Rich Miller: SeaMicro-More Than Just Low-Power Servers

Stealthy startup SeaMicro isn’t saying much about its technology, which aims to “revolutionize the data center landscape” by slashing the power used in IT operations. The company recently got a $9.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to further its development of technology to make data centers more energy efficient.

The initial buzz around SeaMicro has focused on its plans to build powerful multi-core servers using Intel’s low-power Atom chips, whose energy efficiency has made them the processor of choice for many mobile phones and laptops. The DOE grant mentions its plans to use hundreds of low-power processors in a design that could “save 75% of the computing energy over conventional servers.”

“The integrated hardware and software design project ensures that the energy consumed within the server is efficiently used regardless of whether the CPUs are hard at work or in ’sleep’ mode,” the DOE notes in its description of the project.

‘Complex Datacenter Appliance’
But SeaMicro’s secret sauce extends beyond the server. The company remains in stealth mode, but says in job postings that it is building a “complex datacenter appliance.” A review of the company’s patent filings reveal plans for a interconnection fabric that will knit together servers, storage and peripherals using hardware-based virtualization.

more of the Data Center Knowledge article from Rich Miller

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.