ARM chips run smoothly in mobile devices, but when it comes to data centers, they seem to be under a spell—despite a decade of calls to “replace x86”, very few enterprises dare to adopt them on a large scale.
Let’s take a look at the hurdles ARM faces in establishing a foothold in data centers.
Switching to ARM = A Major Overhaul for Data Centers
Costs That Hurt
Currently, over 90% of data centers are dominated by x86—Intel Xeon and AMD EPYC processors reign supreme. This means that everything from server hardware to operating systems, and even the coding habits of employees, is tailored to the “temperament” of x86.
Moving a core business system to ARM involves several daunting tasks:
▶ The server motherboard must be replaced, as the interfaces do not match at all.
▶ Database software needs to be recompiled, which took three engineers five sleepless nights to accomplish.
▶ Even veteran operations staff complain that it feels like learning a new skill, with training taking a full two weeks.
Even more disheartening is the shattered “energy-saving myth”. Switching from 1kW x86 to ARM saves at most $200 in electricity costs per year, but the adaptation costs are enough to cover ten years of electricity bills. “This isn’t saving money; it’s clearly throwing money away for suffering.”
Thinking of Buying ARM Servers?
Either there are no options, or they don’t work well
Even if you grit your teeth and want to give it a try, you’ll find that the hardware options are painfully limited.
▶ The NVIDIA Grace server has a maximum of 144 cores, and you have to choose between: either “small capacity + high bandwidth” or “large capacity + low bandwidth”. Want the best of both worlds? Forget it.
▶ The well-reviewed AmpereOne, when asked about availability from Dell and Lenovo sales, either has “no stock” or they advise you that “x86 is more stable”.
▶ Finally finding something to buy, and you want to add a special interface? The vendor simply shakes their head and says, “We can’t do that.”
Performance is another major issue. Running financial reports on ARM takes 13 minutes for the same task that x86 completes in 8 minutes. “The specs look impressive, but when it comes to real work, it falls short.”
Software Support Issues
Even the Best Servers Are “Junk” Without Software
With the hardware in place, software becomes the “roadblock”.
If you want to install a commonly used virtualization platform, the official website states “not supported on ARM”; software vendors are even more direct: “There are too few customers using ARM, so we don’t see the need to develop a compatible version for you.”
This creates a vicious cycle: enterprises hesitate to buy due to the lack of software, and with fewer buyers, software vendors are even less inclined to develop.
There are also licensing pitfalls. For example, Microsoft Windows Server charges based on the number of cores for the ARM version, but ARM servers have more cores and weaker performance—spending the same amount of money, x86 runs fast, while ARM ends up being “more expensive and slower”.
Ultimately, the issue with ARM in data centers isn’t about a specific technology failing, but rather the entire ecosystem not keeping pace. Only when it can be as easily purchased and used as x86, with software vendors chasing after compatibility, will it truly be mature.
But for now, for most enterprises, following the trend to switch to ARM is less practical than making the most of x86—after all, ensuring stable business operations is a hundred times more important than “chasing trends”.
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