Green (low carbon) Data Center Blog

Increasing Energy Efficient Server Competition, ARM efforts ramps up with Virtualization Support

James Hamilton has a good post on the state of ARM powered servers.  Sometimes when I read other people’s work I think what they say in the end should be moved to the beginning of the conversation.  Here is the last paragraph from James’s post.

We are on track for renewed competition in the server-side computing market segment and intense competition on power efficiency at the same time as internet-scale service operators are willing to run whatever processor is least expensive and most power efficient. With competition comes innovation and I see a good year coming.

James points out the ARM instruction set as an advantage.

ARM has become an incredibly important instruction set architecture powering smartphones, low-end network routers, printers, copiers, tablets, and other embedded applications. But things are changing, arm is now producing designs appropriate for server-side computing at the same time that power consumption is becoming a key measure of server-side computing cost. The ARM design team are masters of low power designs and generations of ARMs have focused on power management. ARM has an impressively efficiently design.

Here is another little known fact is Virtualization Extensions in the ARM architecture.

Virtualization Extensions

• The ARM Architecture Virtualization Extension and Large Physical Address Extension (LPAE) enable the efficient implementation of virtual machine hypervisors for ARM architecture compliant processors.
• Connected consumer devices and cloud computing demand energy efficient, high performance systems to handle complex software with potentially large amounts of data.
• The ARM Architecture Virtualization Extensions provides the basis for ARM Architecture compliant processors to address the needs of both client and server devices for the partitioning and management of complex software environments into virtual machines.
• The ARM Architecture Large Physical Address Extension provides the means for each of the software environments to efficiently utilize the available physical memory when handling large amounts of data.

Part of the Virtualization extensions is more than 32 bit virtual memory addressing.

• Virtualization Extensions

• As the complexity of software increases the requirement for multiple software environments to be available on the same physical processor increases simultaneously. Software applications that require separation for reasons of isolation, robustness or differing real-time characteristics need a virtual processor exhibiting the required functionality.
• To provide virtual processors in an energy-efficient manner requires a combination of hardware acceleration and efficient software hypervisors. The ARM Architecture Virtualization Extension standardizes the architecture for implementation of the hardware acceleration in ARM application processor cores, while high performance hypervisors from the world’s leading virtualization companies provide the software component upon which to build effective software combinations.
• Cloud computing and other data or content oriented solutions increase the demands on the physical memory system from each virtual machine. The large physical address extensions provide a second level of MMU translation table so that each 32-bit virtual memory address can be mapped within a 40-bit physical memory range. This allows systems to allocate sufficient physical memory to each virtual machine for efficient throughput to be maintained when total demands on memory exceed the range of 32-bit addressing.

People will laugh at ARM servers, but when you can get a dozen or more for the price of one Xeon, there are scenarios where ARM servers will work.

Nvidia announces Project Denver high performance ARM processor which includes Server Scenario

I’ve been discussing the idea of ARM servers for a couple of years and had early discussions with some folks with ARM on whether there was a scenario for ARM servers.

Today Nvidia announces an ARM processor targeting the server scenario.

NVIDIA Announces "Project Denver" to Build Custom CPU Cores Based on ARM Architecture, Targeting Personal Computers to Supercomputers

NVIDIA Licenses ARM Architecture to Build Next-Generation Processors That Add a CPU to the GPU

LAS VEGAS, NV -- (Marketwire) -- 01/05/2011 -- CES 2011 -- NVIDIA announced today that it plans to build high-performance ARM® based CPU cores, designed to support future products ranging from personal computers and servers to workstations and supercomputers.

Known under the internal codename "Project Denver," this initiative features an NVIDIA® CPU running the ARM instruction set, which will be fully integrated on the same chip as the NVIDIA GPU.

This new processor stems from a strategic partnership, also announced today, in which NVIDIA has obtained rights to develop its own high performance CPU cores based on ARM's future processor architecture. In addition, NVIDIA licensed ARM's current Cortex™-A15 processor for its future-generation Tegra® mobile processors.

"ARM is the fastest-growing CPU architecture in history," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive officer of NVIDIA. "This marks the beginning of the Internet Everywhere era, where every device provides instant access to the Internet, using advanced CPU cores and rich operating systems.

