Achieve New Levels of Efficiency and Density for Emerging Scale-out Workloads
The micro server represents a new server architecture characterized by many lightweight server nodes bundled together in a shared chassis infrastructure. They’re designed specifically for:
- Density
- Lower power per node
- Reduced costs
- Increased operational efficiency
Micro servers are particularly well suited for lightweight scale-out of non-enterprise applications such as:
- Simple Front End Web Tier
- Low End Dedicated Hosting
- Basic Content Delivery Node
Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v2 product family-based micro servers offer improved performance per watt—up to 39% more energy efficiency versus the previous generation at the node level.1,2 For some less demanding scale-out applications, microarchitecture based on the Intel® Atom™ processor, code name Centerton (launching in the second half of 2012), could be an option. Data center-class capabilities, such as x86 compatibility, 64-bit architecture, ECC memory, virtualization support, integrated security, and scalability, will help you maximize node density, improve I/O performance, and minimize frustrations—all reasons why a micro server based on the Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v2 product family is a simple and affordable solution for your data center.
Server System Infrastructure (SSI) Forum is a leading server industry group that drives server form factor standards including the Micro Module Server Specification. The Micro Module Server Specification provides a server board form factor and system interfaces specifically designed for the micro server segment. This standard will enable innovative system architectures to reduce product costs and increase product and data center efficiencies.
Micro Servers Provide Up To 3.6x Greater Performance Per Rack
A rack populated with micro servers based on the Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v2 product family delivers up to 3.6x greater performance compared to a rack populated with 1U servers based on the Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 product family.3
Baseline configuration: Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1220L
- Maximum number of nodes, 42U rack: 41 1U server + 1x 1U 48 port GbE Ethernet switch
- Performance per node/rack: Best published SPECint*_rate_base2006 score of 69 as of April 26, 2012. http://www.spec.org/cpu2006/results/res2012q1/cpu2006-20111219-19191.html. 41 servers = 2829
- Power per node: Max power consumption of one Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1220L on a Intel® C206 CRB using SPECpower_ssj2008, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology enabled, Intel® Turbo Boost Technology enabled, 8 GB memory (2x 4 GB DDR3-1333 UDIMM), 64G 3 Gb/s SATA SSD , Microsoft Windows* 2008 R2 SP1. Java SE Runtime Environment* (build 1.6.0_30-b12), Java HotSpot* 64-Bit Server VM (build 20.5-b03, mixed mode). Source: Intel internal testing as of Mar 2012. Score: (ssj_ops@100%: 147,345, Power@100%: 50.1W, Active idle power: 25.4)
- Power per rack: 2.3kW total. 1U switch = 240W, 41 1U server nodes = 2054W
Micro server configuration: Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1220L v2
- Maximum number of nodes: SSI rack = 10 3U chassis with 119 nodes + 3x 1U 48 port GbE switches
- Performance per node/rack: Intel® C206 Qual Platform with one Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1220L v2 (3M cache, 2.30 GHz, L1 stepping), Intel SpeedStep® Technology enabled, Intel® Turbo Boost Technology enabled, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology enabled, 16 GB memory (2x 8 GB DDR3-1600 ECC UDIMM), 160 GB SATA 7200RPM HDD, Red Hat* Enterprise Linux Server 6.2 with kernel: 2.6.32-220.el6.x86_64. Compiler version: 12.1.0.225 of Intel® C++ Studio XE and Intel® Fortran. Source: Intel internal testing as of Feb 2012. Score: SPECint_rate_base2006 of 85.7, 119 nodes = 10198.3
- Power per node: Based on Intel estimates of 36W per node with one Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1220L v2 node, Intel SpeedStep® Technology enabled, Intel® Turbo Boost Technology enabled, 8 GB memory (2x 4 GB DDR3-1600 UDIMM), 1x SSD, assuming shared cooling resources and shared power supplies
- Power per rack: 5.0kW total. 3x 1U switches at 240W per switch = 720W, 119 nodes at 36W estimated per node = 4284W








