Intel’s low power Atom processors may have started out as netbook chips. But in recent years we’ve seen the Atom line expand to include everything from tablets to smartphones to set-top-boxes designed to bring multimedia to your TV. Now Intel is also adding server duty to the list of things Atom chips can accomplish.
The company’s new Intel Atom S1200 processor is a 64-bit dual-core system-on-a-chip with clock speeds up to 2 GHz and support for hyperthreading, which means a single S1200 chip can handle up to 4 threads.
The S1200 for up to 8GB of memory, support for Intel virtualization technology, and
It’s an x86 chip that uses just 6W of power. Not only does that help reduce energy costs, but the S1200 also doesn’t generate as much heat as some chips, and Intel is positioning it as a high-density solution, with support for over 1000 nodes per rack.
Intel says about 20 companies including Dell, HP, Huawei, and Quanta are planning low power servers, storage, and networking systems based on the new Atom S1200 chips.
It would be interesting to see how they compare to ARM’s upcoming server chips.