The mobile market is helping to drive energy efficient processors and this momentum is spilling over to the server market.  Within two years we should see ARM servers that are using a fraction of current servers.  Which is a big direction for greener data centers.

Why argue over a PUE change of 0.10 when you can drop your power use by 80%.

With Windows 8 mobile/tablet on ARM can Server be around the corner?

There are rumors that Microsoft will announced Windows 8 at CES.

Windows 8 to introduce ARM; chip makers already on board

Todd Bishop on Tuesday, January 4, 2011, 8:51am PST

A demonstration of Windows running on ARM processors this week will double as the first public preview of Windows 8, the next major version of the operating system, and offer a glimpse of the new allies enlisted by Microsoft in a market defined thus far by Apple's iPad.

Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans confirm that the company tomorrow will show Windows running on the ARM architecture common in mobile devices and slate-style computers -- a landmark move intended to make the traditional PC operating system work on a broader array of machines.

Windows 8, it turns out, is the version that will introduce that capability. And Microsoft has lined up chip makers Nvidia, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments to make ARM processors for Windows 8 systems.

But, in the same way that Intel Atom was announced for energy efficiency, how long can it be before Windows 8 Server runs on ARM for energy efficient computing?

Windows Server used to ship for MIPS, PowerPC and Alpha.  How hard is it to ARM for Server?

In addition, most of the various RISC-based computers designed to run Windows NT used versions of the ARC boot console to boot NT. Among these computers were:

• MIPS R4000-based systems such as the MIPS Magnum workstation
• all Alpha-based machines with a PCI bus designed prior to the end of support for Windows NT Alpha in September 1999 (the Alpha ARC firmware was also known as AlphaBIOS)
• most Windows NT-capable PowerPC computers (such as the IBM RS/6000 40P).

ARM Server Momentum Continues

Marvell and ARM are talking about ARM servers more.

Tuesday November 16, 2010

Intel vs. ARM: The Real Battle

How do the ARM architecture and the x86 architecture promoted by Intel and AMD really compete? During the ARM Technology Conference keynotes last week, ARM and Marvell in particular talked about producing ARM-based chips that make sense competing in servers. And in Intel's pronouncements in the past couple of years, including at the Intel Developer Forum a few weeks back, the company has talked a lot about targeting mobile phones. 

All of that might be true in the long run, but in the next few years, I expect the servermarket will remain dominated by x86 systems and mobile phones by ARM-based processors. Instead, I think the real competition is likely to be in tablet computers--and even there, the two architectures will be competing from very different points of view.

ZT Systems has a press release on their new ARM-Based Server.

ZT Systems Announces ARM-based Server Solution for Breakthrough
Energy Efficiency and Density in Hyperscale Data Centers

Secaucus, NJ – November 18, 2010 – ZT Systems today announced the R1801e 1U Server powered by up to 16 ARM® Cortex™-A9 processor cores. Fully populated with eight server modules, eight SSDs, dual integrated Gigabit Ethernet switches and IPMI server management, this server has a system maximum power draw of less than 80 Watts. Designed primarily as a software and build development system, this groundbreaking, scalable solution highlights the tremendous potential power savings achievable with an ARM-powered® server.

The R1801e features STMicroelectronics’ SPEAr 1310 microprocessor with dual ARM Cortex™-A9 processor cores, plus 1Gbps Ethernet, DDR3 ECC memory and SATA. ZT partnered with PHYTEC America to integrate the SPEAr 1310 onto a server “System-on-Module” (SOM). Each SOM integrates the processor, 1 GB of DDR3 ECC DRAM, 1 GB of NAND Flash, Ethernet PHY, and UART, yielding a scalable architecture with up to eight discrete servers in each enclosure. Two embedded switches connect the server modules together and provide uplinks over standard Ethernet, with system management for each SOM provided via industry standard IPMI.

The press release and other news positions this release as a data center server, but with SSD the cost would seem high on performance per $ view.  There is ECC memory that you expect in a server.

Where would you want a low power SSD base server that is at a higher price point than other ATOM based servers and Via Nano servers like Dell’s XS11-VX8?

