The latest server processors pack hundreds of cores into a single package. For virtualisation and web serving the consolidation is dramatic. The friction is elsewhere: per-core software licences, cooling densities and the blast radius when one node fails.
Planning for density
Operators are redesigning racks around power and cooling before they are redesigning around compute. Liquid cooling is becoming standard for the top configurations. Licensing negotiations are becoming the longest part of procurement.
Key takeaways
- One socket replaces a rack of older servers
- Per-core licensing dominates total cost
- Liquid cooling is standard at the top end
This story is part of our ongoing coverage of hardware. We will update it as more details emerge.
