Next Generation Arm Server: Ampere’s Altra 80-core N1 SoC for Hyperscalers against Rome and Xeon

Several years ago, at a local event detailing a new Arm microarchitecture core, I recall a conversation I had with a number of executives at the time: the goal was to get Arm into 25% of servers by 2020. A lofty goal, which hasn’t quite been reached, however after the initial run of Arm-based server designs the market is starting to hit its stride with Arm’s N1 core for data-centers getting its first outings. Out of those announcing an N1-based SoC, Ampere is leading the pack with a new 80-core design aimed at cloud providers and hyperscalers. The new Altra family of products is aiming to offer competitive performance, performance per watt, and scalability up to 210 W and tons of IO, for any enterprise positioning.