What is a possibility for arm servers is military scenarios like naval, air, or army where rugged low power computers are a requirement. 

A large majority of professionals today require fast, reliable computing platforms–be they desktop, laptop, or handheld computers, servers, or similar devices–to get the job done. In the military, however, a soldier’s computer can mean the difference between mission success and failure, and even life and death. A great deal is at stake, and so military leaders make a point to buy the optimal computers for each aerospace and defense application.

“Warfighters have mission-critical requirements and they deserve rugged mobile computers that they can rely on,” says Bill Guyan, vice president of programs & strategy for DRS Tactical Systems Inc. in Melbourne, Fla. “That means ultra-rugged systems that are designed from the start to meet the most demanding operational conditions.

Think of what you want to do if you are running on batteries far from an electric outlet.

A system’s ruggedness and reliability may top the list of requirements for mission-critical computers, but they are followed closely by size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C).

SWaP-C has always played an important role in soldier systems, Guyan explains. “Soldiers already carry heavy loads and they have limited space for carrying large systems or many sets of replacement batteries. Soldier systems also have the potential for fielding in high numbers, so small unit cost differences can matter a great deal.”

Servers are being used more as compute power in military scenarios.

“We are working on mobile applications where rugged servers are replacing rugged laptops,” Ghylin mentions. “Laptops are great when you need to pick up a computer and go, but if the computers are fixed-mounted, a rugged rackmount server is much more appropriate. In a similar amount of rack space as a rugged laptop, a user can install a 1U RS112 server and have access to 8-16 CPU cores at 2.53 GHz, 48 gigabytes of RAM (random access memory), 4 terabytes of storage, and a PCI-Express expansion slot or a high-end graphics card for manipulating digital maps. This is 5 to 10 times the capability that a rugged laptop can provide, but it comes in at a similar price point and similar size profile when rack-mounted.

A further benefit of using a rugged server, Ghylin continues, is that it can be virtualized to replace up to 16 clients. “This means that one server can replace up to 16 laptops through the use of virtualization software. This approach not only saves cost, but more importantly for mobile applications, saves substantial size, weight, and complexity.

ARM Servers are getting more and more visibility.

$48,000,000 bet on ARM Server Start-up, Smooth-Stone funded

I've been blogging about the concept of a Little Green Server for the data center, and posted in Oct 2009 about Smooth-Stone.  Luckily thanks to some data center insiders I met the Smooth-Stone executive team and had the pleasure of being on a plane flight from SJC to SEA with CEO Barry Evans and posted again in Apr 2010.

After months and months of work the Smooth-Stone team announced their VC funding of $48,000,000 and now I can write a blog entry that Smooth Stone is funded.

Smooth-Stone Secures $48 Million to Complete Development of Semiconductors for Servers, Data Centers

Unique Syndicate of Chip Industry Leaders and Venture Capital Firms Back Smooth-Stone, Help Company Take Data Center Performance to New Heights with Cell Phone-like Power Consumption

Austin, TX, August 16, 2010 – Smooth-Stone today announced it is raising $48 million from a unique syndicate of investors comprising industry leading venture capital firms and semiconductor innovators. The capital will be applied directly to the final development and market delivery of high performance, low power chips that will change the server market and the makeup of data centers. Smooth-Stone funding partners include ARM, Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), Battery Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Highland Capital Partners and Texas Instruments Inc.

“This kind of investment, the amount, and the strength of this syndicate is a strong endorsement
for the innovation we are bringing to market,” said Smooth-Stone CEO Barry Evans. “We look
forward to taking advantage of the insights and know-how of these industry-leading investors.”

Others talk about Power as an issue for servers and Smooth-Stone will attempt to be disruptive.

“This kind of investment, the amount, and the strength of this syndicate is a strong endorsement
for the innovation we are bringing to market,” said Smooth-Stone CEO Barry Evans. “We look
forward to taking advantage of the insights and know-how of these industry-leading investors.”

Power consumption matters more than ever. Smooth-Stone will bring the low-power virtues of mobile phone technology to servers and data centers. Its semiconductors and software will provide a solution for companies where energy consumption by servers has become a constraining and expensive issue by increasing the density of computer resources while significantly conserving energy, cooling and space in the data center. Smooth-Stone customers will have new, unseen options as they plan their future server deployments.

