Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has unveiled the world's first 64-bit ARM-based server chip.
On Tuesday, January 28, AMD showed off a "comprehensive development platform" for its first 64-bit ARM-based server chip that uses 28-nanometer processing technology.
According to Andrew Feldman, GM of AMD's server's business unit, the AMD Opteron A-Series processor (codenamed "Seattle") is reflective of the company's drive to become the "leader in ARM CPUs for servers" and also signals the arrival of a new era for data management.
AMD revealed that it will be sampling the Opetron A-Series processor to its partners this quarter.
"AMD is collaborating with industry leaders to enable a robust 64-bit software ecosystem for ARM-based designs from compilers and simulators to hypervisors, operating systems and application software, in order to address key workloads in Web-tier and storage data center environments," per the press release.
The AMD Opteron A1100 Series processors support 4 or 8 CPU cores based on ARM's 64-bit Cortex-A57. Some of the other features supported are as follows:
- Up to 4MB of shared L2 and 8MB of shared L3 cache
- Configurable dual DDR3 or DDR4 memory channels with ECC at up to 1866 MT/second
- Up to 4 SODIMM, UDIMM or RDIMMs
- 8 lanes of PCI-Express Gen 3 I/O
- 8 Serial ATA 3 ports
- 2 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports
- ARM TrustZone technology for enhanced security
- Crypto and data compression co-processors
"The needs of the data center are changing. A one-size-fits-all approach typically limits efficiency and results in higher-cost solutions," said Suresh Gopalakrishnan, corporate vice president and GM of the AMD server business unit, in a statement. "The new ARM-based AMD Opteron A-Series processor brings the experience and technology portfolio of an established server processor vendor to the ARM ecosystem and provides the ideal complement to our established AMD Opteron x86 server processors."
Additionally, a wide range of tools and software will support the AMD Opteron A-Series development platform, which include "a standard UEFI boot and Linux environment based on the Fedora Project, a Red Hat-sponsored, community-driven Linux distribution."
AMD is yet to reveal the pricing or SKUs.
