HP Launches 'Project Moonshot' Servers

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HP has announced the official launch of “Project Moonshot,” its new line of servers that run on processors built for mobile devices. The servers require much less energy than traditional boxes, and they take up much less space in a data center.

Wired’s Cade Metz reported, “In the continuing crusade to rebuild computer servers using ultra-low-power chips not unlike the one in your cellphone, HP is now selling its first ‘Project Moonshot’ server, a machine packed with dozens of mobile-phone-class processors from Intel. The aim is to significantly reduce cost and save space inside the massive data centers that power the world’s web services and big businesses. ‘We look at this as a watershed,’ [said] Mark Potter, senior vice president and general manager of HP’s industry standard servers and software group. ‘It’s as important as when we released our first industry standard server in 1989.'”

All Things D’s Arik Hesseldahl explained, “Basically, it’s a server, a very small server that consumes very little energy. During a conversation earlier this year, Dave Donatelli, HP’s executive VP and head of its enterprise, showed me one. Smaller than a typical hardcover book, it consumes 89 percent less energy to operate, and takes up 94 percent less space than a typical server. And, when packed into a large rack with many more servers like it, the amount of computing power that can be harnessed in one relatively small place is pretty powerful.

According to The Inquirer’s Carly Page, “Unveiled at a glossy event in London, HP’s second generation Moonshot system is the first to be made commercially available and is focused on ‘social, mobile, cloud and big data,’ said HP CEO Meg Whitman via a video stream. The Moonshot system consists of the HP Moonshot 1500 4.3U server enclosure and the application-optimised HP Proliant Moonshot servers, which are built from chips most commonly found in smartphones and tablets. The first servers will be shipped with an Intel Atom S1200 chip, HP said.”

ZDNet’s Larry Dignan observed, “The bet for HP is that it can launch new Moonshot systems at three times the product cycle of traditional servers. For HP, Moonshot represents the company’s ability to innovate, remain a server leader and keep up with cloud customers, who are increasingly building their own gear.”