AMD Launches Financial-Services Specific Open Compute Server Platform Specification
At the Open Compute Summit, AMD has launched an Open Compute Project server platform specification, codenamed Roadrunner, designed to meet the general purpose compute, cloud infrastructure, high-performance compute and storage needs of the financial services industry.
Roadrunner, in line with the Open Compute Project's mission of driving innovation and greater energy efficiency in infrastructure technology, integrates the features that the financial services industry demands into a dense platform, stripping out unnecessary components and optimizing the most important ones, according to AMD.
[For more on the Open Compute Project and what it means to Wall Street, read: Open Compute Project Aims to Bring Open Source Standards to Data Center Technology.]
Incorporating feedback from financial customers and using the AMD Opteron 6000 Series processors, the Roadrunner motherboard specification is intended to offer the highest memory capacity and bandwidth operation in the AMD line of products. Roadrunner is a motherboard that is also extremely energy-efficient and slashes total cost of ownership (TCO), according to AMD.
"Like the success and dynamics of open source software, open source hardware enables open access to a broad range of engineering and technology talent, and a new rate of innovation and standards creation," says George Brady, Executive Vice President, Technology Infrastructure, Fidelity Investments. "We are very encouraged by the commitment to open standards and flexible solutions that we see in the Roadrunner specification."
Roadrunner is a single platform with two configurations: one for HPC and a second configuration that suits general purpose, cloud infrastructure and storage servers for a total of four applications. The specification currently includes the following features:
-- 16" x 16.5" motherboard;
-- Component population options depending on target usage;
-- Flexible form-factor support including 1U, 1.5U, 2U and 3U;
-- Open Machine Management, cost effective options depending on requirements;
-- Supports traditional rack and Open Rack infrastructures;
-- Support for the full portfolio of AMD Opteron 6000 Series processors with highest memory capacity and bandwidth operation.
"By working with the industry to move technology forward, rather than focusing on proprietary solutions, AMD has both strengthened and gained momentum through collaboration," says Lisa Su, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Global Business Units, AMD, in a press release. "AMD is once again leading the charge by driving the Open Compute initiative into new markets with our Roadrunner board specification, optimized for financial services. Moreover, the Roadrunner board is highly flexible and can be configured to support general purpose, cloud, high-performance compute, and storage processing workloads." Greg MacSweeney is editorial director of InformationWeek Financial Services, whose brands include Wall Street & Technology, Bank Systems & Technology, Advanced Trading, and Insurance & Technology. View Full Bio
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