When ARM announced the ARMv8 64-bit instruction set last week, and Bloomberg reported that HP would sell ARM-based servers soon, we thought the two revelations had something to do with one another. That's not entirely true. Today, Hewlett-Packard confirmed that it's building racks of ARM chips, but they're not 64-bit at all, but rather a new 32-bit quad-core processor from Calxeda called the EnergyCore. That silicon uses just 1.5 watts per processor, and in a quad-core SoC configuration with 4GB of RAM, Calxeda claims it can provide a server node (complete with a solid state drive) that uses just five watts when active and half a watt when idle.

HP's calling the new ARM initiative "Project Moonshot" and will be rolling out the Calexda-designed silicon in a server called Redstone, which packs 288 of the EnergyCore chips in total — four to a board, eighteen boards to a box, and four boxes into a 4U server rack. We can't say how they stack up with existing computers, but Calxeda sure is bullish, stating that a single rack of the ARM chips will deliver the power of 700 traditional servers. Find all the high-performance details you crave at our links below.