Gigabyte releases a couple of servers with arm thunderx2 processors

The ARM architecture continues to look for expansion opportunities, and a fairly promising range is that of servers. Now, Gigabyte has released two models with ThunderX2 processors that seek to be an alternative to x86.

Gigabyte R181-T90 and R281-T91 servers

The R181-T90 and R281-T91 are 1U and 2U format servers respectively, with two 28-core Cavium ThunderX2 CN9975 processors, with performance 2-3 times better than the first generation ThunderX.

The CPU supports up to 8 channels of DDR4 memory with up to 24 DIMM slots, and provides 56 PCIe Gen 3 lanes. They have 32MB of distributed L3 cache and make use of the second generation of Cavium Coherent Interconnect, up to 600Gbps.

The 1U factor model has space for 8 SAS or 10 SATA3 2.5 ″ disks, while the 2U R281-T91 has room for 24 SAS or SATA bays, and 2 more for SATA 2.5 ″, in both cases with capacity of hotswap so they can be removed and replaced without restarting the computer.

The two servers also feature two redundant 80 Plus Platinum certified power supplies with 1200W power and, unsurprisingly, the motherboard developed by the manufacturer boasts top-of-the-range components.

The performance and efficiency advantage offered by these ARM servers remains to be seen, but for certain data centers with certain uses that do not imply the need to emulate x86 code, this may be a great option for these clients.

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