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ARM systems are much more heterogeneous than those based on the i386/amd64-based PC architec- ture, so the support situation can be much more complicated.
The ARM architecture is used mainly in so-called “system-on-chip” (SoC) designs. These SoCs are designed by many different companies, often with vastly varying hardware components even for the very basic functionality required to bring the system up. Older versions of the ARM architecture have seen massive differences from one SoC to the next, but ARMv8 (arm64) is much more standardised and so is easier for the Linux kernel and other software to support.
Server versions of ARMv8 hardware are typically configured using the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) and Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) standards. These two pro- vide common, device-independent ways to boot and configure computer hardware. They are also common in the x86 PC world.