“Our goal is to completely remove power consumption as an issue for the data center. Imagine
that change for companies with a large presence on the Internet,” added Evans. “They all deal
with the reality that as the mass of information grows daily, so does their power consumption.
Every day these companies are thinking about managing their data center sprawl. We want to
make sure that space and power are not constraining their potential.”

“The necessity of finding more energy efficient server solutions for data centers has created an
enormous and truly revolutionary opportunity for the industry,” said Battery Ventures General
Partner, Ken Lawler. “As a firm, we recognized from the beginning that Smooth-Stone had the
innovative technology, the customer value proposition and the engineering and management
capability to disrupt the web server landscape. Working with management, we’ve put together
a unique investment structure and syndicate of both strategic and traditional venture capital
investors that gives the company what it needs to succeed in this highly competitive market.
Smooth-Stone has a very bright future and we’re thrilled to be part of this investment.”

The Little Green Server is now funded and has market attention.

ARM backs server chip start-up

ZDNet UK - David Meyer - ‎52 minutes ago‎

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ARM server chip startup gets big backers

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Chip startup seeks to lower electric bills in data centers

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Investors help Smooth-Stone chip away at Intel

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Smooth Stone to Take ARM Energy Savings to Data Centers

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Mass. VC firms lead $48M data center funding

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ARM and partners invest in server chip start-up

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Nvidia says its strategy is ARM

With the success of iPhone and Android as a smartphone platform the developer focus has shifted to ARM vs. x86.  Many will scoff at the ARM processor for not being able to do the work in the data center, but when you look at price performance and power performance the ARM chip is competitive.

CNET has an interview with NVidia's CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang.

I also asked Huang about the company's strategy for central processing units, or CPUs, used in smartphones and tablets. Nvidia has been supplying its first-generation Tegra chip to portable music device makers such Microsoft, which used Tegra in the Zune HD. The second-generation Tegra 2 is targeted at smartphones and tablets but has yet to make an appearance in a product from a first-tier device maker. All Tegra chips are based on a design from United Kingdom-based ARM.

"Our CPU strategy is ARM," Huang said, referring to the fact that Nvidia was, unit last year, only a supplier of GPUs. "ARM is the fastest growing processor architecture in the world today. ARM supports (Google's) Android best. And Android is the fastest growing OS in the world today," Huang said.

Huang said that its dual-core Tegra 2 chips currently come in two flavors, the AP20 for smartphones and the T20 for tablets. "And both of them are being designed into products," Huang said.

Smooth-Stone is preparing a product line for data center performance with cell phone power.

Long time ago, x86 processors were laughed at as incapable to run data center IT.  It was a world of mainframes and minis.  Dominated by IBM, Digital, and others.  Where are those companies now in the server business?  Meanwhile Intel was selling tons of x86 processors in desktops and with Microsoft's help, Intel's x86 made inroads into servers.

Why can't ARM processors move from smartphones to the server businesss as well?  HP, Dell, IBM, and the dominant server vendors will help to fuel the anti-ARM server.  Meanwhile the ARM processors growth is fueled by smartphones.

There are technical issues like ARMs not being 64 bit, but people have figured out how to get around this issue.  Note: some supercomputers have  32 bit low power processors to keep their power footprint lower.

Is the future green data center going to have ARM servers?

How can it not?

ARM Servers in Data Centers is inevitable

I've been discussing ARM servers in data centers for a while and now it is becoming common in media to ask when will ARM have servers in the data center.  GigaOm is one of those keeping up the momentum.

For ARM, It’s Server Side Up

By Om Malik Jul. 29, 2010, 6:00pm PDT 4 Comments

0

Ian Drew, executive vice president of marketing at ARM Holdings, a Cambridge, U.K.-based company that makes semiconductors powering a majority of the smartphones, tablets, 70 percent of world’s hard drives and half the world’s printers, is on a whirlwind tour of Silicon Valley. And what everyone (including me) wants to talk to him about is servers, or rather low-power server chips that can power the data centers of tomorrow.

It's not just media, but customers are interested in low power servers.

