SeaMicro SM10000 is a server that really stands out. The company has chosen to use Intel’s energy efficient budget processor Atom, no less than 512 of them in on and the same system, SM10000.
The basic idea was to build an energy efficient server system using hundreds of processor cores that will be the perfect alternative to servers with multiple quad-core Opteron/Xeon CPUs where the load isn’t too heavy.
The server will be consume less energy and space. SM10000 is a single module that measures 10U (17.5 ”) and according to SeaMicro this could replace forty 1U servers with dual quad-core processors. The 512 Atom Z530 processors are linked across an I/O system developed by SeaMicro. It will make sure the load is spread across the hundreds of processors.
The actual servers consists of tailored circuit boards by SeaMicro that each house no less than 8 processors, bundled chipset and 2GB RAM per processor. Network connection and other interfaces can be expanded with extra expansion cards, and SeaMicro says that the SM10000 server will be up to 75% more efficient than competing solutions.
Pices start at 139 000 USD, which isn’t really that much compared to the equivalent performance of regular blade servers, says the company.
