Gemini servers will be targeted at workloads that don't need the muscle of a traditional server CPU such as an Intel Xeon and that run more efficiently when spread out across a large number of less powerful cores, said Paul Santeler, general manager of HP's hyperscale business unit, at a press briefing.

Those workloads include serving up Web pages, big data analytics, running a distributed memory cache and server hosting environments where customers want dedicated rather than virtualized hardware, he said. For some of those workloads, a Gemini system will use as little as one-tenth the power and occupy one-tenth the space of a more traditional x86 server, according to HP.

The Gemini platform won't be limited to Atom processors, however. HP offered few specifics about the platform Tuesday but said it uses processor "cartridges" that slot in and can support different processor types depending on the workload.

Future Gemini systems will be offered with ARM-based processors in those cartridges, Santeler said. That could mean chips from Calxeda and Marvell, though HP isn't saying yet.

HP is developing the low-power servers under a project it calls Moonshot. It announced the first fruits of that project last year, the Redstone Server Development Platform, which used a chip from Calxeda.