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> Not sure, but you can pick up a 1U server running 96 ARM cores today. ARM cores are optimized for certain types of work and have code to accelerate all sorts

by gonzo 10y ago

> Not sure, but you can pick up a 1U server running 96 ARM cores today. ARM cores are optimized for certain types of work and have code to accelerate all sorts of things like AES, SHA1/2, video codecs, etc. True, but that 96 core 1U server is going to bear a high price, and Intel CPUs also have instructions to accelerate AES, SHA1/2, video codecs, etc.

gravypod 10y ago
> 96 core 1U server is going to bear a high price The server market only cares about price/watt and size. 1U is very small for such a parallel system, no need to write your code for Phis or anything like that, and low power in comparison to Intel. Win, win, and win.
- erik_seaberg 10y ago
  Does the market care much about size? I thought there were lots of datacenters that reached their limits on power and cooling despite having floor space available for more racks.
  - dozzie 10y ago
    > Does the market care much about size? If it didn't, we wouldn't have blade servers, for which the main selling point is density.
  - gravypod 10y ago
    It depends on place to place but sometimes space is limited. I know some places need "off-site" backups that are within walking distance (not really too off site). For companies in NYC or populated areas space is a factor. Also if a machine was half as power consuming, twice as powerful, but you could only fit one in your entire datacenter, I don't think many would go for it. Having many systems is a failure tolerance assurance. Being able to increse your power efficiency, processing ability, AND capacity all by switching to a single system that's priced competativly/cheaper to the market standard? That's a wining combo.
drzaiusapelord 10y ago
You can pick up this 96 core server right now for $4,000. $4,000 is nothing in the world of DC servers. https://www.avantek.co.uk/store/arm-servers.html https://www.avantek.co.uk/store/arm-servers.html The 'big dog' avantek sells right now seems to be this 384 core 2U solution at around $15,000. https://www.avantek.co.uk/store/avantek-384-core-cavium-thunderx-arm-server-h270-t70.html https://www.avantek.co.uk/store/avantek-384-core-cavium-thun... These are very cheap pieces of hardware. Price up a HP Proliant with multiple 8 core Xenons and see how crazy that pricing gets, not to mention the power usage. Pricing is good right now for ARM. The question is does ARM work for what you're computing? According to this article, ARM is probably best for high thoroughput and high RAM solutions, not necessarily number crunching: https://www.servethehome.com/exclusive-first-cavium-thunderx-dual-48-core-96-core-total-arm-benchmarks/ https://www.servethehome.com/exclusive-first-cavium-thunderx... Mind you, those dual Xenons its competing against go for anywhere between $7,000 to $3,000 each. That's just the CPU street price before the HP/Dell markup and, of course, the rest of the server. Ask a VAR what a dual or quad E5-2699 v3 or current v4's goes for. You're probably looking at a $25,000 to maybe even $50,000 box here.

by gonzo 10y ago

gravypod 10y ago

> 96 core 1U server is going to bear a high price The server market only cares about price/watt and size. 1U is very small for such a parallel system, no need to write your code for Phis or anything like that, and low power in comparison to Intel. Win, win, and win.

erik_seaberg 10y ago
Does the market care much about size? I thought there were lots of datacenters that reached their limits on power and cooling despite having floor space available for more racks.
- dozzie 10y ago
  > Does the market care much about size? If it didn't, we wouldn't have blade servers, for which the main selling point is density.
- gravypod 10y ago
  It depends on place to place but sometimes space is limited. I know some places need "off-site" backups that are within walking distance (not really too off site). For companies in NYC or populated areas space is a factor. Also if a machine was half as power consuming, twice as powerful, but you could only fit one in your entire datacenter, I don't think many would go for it. Having many systems is a failure tolerance assurance. Being able to increse your power efficiency, processing ability, AND capacity all by switching to a single system that's priced competativly/cheaper to the market standard? That's a wining combo.

drzaiusapelord 10y ago

You can pick up this 96 core server right now for $4,000. $4,000 is nothing in the world of DC servers. https://www.avantek.co.uk/store/arm-servers.html https://www.avantek.co.uk/store/arm-servers.html The 'big dog' avantek sells right now seems to be this 384 core 2U solution at around $15,000. https://www.avantek.co.uk/store/avantek-384-core-cavium-thunderx-arm-server-h270-t70.html https://www.avantek.co.uk/store/avantek-384-core-cavium-thun... These are very cheap pieces of hardware. Price up a HP Proliant with multiple 8 core Xenons and see how crazy that pricing gets, not to mention the power usage. Pricing is good right now for ARM. The question is does ARM work for what you're computing? According to this article, ARM is probably best for high thoroughput and high RAM solutions, not necessarily number crunching: https://www.servethehome.com/exclusive-first-cavium-thunderx-dual-48-core-96-core-total-arm-benchmarks/ https://www.servethehome.com/exclusive-first-cavium-thunderx... Mind you, those dual Xenons its competing against go for anywhere between $7,000 to $3,000 each. That's just the CPU street price before the HP/Dell markup and, of course, the rest of the server. Ask a VAR what a dual or quad E5-2699 v3 or current v4's goes for. You're probably looking at a $25,000 to maybe even $50,000 box here.