[$] ARM, SBSA, UEFI, and ACPI
For some years now we have been promised that ARM-based servers were
going to start showing up in data centers. Opinions differ on whether
ARM processors can be successful in this market, but there tends to be
widespread agreement on a related point: the free-form, highly
differentiated nature of ARM-based systems would make them painful to
support in large, server-oriented environments, where users expect to be
able to treat servers like interchangeable parts. ARM Ltd. clearly
understands this problem; its recently announced
"Server Base System Architecture" (SBSA) is an attempt to improve the
situation. SBSA has been greeted with generally optimistic reviews, but
the requirements that are coming along for the ride may yet stir things up
in the development community.