The crowdfunding campaign for "the world's first ATX-compatible,
workstation-class mainboard for the IBM POWER8 processor." has just started:
https://www.crowdsupply.com/raptor-computing-systems/talos-secure-workstation
The company describes their new project as follows:
" Talos™ is the world's first ATX-compatible, workstation-class mainboard
for the new, free-software friendly IBM POWER8 processor and architecture.
Designed for security-conscious users requiring high performance, the
flexible and extensible Talos™ mainboard includes two Coherent Accelerator
Processor Interface (CAPI) capable slots; utilizes libre-toolchain FPGAs for
system control and routing; provides a plethora of PCI Express slots; and
includes a GPIO header for custom peripherals. Talos™ schematics[1] and
libre (fully open and auditable) firmware also are included.
Why POWER?
POWER is the only open, owner-controllable architecture that is competitive
in performance. No other architecture comes close to POWER's unique
advantages.
See a direct comparison of POWER8 with libre and non-libre systems.
Why Talos™?
Security-minded individuals and corporations can own a Talos™ Secure
Workstation mainboard, complete with an entry-level 8-core 130W POWER8 CPU,
heatsink / fan assembly, and ATX I/O shield, for around $5,300 USD. Because
Talos™ is specifically designed for workstation use, you don't need to have
a small server under your desk to realize the advantages of POWER8!"
I'm happy about this campaign because having more hardware options to choose
from can never be a bad thing. In particular, that does not mean that other
efforts (such as the EOMA68 devices) are any less worthy...
