Portwell Announces New Neptune Alpha
OpenBMC Development Kit
New development kit designed with Type 6 COM Express Basic module and featuring support for
Facebook’s latest OpenBMC

Fremont, calif. —March 23, 2017—American Portwell Technology, Inc. (http://www.portwell.com) announces its new Neptune Alpha OpenBMC Development Kit, designed with Portwell’s Type 6 COM Express Basic module and carrier board in microATX form factor, featuring the 6th generation Intel^® Core™ processor family, DDR4 memory support (both ECC and non-ECC), Gen3 PCIe interface and 30 percent faster graphic performance than its predecessor.

“Our new Neptune Alpha OpenBMC Development Kit is built with the latest OpenBMC from Facebook^®,” says Robert Feng, American Portwell’s product marketing director. “This is an open software framework designed to build a complete Linux^® image for a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC). Portwell’s Neptune Alpha OpenBMC development platform has been reviewed and tested by Facebook, Inc. and ASPEED Technology, Inc., and incorporates ASPEED’s AST2500 Advanced PCIe graphics and remote management processor that completely supports these advanced BMC features.”

“By developing custom BMC from open source,” Feng continues, “means Portwell’s Neptune Alpha OpenBMC Development Kit enables customers to verify their custom-built BMC for speeding up time to market. And,” he adds, “because the development kit is designed with a COM Express module, it offers customers a flexible choice for future upgrades.” Other benefits of the Portwell Neptune Alpha OpenBMC Development Kit include the ability to load open source IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) code and support video debug mode. “Facebook validated OpenBMC on our development kit,” Feng confirms, “and it also features a reference board designed to allow customers to develop their own platform, including IPMI design.”

Driven by the mobile Intel QM170 chipset, the 9.6˝ x 9.6˝ (243.8 mm x 243.8 mm) kit supports dual channel memory up to 32GB DDR4; a watchdog timer programmable via the software from one second to 255 minutes; 3x SATA (6GB/s) and 1x M.2 storage interface; Intel Ethernet Controller I219 LM; 1x PCIe x16, 1x PCIe x4 and 2x PCIe x1; 4x USB 3.0 and 1x USB 2.0; 1x serial TX/RX port (supported from onboard EC) and 1x serial port for BMC; plus video support for HDMI, DP (DisplayPort), DVI and VGA.

Portwell’s Neptune Alpha OpenBMC Development Kit is the ideal choice for effectively implementing and maintaining a dynamic data center for applications in network server, network switch, network storage system and communication appliances.

The Number One Hardware Platform
According to American Portwell’s product marketing director, Robert Feng, what makes Portwell’s new Neptune Alpha OpenBMC Development Kit different is that most of the existing IPMIs are pre-built, created and offered by IPMI providers with high license fees and development NRE (non-recurring engineering) charges. “The new Neptune Alpha OpenBMC Development Kit,” Feng explains, “is the number one hardware platform designed and developed for supporting open source IPMI developments from OpenBMC. What’s more, we designed it with our inherently flexible and upgradeable COM Express module, a versatile embedded computing solution of separating the CPU-upgradable module from system specific I/O carrier board to further safeguard development investments and lowers total cost of ownership.”

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Product details: http://portwell.com/solutions/pdf/Portwell-Neptune-Alpha-OpenBMC-Development-Kit.pdf

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About American Portwell Technology
American Portwell Technology, Inc., is a world-leading innovator in the embedded and network computing markets and an Associate member of the Intel^® Internet of Things Solutions Alliance. American Portwell Technology designs, manufactures and markets a complete range of PICMG computer boards, embedded computer boards and systems, rackmount systems and network communication appliances for both OEMs and ODMs. American Portwell is an ISO 9001, ISO 13485, ISO 14001 and TL 9000 certified company. The company is located in Fremont, California. For more information about American Portwell’s extensive turnkey solutions and private-label branding service, visit us at http://www.portwell.com.

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