SAN FRANCISCO -- SeaMicro has partnered with both Samsung and Intel to introduce what is being touted as the "first" fabric-based Intel Xeon micro server, the SeaMicro SM10000-XE.
The SM10000-XE is said to be so powerful that it replaces 500 comparable machines from five years ago, according to SeaMicro reps.
Micro servers like this one are designed for fulfilling data center needs -- particularly by reducing power and space with machines that use only a fourth of the power consumption and one-sixth the space compared to the previous generation of servers.
When holding a prototype, the server measures out to roughly the same dimensions as a standard keyboard.
This data center solution is supposed to achieve these requirements based on three primary features, one from each of the partners:
Based on Xeon E3-1260L CPUs, the quad-core micro server is boasted to be the most energy efficient, highest-bandwidth and highest-density Intel Xeon server available. The SM10000-XE uses half the power of competing Xeon solutions while providing three times the density and 12 times the bandwidth.
Here's a glance at what's inside the system:
The SM10000-XE is also benchmarked to deliver 10GB of bandwidth to each quad-core processor. Overall, it is designed to cover all workload types, ranging from web-tier (i.e. real-time analytics) to web database workloads.
Breaking away from the norm, some customers have already deployed these systems ahead of the announcement time.
For example, Mozilla's director of IT infrastructure and operations, Matthew Zeier, discussed at the announcement how this platform was an "obvious fit" for handling traffic. Zeier cited that Mozilla has approximately half a billion active users each day across its properties.
SeaMicro's customer base spans four continents, and it includes companies such as Skype and Dell. For everyone else, the SM10000-XE is now available worldwide with a base configuration price tag set at $138,000.
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