And what Drew and his cohorts are seeing is a radical revolution in the data centers. “While the x86 world focused on pure megahertz, we have focused on the megahertz per milliwatt,” Drew said during our conversation earlier today. “We focus on quarter-to-half milliwatts as a key metric.” Most of the new devices such as the iPhones don’t have heat sinks in them, he joked.

I think about 2 years ago I was talking to ARM about why they should go into the server business for data centers.  Now they are comfortable making their own pitch on why.

“If you look at our heritage (of low power chips) it makes perfect sense for us to be looking at the servers and the data centers,” said Drew. With “cooling” making up nearly half the capital expenditure and almost two-thirds of the operation expenses, Drew said power is going to be a bigger part of the conversation.

“Everyone is using the Web and the Web is more demanding today which means all of the stuff is going to run through data centers,” he noted. “Two things are very clear: there is going to be a lot of data and need for less power.” By getting the world to buy more edge devices (iPhones, iPads etc.), ARM is at the same boosting demand for back-end computing infrastructure. Now by diversifying into the data center server business, it can make more money selling its low-power chip technology to server makers. In other words, ARM wins on both sides of the trade.

and GigaOm is even watching Microsoft to look at ARM for data centers.

We also reported on a Microsoft job listing that sought a software development engineer with experience running ARM in the data center for the company’s eXtreme Computing group. For the last couple of decades, Intel’s x86 chips have gained dominance in the data center, but as power considerations begin to outweigh the benefits of a cheap, general purpose processor, other chip makers have started to smell blood. Nvidia is pushing its graphics processors for some types of applications, while Texas Instruments is researching the use of DSPs inside servers.

but, as ARM cautions, don't expect product soon.  This is a long term game for ARM, 2 years or more before we see servers in mass.

But don’t expect this to happen overnight, Drew cautioned. “We are going to see some pilots over next year, but this is a long term initiative.” He believes that this long, continuous transition to lower-power server chips is going to take between three to five years. When I asked Drew what are those pilots, he declined to comment. From our reporting, we can easily tell you Microsoft, Smooth Stone and Marvell are experimenting with ARM-based server processors.

Intel Anthropologists Validates SeaMicro approach, multiple low power cores

ars technica has an interview with Intel CTO and discussed the role of anthropologists at Intel.

How Moore's Law drove Intel into the arms of anthropologists

By Jon Stokes | Last updated a day ago

MOUNTAIN VIEW — Intel CTO Justin Rattner took the stage at Intel's annual Research Day to host what was something of a launch party for Intel's new Interaction and Experience Research Lab—essentially a place to put all of the anthropologists and ethnographers that the company has been hiring over the past decade, and also a very high-profile validation of the value that the chipmaker places on the work of these folks.

The author wanted to dig into the impact of SeaMicro

Rattner also took up the topic of Atom vs. Xeon for cloud computing in a later Q&A session, and his response to my question of what he thought about SeaMicro's 512-Atom server might surprise you.

and here is what he uncovered.

"There's a growing body of evidence that suggests that for these massive datacenters there's a different optimum—a different set of tradeoffs—between performance and energy," he explained.

...

Rattner went on to say that the research backs up the idea that large clusters of fairly weak processors can be "dramatically more efficient" on certain types of cloud workloads than traditional enterprise servers (of the kind that Intel currently sells hardware for), which is why the company is eager to get to market with either SCCC or something like it.

Sea Micro defines a little green server

I've been blogging about the idea of a Little Green Server watching for companies who embrace the idea that smaller is better.  I checked my blog and I wrote about the idea Intel Atom Servers in July 2008.

Sea Micro came out of its quiet period, and made quite a bit of noise. 

The one I am waiting for next is ARM Servers.

From the momentum it looks like the idea of Intel Atom servers is going to be deployed.

SeaMicro in the News

June 14, 2010

Wall Street Journal: SeaMicro Tries to Rethink the Internet Server

Not many people start computer companies these days, with fierce competition and dog-eat-dog pricing making other businesses seem much more appealing. But SeaMicro is going for it, in an unusual way.

