News

Amazon Wants More Power, Designs Faster ARM-Based Server Chip

A big share of Amazon’s success is contributed by its cloud services, known as Amazon Web Services (AWS). But the e-commerce giant has to make constant efforts to stay in the game when there are robust competitors like Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure.

Moving along the similar lines, Amazon is working on a new server processor based on the ARM architecture we find on almost every smartphone chip out there.

However, this is not Amazon’s first ARM chip. The company launched its first ARM server chip last year, which goes by the name Gravition.

According to a Reuters report citing sources, the upcoming server chip will be around 20% faster than its first ARM chip. It’s likely to be based on ARM’s Neoverse N1 technology and offer up to 32 cores in comparison to 16 cores on Gravition.

Designing the server chip under its own roof will let Amazon reduce production costs as won’t have to depend on Intel and AMD anymore. However, we shouldn’t expect the chip to be more powerful than Intel’s Cascade Lake or AMD’s Rome, said the sources.

Unable to keep up with the market’s innovation, Intel has already lost the smartphone chip market, and Microsoft has also started exploring possibilities for ARM-based Windows 10 PCs.

Various tech companies are choosing ARM-based chips as it helps them cut down on power consumption while maintaining the desired performance levels.

When talking about data centers running thousands for servers, the overall goal is to reduce the “total cost of ownership.” It includes different things like chip size, speed, cooling costs, etc. That’s the area Arm might want to target.

One of the sources said that the improved speed is a sign from Amazon that its serious about ARM chip investment. But here we should note that Amazon’s last year’s chip couldn’t make a dent in Intel’s business which only grew over the year.

Anyway, the chip is yet to be officially announced. Let’s see what it brings to the plate.

via Engadget

To Top

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This