that matters in data centers is power consumption, so just as soon as these compete on compute per joule, data centers will roll them out.
by honkhonkpants 10y ago
The only thing that matters in data centers is power consumption, so just as soon as these compete on compute per joule, data centers will roll them out.
- StillBored 10y agoGoogle/facebook datacenters maybe, but there are others where backwards compatibility is actually the most important metric because the companies in question have been investing in nonportable software for decades. Those places tend to be massively heterogeneous as different business merged/etc and absorbed the technology stacks or layered on newer technologies over older ones.
- honkhonkpants 10y agoYeah, absolutely. Your basic corporate in-house development shop using C# and SQL Server is married to Intel for all eternity. I think the Google/Facebook crowd is really the best market for this IBM stuff, because those companies control their entire stack and have the technical ability to port it.
- kbenson 10y agoWell, they released SQL Server for linux (even if pared down feature-wise), and that's probably a bigger hurdle than recompiling for a new architecture (depending on whether their compilation toolchain supports it, and how well), although there could still be some x86(_64) specific optimizations in place. Sometimes weird stuff like supporting esoteric platforms happens because the companies in question are so large, that it makes sense to spend a few $100k on that project to make Intel squirm and get better pricing from Intel on your bulk deal. Keep in mind, Microsoft have their own cloud service...