By K R Nambiar
A number of systems builders and manufacturers are taking Intel’s Atom processor beyond nettops and netbooks, and in the coming months a range of appliances, single-application servers and modular storage systems sporting Atom processors are expected to ship in the country.
“Though Atom processors are not targeted at high-end desktop work, they are an excellent choice when it comes to building smaller, nicher appliances,” said Satheesh Nair, CEO of Unified Stickman India. “We are presently working with another Bengaluru-based company to build an entry-level security appliance that will use an Atom. The product will be launched in the next quarter.”
Server motherboard and building block vendor SuperMicro has launched a server board that uses Atom processors. “This motherboard is targeted at entry-level servers and storage devices,” stated Sandeep Lodha, Vice President of Netweb Technologies, a server and storage vendor which is also the authorized distributor of SuperMicro. “We are launching a series of appliances such as load balancers, firewalls and routers, and most of these will use Atom processors.”
Intel premium partner Connoisseur Electronics is also working on developing devices that will use Atoms. “We are developing a number of products for specific segments such as automotive. The biggest advantage of the Atom processor is that it consumes very little power, and that it is based on the x86 architecture,” said Harish Kumar RP of Connoisseur. “We have also received approval for a kiosk appliance from the Indian Railways.”
New Delhi-based Spectra Technologies is another vendor building specialized firewalls and thin-client devices on Atom. “We are shortly launching our products,” informed Harbir Ghai, Spectra’s Managing Director.
Most of the new areas where Atom processors are being considered are those where earlier specialized RISC processors or embedded processors were being used. “We are saving on the cost of development since it’s easier to deploy software and the choice is wider in the x86 space,” said Lodha.
However, the use of Atom processors to build entry-level storage and server products has surprised a few. “You have to be careful about expectations from the Atom,” warned Harish Kumar. “It’s fine to build the appliance kind of product, but I do not think it’s ready for server computing.” Others feel that it’s more to do with the overall design of the solution. “It all depends on the type of solution you’re building,” Nair of Stickman argued. “Some specialized servers do not require much raw computing speed, especially when the core operating system is a flavor of Linux. We are shortly launching an SMB mail server on an Atom processor.”
“Appliances built on Atom—like a set-top box, digital signage or firewall—can be used for 24x7 operations,” observed Rajesh Gupta, director of Intel. “However, it is not recommended for high-end servers, though we may see an entry-level mail server appliance built on Atom.” |