HP Unveils Intel Atom-Powered HP Moonshot Class of Triply-Efficient Servers
The solution consists of the HP Moonshot 1500 enclosure and HP ProLiant Moonshot services, which will be available from a number of HP partners and geared toward specific workloads, respectively.
Features include support for up to 1,800 servers per rack as well as HP Integrated Lights-Out (iLo) management and a claim from HP that they occupy one-eighth the space of traditional servers.
HP Moonshot servers, roughly the size of a handbag
The HP ProLiant Moonshot servers run on Intel Atom S1200 SoCs (at least at first), which are designed to facilitate efficiency and better density than ever for web workloads. Intel boasts that the Atom S1200 family of chips are the “industry’s only available 64-bit SoC with critical data center class features such as full 64-bit software ecosystem support, ECC and Intel Virtualization Technology“ that still falls within a 6W TDP. The Atom chips also help the ProLiant servers drop into any environment without the need for any porting.
Along with the HP Moonshot announcement today, Intel says that Moonshot systems that are coming out later this year will come packing 2nd-generation 64-bit Intel Atom SoCs codenamed “Avoton”, which portend to quadruple the current density per server of the Atom S1200.
Based on a new architecture called “Silvermont”, Avoton will be available sometime this summer and will feature Intel’s 3D tri-gate 22nm process, an integrated Ethernet fabric controller, and even better energy efficiency than is currently available.
Intel Atom and Avoton
HP Moonshot systems are available now in North America (with Europe, Asia, and Latin America availability in May) for a starting price of $61,875. That cash gets customers forty-five ProLiant Moonshot servers, an integrated switch, and the HP Moonshot 1500 enclosure. Of course, customized systems are available, as are financing options.
The need for more efficient server technology is great, and innovation in the area of Internet-scale applications is in high demand. If HP Moonshot delivers on its promise, it will be a huge accomplishment; the company promises that Moonshot servers will use 89% less energy than traditional servers, all while occupying 80% less space and costing 77% less.