SeaMicro shakes up server arena
Newborn vendor lays down gauntlet to Dell, HP, IBM and Sun
Channel twist: SeaMicro is looking to shake up the server arena
Start-up vendor SeaMicro has slammed what it sees as a lack of innovation in the server market as it launches into the UK channel.
Backed by $25m (£17.3m) in venture capital - and a $9.3m US government grant - the firm has spent the past three years developing SM10000, a datacentre server containing 512 Intel Atom processors.
It claims the technology uses a quarter of the power and a quarter of the space of volume systems from the likes of Dell, HP and IBM.
Speaking to CRN ahead of SeaMicro’s official launch today, chief executive Andrew Feldman said he is seeking a handful of UK partners looking to take on “new and exciting” technology.
“I think this market has been aching for meaningful innovation for years,” he said. “It hasn’t had the start-ups to push the envelope.”
Feldman said SeaMicro is looking for Dell, HP or IBM partners who are fed up with living on slim margins, networking specialists or Sun resellers “aching for an innovative x86 product”.
The 60-strong firm will initially focus its resources on the US, the UK and Japan due to their high power consumption.
“We will win customers who choose based on technology rather than brand,” he said. “Organisations such as internet datacentres have to buy best-in-class or they are out of business.”
However, James Yates, business manager at distributor ServersPlus, was sceptical.
“I would be amazed if businesses were prepared to move across from tried and tested infrastructure by established tier-one vendors to a new, all-in-one solution,” he said.
"It will be interesting to see how it performs in real-life situations and whether their claims hold any truth as space and energy is a key factor in enterprise planning, however, I wouldn't hold my breath."
Kevin Matthews, UK and Ireland channel manager for HP’s Enterprise Storage, Servers and Networking, said: “HP has the broadest range of servers that can accommodate all types of workloads, but we welcome new players in the market.”