Calxeda Primes Pump for ARM Server Adoption

The first ARM-based low-energy servers from Calxeda won't be available until later this year. But today Calxeda will announce that it is providing early access to its technology to key players in cloud computing and data analytics.

Calxeda uses  chips optimized for cell phones to make low-power servers that can slash the energy costs for data center operators. As energy efficiency becomes a leading priority in the data center, end users are keenly interested in next-generation server technologies focused on low-power chips such as Intel's Atom and the ARM technology embraced by Calxeda.

Building an ARM Server Ecosystem
With its Trailblazer Initiative announced today, Calxeda hopes to create an ecosystem that will have ready-made solutions available for its product launch. Calxeda is providing Trailblazer partners and end users with early access to hardware and technical expertise. Calxeda said the program is a response to demand from customers and partners to get its chips into servers and data centers for proof of concept testing.

One key partner is Canonical, developer of the Ubuntu Linux distribution. "We are proud that Ubuntu has been chosen as the operating system to launch the Calxeda Trailblazer initiative," said Canonical CEO Jane Silber. "We have been working with Calxeda and have been developing Ubuntu Server to run on ARM servers for some time now . This program further aligns our organisations and will help companies and projects looking to build the hyper-efficient datacentres of tomorrow."

"We see Trailblazer as a critical step in the evolution of this marketplace, and are thrilled by the support we are receiving from the community to help it materialize," said Barry Evans, Calxeda’s CEO. "The data center energy crisis is real, and the faster we can help our system vendors and partners get complete solutions in our customers’ hands, the faster we can help them save money, and reduce their energy consumption and carbon footprint."

Other initial participants in the Trailblazer Initiative include:

Calxeda is backed by a syndicate including venture capital firms and semiconductor firms, including ARM, Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), Battery Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners and Highland Capital Partners.

At the recent Structure Big Data conference, we spoke with Karl Freund, the Vice President of Marketing for Calxeda, who provided an overview of the company's products and roadmap. This video runs about 7 minutes, 30 seconds.