Gigabyte Offers MA10-ST0 with Top-end Atom C3000 SoC
Gigabyte announced its latest motherboard based on Intel's 'Denverton' architecture. Intel’s top Denverton SoC model is listed running at 16 cores, 1MB of L2 per core, 2.0 GHz base frequency.
This motherboard is the first in the product series and adopts the next generation Atom Processor C3000 Product Family - the C3958 - and addresses the cold-storage and network-edge needs of efficiency-conscious users .
The major development in this platform is around the core count, performance/power leadership and flexible, highly-integrated I/O. These enable performance improvements of up to 2.5x generation-on-generation which support light, low-cost storage and scale-out applications.
GIGABYTE's new Atom(R)-based motherboard takes advantage of the performance efficiency of the new Denverton architecture, which allows for flexible integrated connectivity at low power. This allows for a range of storage and network-edge applications, due to:
Increased I/O Flexibility
Intel's new generation Atom platform is a single-chip SoC that offers up to 16 cores at low power, providing some of the highest power density (performance/watt) across Intel's Enterprise line up, this platform is ideal for lightweight, storage-heavy applications.
Increased Core Count
GIGABYTE's Atom(R)-based offering provides the most flexible, extensive I/O options in a compact, low power design. The 20x HSIO lanes from the CPU provide support for up to 16x HDDs or 8x HDDs with one PCIe x8 slot, controlled by an automatic switch. This is in addition to dual USB 2.0 ports, and 2x both 10G SFP+ and 1G LAN ports.
GIGABYTE's expert design team has developed the first SKU incorporating both the performance efficiency of the new platform and the unique design features that GIGABYTE is recognized for.
"GIGABYTE once again brings a new Intel architecture to the market - this time opening up a new paradigm in entry level platforms", said Etay Lee, GM, GIGABYTE. "We look forward to working with our channel partners to address the efficient and cost-sensitive applications that Denverton supports".
GIGABYTE currently offers this motherboard, built around the top-end SKU of the Intel Atom C3000 series.
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Industrial, underwater or extreme environement PC, inboard workstation etc etc etc...
PC are not only in static server

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Industrial, underwater or extreme environement PC, inboard workstation etc etc etc...
PC are not only in static server

Good point, I wasn't thinking about portable servers or extreme environments. However for mobile purposes, I'd say there are better alternatives. You're still going to have issues managing 8-16 drives (let alone powering them) and with something that could be jostled around, the redundancy issue becomes even more critical. For mobile purposes, I'd rather buy an ARM server. They're lower in power and the lack of I/O isn't much of an issue.
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A major and unique feature of the Gigabyte MA10-ST0 is the 32GB of eMMC flash memory. For those building, for example, a FreeNAS ZFS appliance, a Linux storage server with an embedded OS, or a hypervisor based hybrid NFV and storage converged platform the embedded eMMC allows you to utilize the onboard storage for embedded OSes. And you have 8 PCIe-3 lanes left for a hostbus/raid adapter.
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For the sake of data recovery, I would pay extra to not use that for my OS. Unless you're doing software RAID (or not using RAID at all) and know exactly how all your drives are configured, you are completely screwed if something goes wrong with the board or the integrated storage. Keep in mind - the main advantage to this motherboard is its storage capabilities, in conjunction with the fiber optic networking. Such a platform for the sake of mass storage implies that whatever you're storing on it is important, where you need to be able to recover your data.
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I'm a little confused who this is marketed for.
This has a lot of storage capacity for home users or small offices, but is a bit underwhelming for big offices and mainframes. Small-scale implementations would be better off buying a pre-made NAS or just building an array of drives in their current workstation. Large-scale implementations would resort to something less barebones.
The overkill power connectors are something only home users would buy into (you could easily get by with a single 20-pin ATX connector and a 4-pin CPU connector) but SFP networking isn't something home users are bound to use. Having all your drives in your workstation would be a cheaper way to get all that performance, while taking up less space in your home.
This board has no redundancy or a quick/easy way to access the drives "externally". In the event this board dies, this doesn't have the dependability and ease of maintenance for anything large-scale. Meanwhile, buying many of these wouldn't be cost-effective for anything small-scale.
This is clearly designed with small form factors in mind, but at the same time you're expected to use up to 16 drives. I'm not aware of any ITX cases that can fit 16 drives - I have one of the largest ITX cases available and you can fit up to 6x 2.5" SATA drives in that.
This seems like a very nice platform on paper, I just don't understand who this would appeal to. I would rather buy a cheap(er) micro ATX board, get my own SFP PCIe, and a discrete RAID controller.