• EATX chassis with 500W ATX power supply
• A single Talos™ II Lite EATX mainboard
• One 16-core IBM POWER9 Starter CPU
• 16 cores per package
• SMT4 capable
• POWER IOMMU
• 190W TDP
• DD2.1 stepping (see notices in red below)
• One 3U POWER9 heatsink / fan (HSF) assembly
• 8GB DDR4 ECC registered memory
• 2 front panel USB 2.0 ports
• 128GB internal NVMe storage
• Recovery DVD

The Talos™ II mainboard is the first modern (post-2013), owner-controllable, workstation- and enterprise-class mainboard. Built around the brand-new IBM POWER9 processor, and leveraging Linux and OpenPOWER™ technology, Talos™ II allows you to secure your data without sacrificing performance. Designed with a fully owner-controlled CPU domain, you can audit and modify any portion of the open source firmware on the Talos™ II mainboard, all the way down to the CPU microcode. This is an unprecedented level of access for any modern workstation- or enterprise-class machine, and one that is increasingly needed to assure safety and compliance with new regulations, such as the EU's GDPR.

An owner-controlled, CPU-based secure boot mode also is available at any time. When secure boot is properly configured, and if the mainboard is located in a physically secure environment (e.g., a datacenter or locked workstation case), you can be assured that only your pre-approved and pre-audited firmware, kernel, and user space components are executing on a Talos™ II system.

To get you started as quickly as possible, the Special Developer System comes pre-loaded with a Debian Buster ppc64el installation. Default login credentials are root/root and should be changed after receiving the machine. This default installation can be wiped and an OS of your choice installed if desired. Submissions to the Debian popularity contest are enabled by default in order to better determine packages that should receive maintainer attention; you can disable this by uninstalling the popularity-contest package. Submissions are anonymized, see https://popcon.debian.org/README for more information.

Specifications

• 1 POWER9-compatible CPU socket
• EATX form factor
• 8 DDR4 ECC registered RAM slots
• Individual 128GB DDR4 DIMM support
• Supports up to 512GB total main system memory
• 1 PCIe 4.0 x16 slot
• CAPI 2.0 capable
• 1 PCIe 4.0 x8 slot
• 2 Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet ports
• 4 USB 3.0 ports
• 2 external
• 2 on internal header
• 1 USB 2.0 port
• 1 external RS-232 port
• 1 internal RS-232 port header
• 1 ASpeed BMC with OpenBMC
• 1 VGA video port

Order today to receive your Special Developer System in 4-6 weeks!

Resources

• Mainboard Users Guide
• Firmware Source
• Hardware Compatibility List

NOTE: This is a special developer system package built around the POWER9 Starter CPU (stepping DD2.1). It does not support virtualization, and has slightly lower clocks than the full POWER9 CPU offerings available on this site. Additionally, it is not guaranteed to be fully protected against Spectre and Meltdown. It is being offered as a low cost, entry level system for use by software and hardware developers. Special Developer Systems are not refundable. Raptor Computing Systems, LLC and IBM expressly disclaim any liability resulting from defects in the Starter CPU(s), including those leading to data loss or breach. Purchase indicates understanding and acceptance of these terms and limitations.

NOTE: This machine may be upgraded by the end user to a full featured Talos™ II Lite system by simply purchasing a replacement POWER9 CPU (e.g. our 18 core CPU), then replacing the Starter CPU originally shipped with the system. All Sforza CPUs, up to the high end 24-core devices, are supported by the included mainboard. No firmware updates are required to upgrade.

NOTE: This special developer system is sold for use as a POWER9 development platform only. Purchaser is responsible for certification and compliance if required in the destination environment. Certified systems such as the TL2WK2 and TL2SV2 are also available for purchase.

NOTE: POWER HSF assemblies use a unique high-pressure locking mechanism to ensure proper CPU contact. The installed HSF assemblies will require a 5/32" hex driver, such as our TL2HD1, for attachment and removal.

NOTE: Product images shown are representative of the product being sold, but may vary slightly from the product as shipped due to continuous improvement and related changes.