InterWorx, developers of the advanced web hosting control panel, have announced that their clustering control panel has been modified to run on a pair of Raspberry Pi computers with full clustering capabilities. The two tiny $35 devices are currently being used to host pi.interworx.com, which contains simple instructions for replicating a working Raspberry Pi server cluster.
While a site running on a pair of clustered Pi’s is an achievement in itself, the most important outcome of this experiment is a proof-of-concept implementation of a fully functional web hosting control panel running on ARM architecture. InterWorx is well ahead of the curve in this, and perfectly placed to take advantage of the future growth of ARM-based servers in the data center.
ARM is currently more familiar as a designer of very low power chips for use in mobile and embedded devices. Apple, Samsung, and most major mobile device manufacturers license ARM designs for use in their processors. In recent months, there has been intense interest and development activity aimed at bringing the power-savings ARM chips allow to data centers. A large proportion of the expenditure by hosting companies and data center providers is for power — both for servers themselves and for keeping them cool. ARM-based servers could slash the costs associated with cooling and powering data centers.
“ARM-based servers are crucial if we’re going to reduce energy use in the data center,” said Paul Oehler, CTO of InterWorx, “Energy efficient servers are good for both the bottom line and the environment. We believe that in the future ARM chipsets in servers will be commonplace, and that’s why we’ll be bringing the world’s most advanced clustering control panel to ARM.”
Chip manufacturer Calxeda’s new ARM-based EnergyCards, each of which contains multiple ARM SOCs (System on a Chip), are being used in Boston Viridis servers and in real-world tests have been shown to hold their own against Intel-based Xeon servers for certain applications while using significantly less power.
The Raspberry Pi devices were originally conceived as an educational tool by a British group from the University of Cambridge’s Computer laboratory, and later developed by the non-profit Raspberry Pi Foundation. Its popularity on release was beyond all expectations, capturing the imaginations of tinkerers and makers everywhere.
About InterWorx:
InterWorx is an innovative web hosting control panel that’s scalable, reliable, high-performing, and secure. With industry-leading features such as multi-server clustering and powerful Web, CLI, and API based interfaces, it’s no wonder that InterWorx maintains one of the most passionate cult followings in the web hosting industry. For more information, or to request a free demo for yourself, visit http://www.interworx.com
