At the time, HP said the Redstone system would be released to a few big customers this year , and it seemed likely that the first commercially available Project Moonshot system would be Calxeda-based.

It now appears that Redstone may be a testing vehicle only, however. Gemini provides HP with a single server platform that can use multiple processor types, while the Redstone system supports only the Calxeda chips.

"With Gemini, we designed a server and a server infrastructure that will be relevant for many years," Santeler said.

The first Gemini servers are being tested by customers in HP's labs and will go on sale later this year, he said. In the meantime, HP said it's running its Project Moonshot on a Gemini system. One Gemini server handles 300 concurrent sessions in a 12- to 14-watt power envelope, while a Xeon system doing the same work would consume 150 watts, according to Santeler.

Gemini gets its power savings in part through the low-power chips. Centerton consumes 6 watts of power, compared to between 17 and 45 watts for a Xeon chip, said Jason Waxman, general manager of Intel's cloud infrastructure group.