ARM processors could potentially coexist with x86 processors from Intel or Advanced Micro Devices in server environments, with the use case being similar to CPUs and graphics processors in some supercomputers today, chip maker Calxeda has said.

In hybrid server environments x86 processors could do the main processing, while off-loading specific tasks such as cloud processing to the more power-efficient ARM processors, said Karl Freund, vice president of marketing at Calxeda. Apache Hadoop, which enables data distribution for large data sets across servers, can help resolve some problems by abstracting processor platforms. Using an ARM processor alongside x86 chips would be similar to using Nvidia graphics processors alongside x86 CPUs, Freund said. Complex scientific and math calculations are usually transferred to Nvidia's graphics processors by x86 processors in some of the world's fastest supercomputers today.

Source: IT World