Wikibon co-founder and CTO David Floyer appeared on the SiliconAngle NewsDesk show this morning to discuss the launch of Hewlett-Packard’s first Moonshot server, a power-efficient hyperscale box that is unique in the marketplace.

Floyer says that HP has a history of introducing new technologies to the data center: the company was the first major vendor to have adopted x86 chips back in the day, and it also takes the credit for popularizing the blade server. The hardware giant sent ripples through the industry once again with today’s announcement.

Moonshot runs on processors placed in what HP calls ‘cartridges’. These cartridges may contain Intel chips or competing products from the likes of ARM, which gives customers the freedom to customize their servers for their specific workloads.

Right now Moonshot only supports Intel’s Atom processors, but additional cartridges are expected to become available in the near future. Floyer notes that the decision to lead with Intel’s low-power processor is somewhat unusual, but adds that it does make sense: the x86 chip will save early adopters the trouble of rewriting their apps, making the platform more attractive for potential buyers.   Floyer also points out that the fact Moonshot runs on Atom rather than the high-end Intel processors that power HP’s traditional servers means that the overlap between the two is eliminated, at least until the former takes off.

Floyer says that Moonshot has the potential to replace today’s blade servers, but he estimates that they will co-exist for a good number of years before that happens. He goes on to say that HP will likely find it difficult to compete with the ODMs that currently dominate the hyperscale market, but this is only one of several items on the agenda.

Floyer believes that the main purpose of Moonshot is to block these ODMs from gaining a foothold in the traditional enterprise market. HP’s global support network and fleshed out services portfolio should accomplish this goal.