Read more

June 14, 2010

EE Times: Startup SeaMicro packs 512 Intel Atoms in server. SM10000 seen as first in wave of Atom, ARM-based servers

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Startup SeaMicro announced Monday (June 14) a server that packs 512 Intel Atom processors in a 10U chassis to deliver the same performance at a fraction of their power and space as systems using conventional server CPUs.

Read more

June 13, 2010

Venture Beat: SeaMicro drops an atom bomb on the server industry

Coming out of stealth, SeaMicro is dispelling the Silicon Valley myth that you can’t innovate in hardware anymore. The startup is announcing today it has created a server with 512 Intel Atom chips that gets supercomputer performance but uses 75 percent less power and space than current servers.

Read more

June 13, 2010

GIGAOM: SeaMicro’s Low-power Server Finally Launches

SeaMicro, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based startup building a low-power server using Atom chips and its own specially designed silicon to manage the networking, has finally unveiled its hardware, and it’s pretty darn impressive.

Read more

June 13, 2010

IDG/PC World: SeaMicro's Cloud Server Sports 512 Atom Processors

SeaMicro has developed a server that packs in 512 low-power Intel Atom processors on miniature motherboards the size of credit cards, the company announced Monday.

Read more

June 13, 2010

Fast Company: Google's Power-Hogging Server Farms Versus SeaMicro's Super-Efficient Supercomputers

The computer server industry may not sound like a hotbed for innovation to you, but SeaMicro thinks differently. It's just rocked the server world with a super-computer-like product that's smaller and more power-efficient than any rival's.

Read more

June 14, 2010

DailyTech: SeaMicro Launches Microtransaction Server Featuring 512 Atom CPUs

Taking multi-core to an extreme

Read more

June 14, 2010

earth2tech: SeaMicro Unveils Low Power Server

Get ready to start hearing a whole lot more about stealthy low-power server maker SeaMicro.

Read more

June 14, 2010

Data Center Knowledge: SeaMicro Unveils its Low Power Server

Startup server maker SeaMicro today unveiled a new low-power server that promises to slash power costs for companies running large Internet services and cloud computing platforms.

Read more

June 14, 2010

eWeek: SeaMicro Uses Intel Atom Chip in Server Architecture

Startup SeaMicro is unveiling its SM10000 server, which takes advantage of the small and highly energy efficient Intel Atom processors and its own I/O virtualization technology to create a computing architecture that is highly scalable and drives down server power and space costs by as much as 75 percent over traditional systems.

Read more

June 14, 2010

CRN UK: SeaMicro shakes up server arena

Start-up vendor SeaMicro has slammed what it sees as a lack of innovation in the server market as it launches into the UK channel.

Read more

June 14, 2010

Information Week: SeaMicro Intros Server With 512 Atom Processors

Silicon Valley startup SeaMicro has unveiled a 10U rack-mount server that uses 512 low-power, Intel Atom processors to dramatically cut energy consumption and space in the data center.

Read more

June 14, 2010

Wired: Startup Builds Power-Efficient Servers With Netbook Chips

Atom chips are the underpowered CPUs inside most netbooks. But one company has found a way to stitch 512 of them together to create a single powerful server.

Read more

June 14, 2010

CNET: Start-up launches DOE-backed green server

Start-up SeaMicro has launched a green server based on Intel's power-sipping Atom processor. The company is backed by about $25 million in venture capital and a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Read more

June 14, 2010

AnandTech: SeaMicro Announces SM10000 Server with 512 Atom CPUs and Low Power Consumption

Two years ago when I first covered Intel’s Atom architecture I proposed that Moore’s Law has paved the way for two things: 1) ridiculously fast microprocessors, and 2) fast enough microprocessors.

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June 14, 2010

Server Watch: SeaMicro Launches an Atom-Powered Cloud Computing Server

With 512 Atom processors in a 10u rack mounted unit, SeaMicro is defying not just conventional wisdom of what makes a Web server, but server design as well.

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January 06, 2010

Data Center Knowledge: SeaMicro, More Than Just Low-Power Servers

Stealthy startup SeaMicro isn’t saying much about its technology, which aims to “revolutionize the data center landscape” by slashing the power used in IT operations.

