POWER8 Workstation Launches On Crowdfunding: $4k For Motherboard, $18k For System

[phoronix]

Phoronix: POWER8 Workstation Launches On Crowdfunding: $4k For Motherboard, $18k For System

The Talos Secure Workstation that we previously have covered on Phoronix has now launched on crowd-funding where they hope to raise close to four million dollars to make this POWER8 system that's free down to the firmware a reality...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Talos-Crowdsupply

[stevenc]

I'd like it this succeed and I'd really love to get one of those machines, but they're just slightly over my budget by about $18k.

[Cape]

Well, that's not too too much for a 12 core, 256GB server ... But the marketing is completely wrong IMO.
Crowd fundingr doesn't work with high end "industrial" products where people only care about not getting fired for choosing the wrong supplier .
You need to buy some sponsored content on specific publications that target that precise segment and push on the quality and security of the investment. Or maybe call a possible buyer who just got his system hacked and tell him it wouldn't happen with your solution...
And come up with attractive marketing terms that are completely useless but inspire safety.

Long story short: "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM"

[starshipeleven]

I'd like it this succeed and I'd really love to get one of those machines, but they're just slightly over my budget by about $18k.

If your budget is 0$ you can't afford a new PC anyway, no big loss.

[starshipeleven]

But the marketing is completely wrong IMO.

They can't target companies because they aren't a big enough company to inspire confidence.

Also, most big companies don't usually give a fuck about true security, they need a sticker they can use to deflect any responsibility to someone else, so current x86 systems are 100% fine.

That said, they are doing this right. Target is small companies or rich people or very very paranoid people.

[M@GOid]

The say is a blob-free system, but the moment you put a VGA card there this claim is over.

And I remember Bridgman saying that when the blobs were in the chips, nobody care, but when they moved it to the drivers, everybody flip out.

So, in the end, there no such thing as a blob-free system. There are systems were you can access the blobs and systems were you cannot access the blobs.

[FLHerne]

Long story short: "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM"

Of course, this is the only IBM-processor workstation you can buy. People who don't want to be fired will flock to it!

[starshipeleven]

The say is a blob-free system, but the moment you put a VGA card there this claim is over.

True also for most other peripherals, like wifi, bluetooth, TV cards, RAID cards... Not sure what your point is.
These guys make a board that is by itself a blob-free system (it has an iGPU) and market it as such.

And I remember Bridgman saying that when the blobs were in the chips, nobody care, but when they moved it to the drivers, everybody flip out.

"everybody" here means a few weirdos that didn't understand the concept of closed source hardware.

So, in the end, there no such thing as a blob-free system.

Depends from your system, if you don't add peripherals with
There are systems were you can access the blobs and systems were you cannot access the blobs.[/QUOTE]And systems where you have blobs only in secondary peripherals you might not install and not MANDATORY hardware-backdoor-like firmwares running on the CPU with ring 0 priority.

Really, most firmwares run in their respective devices and don't have TOTAL control over the system like all the bullshit Intel and AMD place in x86 PCs because DRM requirements.

This system still offers freedom from that even if you must install a GPU or something else.

[Michael_S]

Well, that's not too too much for a 12 core, 256GB server ... But the marketing is completely wrong IMO.

I don't think there is any "right" marketing for this. I really hope they succeed, I want them to succeed.

But the average home user can't budget this much money, even a tech enthusiast. Even among those that could, the number that have the money and a use for something like this is small. Everyone I know with a really expensive home workstation spent the money to build a PC gaming rig.

Businesses aren't going to go for this. If you buy an $18,000 server from Dell or HP or Lenovo you know it's going to work and if any of the hardware fails in the first year you'll get a replacement rapidly. And the chances that Dell, HP, or Lenovo will be out of business when you need new parts is basically zero. This is a tiny project, it doesn't make sense to build a business around it unless your specific processing load is highly optimized for Power8.

[Alejandro Nova]

I only hope someone at IBM is watching this. A commemorative POWER System/8 or whatever, to commemorate the PC, would be great, and if IBM can help Talos with this, well, it would be a great comeback to the workstation business.