Low-power, high-performance Ampere® CPUs enable the highest-ever core counts in NextComputing rolling carry-on
NextComputing announced today the launch of its Nexus “Fly-Away Kit”, packed with multiple Ampere Altra servers for a total of 512 cores and a petabyte of storage. With multiple system configurations and a rolling operational hard case, the Nexus offers powerful professional computing in an unprecedented portable form factor.
The physical size is small, with the multiple 2U or 1U systems (nodes) densely packed into a 22″ x 14″ x 9″ IATA and TSA approved rolling carry-on that fits in overhead storage. The system offers Cloud Native, multi-node, high bandwidth for the heaviest edge AI and computing use cases. Ampere processors are architected for the cloud and are well-suited for virtualized, containerized workloads, making this a rolling carry-on micro data center for a variety of use cases where portable compute is essential.
Nexus with Ampere can leverage both NextComputing’s software integration services, and the wide array of applications that Ampere processors are already optimized for. Any software can be pre-installed and tested, giving customers a system that’s ready to go on day one. This makes the Nexus with Ampere ideal for rapid deployments such as Kubernetes clusters or edge computing solutions.
Potential configurations include:
- 512 Ampere Altra cores across 4x 1U nodes with 8 terabytes of memory
- 1 petabyte of fast NVMe storage
- 8x 25GbE SPF28 or 8x 10GbE
- Optional NVIDIA GPUs
- Cost-optimized base configuration is available
Some of the many applications include:
- Broadcasting
- Cybersecurity response
- Portable micro data center use cases
- Other edge computing solutions
“Ampere’s dense compute and power efficiency have enabled NextComputing to pack four times more compute into the carry-on form factor. With x86 we were tapped out, could go no further,” says Bob Labadini, CTO of NextComputing.
“When running in a data center, Ampere provides the most compute per rack while using the least power. But rack is just one unit of measure. NextComputing had the vision to see that for their size, weight and power envelope, Ampere also packs the most compute per liter, per kilogram, and per watt,” says Joe Speed, Head of Edge at Ampere.
