32: ARM-ing Ourselves with Google Axion, Part 2

In part two of ARM-ing ourselves with Google Axion, Dave is joined by Max Charas, a senior staff engineer at Spotify who’s been leading much of the migration work on our Google Axion journey, for a deep dive into the validation and technical side of our move to Google’s new ARM-based processors.

Dave and Max unpack what went smoothly, what got bumpy, and what you only discover when you try to run thousands of services on brand-new silicon. Expect the usual nerdiness — performance gains, per-core scaling, bin-packing puzzles — as well as look at the less glamorous bits like discount models, capacity planning, and the logistical reality of working with real hardware. Because as it turns out, the hardest parts weren’t always technical. It was the massive coordination effort behind them that became a logistical puzzle on a global scale.

This episode is a practical look at how a large-scale system evolves when its foundation shifts — and how much just works when you’ve built solid abstractions.

Learn more about Google Axion Processors: 

• Leading processors custom-built for cloud workloads

• Introducing Google Axion Processors, our new Arm-based CPUs

• C4A VMs now GA: Our first custom Arm-based Axion CPU

• Axion in action: Unlock price-performance and efficiency with Google Axion VMs

• The Impact of Google Cloud’s Arm-Based Axion Chip: Explained

• Benchmarks Of Google's Axion Arm-based CPU: Competitive Performance & Compelling Value

Read what else we’re nerding out about on the Spotify Engineering Blog: engineering.atspotify.com

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