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January 06, 2010

GigaOM: SeaMicro’s Secret Server Changes Computing Economics

SeaMicro, a stealthy server company based in Santa Clara, Calif., today scored $9.3 million from the Department of Energy as part of a program to encourage data center efficiency.

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January 06, 2010

earth2tech: SeaMicro, A Server Maker That Could Change the Game of Computing Power

When the Department of Energy announced that it was awarding 14 data center efficiency projects $47 million this morning, one name piqued my interest: SeaMicro.

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Ubuntu's Founder saw questions being asked about ARM in server and cloud tracks

Mark Shuttleworth writes a post that got my attention.

At our last UDS in Belgium it was notable how many people were interested in the ARM architecture. There have always been sessions at UDS about lightweight environments for the consumer electronics and embedded community, but this felt tangibly different. I saw questions being asked about ARM in server and cloud tracks, for example, and in desktop tracks. That’s new.

Who is Mark Shuttleworth?

Biography

Mark is founder of the Ubuntu Project, an enterprise Linux distribution that is freely available worldwide and has both cutting-edge desktop and enterprise server editions, and has become very popular.

The founder of Ubuntu felt tangible different at the Ubuntu Developer Summit seeing enthusiasm for ARM based Servers and Cloud Computing.

And Mark is excited about the Linaro announcement.

So I’m very excited at today’s announcement of Linaro, an initiative by the ARM partner ecosystem including Freescale, IBM, Samsung, ST-Ericsson and TI, to accelerate and unify the field of Linux on ARM. That is going to make it much easier for developers to target ARM generally, and build solutions that can work with the amazing diversity of ARM hardware that exists today.

Linaro is using open source ideas, and Mark plans to keep Ubuntu in sync with Linaro.

Linaro is impressively open: www.linaro.org has details of open engineering summits, an open wiki, mailing lists etc. The teams behind the work are committed to upstreaming their output so it will appear in all the distributions, sooner or later. The images produced will all be royalty free. And we’re working closely with the Linaro team, so the cadence of the releases will be rigorous, with a six month cycle that enables Linaro to include all work that happens in Ubuntu in each release of Linaro. There isn’t a “whole new distribution”, because a lot of the work will happen upstream, and where bits are needed, they will be derived from Ubuntu and Debian, which is quite familiar to many developers.

For more information about Linaro here is an executive PDF.

And Mark does an excellent job of pointing out the value of Linaro.

The nature of the work seems to break down into four different areas.

First, there are teams focused on enabling specific new hardware from each of the participating vendors. Over time, we’ll see real convergence in the kernel used, with work like Grant Likely’s device tree forming the fabric by which differences can be accommodated in a unified kernel. As an aside, we think we can harness the same effort in Ubuntu on other architectures as well as ARM to solve many of the thorny problems in linux audio support.

Second, there are teams focused on the middleware which is common to all platforms: choosing APIs and ensuring that those are properly maintained and documented so that people can deliver any different user experience with best-of-breed open tools.

Third, there are teams focused on advancing the state of the art. For example, these teams might accelerate the evolution of the compiler technology, or the graphics subsystem, or provide new APIs for multitouch gestures, or geolocation. That work benefits the entire ecosystem equally.

And finally, there are teams aimed at providing out of the box “heads” for different user experiences. By “head” we mean a particular user experience, which might range from the minimalist (console, for developers) to the sophisticated (like KDE for a netbook). Over time, as more partners join, the set of supported “heads” will grow – ideally in future you’ll be able to bring up a Gnome head, or a KDE head, or a Chrome OS head, or an Android head, or a MeeGo head, trivially. We already have goot precedent for this in Ubuntu with support for KDE, Gnome, LXE and server heads, so everyone’s confident this will work well.

The diversity in the Linux ecosystem is fantastic. In part, Linaro grows that diversity: there’s a new name that folks need to be aware of and think about. But importantly, Linaro also serves to simplify and unify pieces of the ecosystem that have historically been hard to bring together. If you know Ubuntu, then you’ll find Linaro instantly familiar: we’ll share repositories to a very large extent, so things that “just work” in Ubuntu will “just work” with Linaro too.

When you read this and go back to Mark's learning about the interest for ARM Servers, do you have any doubt Linux ARM Servers will be coming soon to the data center?