AppliedMicro Contributes First AM-Based Microserver Specification to Open Compute Project

Related: Open Computing, AppliedMicro

Open Compute Summit - Applied Micro Circuits Corporation today announced that it has signed its contribution license with the Open Compute Project (OCP) Foundation, developing the first micro server board design specification based on the ARMv8 architecture. The design will leverage the AppliedMicro X-Gene platform, the industry's first ARM 64-bit Server on a Chip solution.

As the first ARMv8 contribution to the OCP Motherboard Working Group, the new specification contributed by AppliedMicro will be the foundation for purpose-built cloud and enterprise server deployments specifically focusing on increased density and field serviceability resulting in a lower total cost of ownership (TCO).

"The X-Gene platform is designed to deliver unprecedented low power, high performance and integration, with the goal of changing the way servers are designed for cloud and enterprise applications," said Dr. Paramesh Gopi, president and CEO of AppliedMicro. "This purpose-built server on a chip and open source software deliver the cost efficiency, power and performance needed to serve evolving data center workloads. And, with X-Gene silicon slated to sample to key customers this quarter, an ARM 64-bit server motherboard design has the potential to reach the data center by the end of this year."

The new micro server design was showcased by Frank Frankovsky, chairman of the Open Compute Foundation and vice president of hardware design and supply chain at Facebook, during his keynote today at the Open Compute Summit. It is one of the first designs released for the Open Compute Project common slot architecture specification -- a specification that can accommodate all SOC architecture types -- that was also announced at the Summit.

"As the first to deliver silicon based on the ARM 64-bit architecture, AppliedMicro gives consumers an opportunity to evaluate the benefits of this compelling processor architecture in server motherboard designs," Frankovsky said. "An alternative processor architecture such as ARM, coupled with open source software, has the potential to radically increase the amount of compute power we can get from the energy we consume and the money we spend."

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