[Interest] Interest Digest, Vol 80, Issue 7

[Thiago Macieira]

On Saturday, 12 May 2018 06:48:36 PDT Roland Hughes wrote:
> >> The x86 has both heat and power problems which cannot be overcome.
> > 
> > I'm sure my colleagues at Intel would be very interested in your detailed
> > analysis that shows why the problems cannot be overcome. Please forward me
> > your papers if you can.
> > 
> > If not, you're boasting and making unfounded generalisations. You're
> > spreading FUD.
> 
> Here is some light reading. I pulled some of the interesting snippets
> out and pasted them below the links. You really should read the entire
> Cloudflare article though.
> 
> https://siliconangle.com/blog/2017/03/09/microsoft-paves-way-arm-based-serve
> r-chips-data-center/

How about 
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/qualcomm-reportedly-giving-server-chips-192000312.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-07/qualcomm-is-said-to-plan-exit-from-server-chips-amid-cost-cuts

> First, the company said it’s collaborating with Cavium Inc. to run
> Microsoft Azure cloud workloads on Cavium’s ARM-based server processors.
> The announcements suggests Microsoft is making a significant shift
> towards ARM processors

Eh, no. It indicates a hedge to make Intel either drop prices or provide some 
other kind of advantage.

[cut all the rest about ARM]

And even if it weren't the case, we're talking about little-endian ARM. So it 
doesn't support your argument.

> Throughput is a distinct mainframe characteristic, as it supports large
> numbers of simultaneous transactions and massive I/O without slowing
> down. An x86/ARM server loses efficiency at >20% total load, and will
> slow down when any single component is overloaded; for example when its
> CPU is running at 100%, or memory is exhausted, or the hard disk
> thrashes. This doesn’t happen on a mainframe, which maintains peak
> performance up to 90% load.

I'm not saying mainframes have no use. They clearly have uses and are still 
used. 

But my argument was also about cloud, where mainframes aren't usually used. 
That's why I am saying Cloud has 99.9% little-endian.

Finally, Qt isn't used in mainframes. So mainframes are not an argument for 
this discussion.

> >> Even HP switched to selling ARM based servers in 2014.
> > 
> > Where by "switched", you mean "added to the sale roster but still sells
> > less than 0.1%".
> 
> No I mean as in added new ARM based products and deprecated x86 based to
> sales staff or so I've heard.

You've heard wrong.

-- 
Thiago Macieira - thiago.macieira (AT) intel.com
  Software Architect - Intel Open Source Technology Center