SCIENCE

As an extension to its ARM-based server ecosystem enablement and to further application development and testing to this technology, Dell today announced a donation of an ARM-based server concept to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF), the volunteer community that develops, stewards and incubates nearly 150 open source software projects and initiatives.

Dell believes ARM infrastructures demonstrate promise for web front-end and Hadoop environments, where advantages in performance per dollar and performance per watt are critical. Dell customers use many of Apache’s open source software products, including Hadoop, Cassandra, and the Apache HTTP Web Server as part of their big data and cloud computing solutions, so Dell is providing this community with an ARM-based server concept running Calxeda EnergyCore. This server is accessible to all Apache projects for software development and native porting of applications.

“With this donation, Dell is further working hand-in-hand with the community to enable development and testing of workloads for leading-edge hyperscale environments. We recognize the market potential for ARM servers, and with our experience and understanding of the market, are enabling developers with systems and access as the ARM server market matures," said Forrest Norrod, vice president and general manager, Server Solutions, Dell

The donation includes hosting and technical support for the ASF community. Calxeda is hosting the Dell “Zinc” ARM-based server concept at an Austin-based co-location for remote access by ASF; both Dell and Calxeda will donate time and resources needed for any hardware maintenance, including a commitment to fast resets for maximum use of the server. The ASF infrastructure team will manage the systems, including access, patches and upgrades.

Currently in operation at ASF, the server concept is running continuous integration tools Jenkins and Buildbot; the Apache Hadoop project has performed more than a dozen builds within the first 24 hours of the servers' deployment, and on-going builds are being performed by the Apache Derby, River, Tapestry, and Thrift projects. Other Apache projects, including Traffic Server and Jackrabbit, have expressed interest in live access to the Dell "Zinc" ARM-based server concept.

Similar to the Dell “Copper” ARM server announced in May, the Dell “Zinc” ARM server concept is not generally available. Dell will continue to help enable ecosystem development, and bring ARM servers to general availability at the appropriate time.

"We appreciate Dell and Calxeda's commitment to the Apache community through this generous donation. Access to ARM servers can help advance existing Apache projects, catalyze innovations in the Apache Incubator and Labs, and benefit the Apache community at-large. Many of our projects have already put the servers to use and are demonstrating measurable progress," said Doug Cutting, Chairman of The Apache Software Foundation