- AMD rallies industry partners and extends leadership
in enabling interoperable platform solutions that promote seamless
integration between hardware and software -
Sunnyvale, Calif. -- March 26, 2007 --Working to
free the industry from the constraints of proprietary architectures
and making it easier than ever for customers to manage today's
increasingly diverse IT environments, AMD today announced new
interoperability testing tools, codenamed "SIMFIRE," to help speed
the adoption of the recently announced Desktop and mobile
Architecture for System Hardware ("DASH") specification. Addressing
the need to shorten the time between the introduction of a new
standard and the availability of interoperable solutions for end
users, the new tools from AMD are immediately available to vendors
to help accelerate interoperable solutions for DASH ─ web-services
based desktop and mobile client management standards announced last
week by the Distributed Management Task Force, Inc. ("DMTF").
"AMD recognizes that management interoperability is a core concern
for end users, and we share our ecosystem partners' belief that
this is best addressed through open standards like DASH," said Ben
Williams, vice president, Commercial Strategy and Solutions.
"Management interoperability directly addresses the costs and
complexity of IT management by providing a common way for systems
to access and exchange management information across the entire IT
infrastructure. This increases flexibility and choice for our
customers, while helping them lower overall total cost of ownership
and more effectively respond to business needs."
By enabling vendors to test their management applications and
system implementations for DASH standards, the SIMFIRE tools, which
will help facilitate the availability of interoperable desktop and
notebook computers from multiple vendors, are designed to allow
existing IT infrastructures to seamlessly and predictably manage
their hardware assets.
This effort expands AMD's strategy to leverage an open
standards-based approach to implementing security, virtualization
and manageability features in successive generations of AMD64
technology. An active member of the DMTF and a major contributor to
the DASH specification, AMD is working to provide open and
extensible software tools to partners by enabling a framework for
enhanced IT platform management and security. The SIMFIRE tools are
based on an open test framework, called Open Test Manager, which is
part of the Open Web Services for Management ("WS-Management")
project, to which AMD has already contributed numerous test cases,
utilities and enhancements.
"Microsoft has been a strong supporter of the DMTF and applauds the
efforts by companies such as AMD that take a leading role in the
development of management standards such as DASH and WS-Man," said
Larry Orecklin, general manager of System Center Marketing at
Microsoft Corp. "Moreover, AMD's additional contribution of testing
and interoperability tools as well as its work to make WS-Man part
of its server reference platform helps all vendors bring
standards-based solutions to market more quickly, which benefits
our customers."
At the Microsoft Management Summit ("MMS") 2007, held this week in
San Diego, Calif., in the AMD booth # 513, AMD and partners are
showcasing a number of solutions that demonstrate DASH
manageability on AMD platforms as well as the SIMFIRE testing
tools.
Through a system jointly developed by AMD, Microsoft, Avocent, Tyan
and Renesas, AMD is demonstrating server management via
WS-Management, utilizing an Open Platform Management Architecture
("OPMA") management sub-system and System Center Operations Manager
2007.
OPMA, an AMD-led standard, specifies a common system interface
between a server platform and management subsystem. Also in the AMD
booth, automated IT services management company Embotics is
demonstrating how their autonomics software running in a
virtualized environment on AMD64 technology-based systems enhances
system security by helping to make systems management more
tamper-resistant.
Also at MMS, Broadcom is demonstrating an AMD64 technology-based
Dell OptiPlex 740 desktop managed through DASH.
"Both Broadcom and AMD have contributed extensively to the
development of the DMTF DASH specification, which both companies
agree is key to delivering interoperable management to our IT
customers, helping enable flexibility while lowering TCO," said
Greg Young, vice president and general manager of Broadcom's
High-Speed Controller line of business. "Broadcom is also pleased
with AMD's significant contribution to the industry in developing
the SIMFIRE tools for DASH. These testing tools will allow us to
deliver high quality DASH solutions to market more quickly."
AMD is also demonstrating DASH firmware from Avocent, the IT
operations and infrastructure management solutions provider.
"Industry-standard compliance enables our customers to build
interoperable systems management solutions, which is key to our
drive for scalable, standardized systems in the data center," said
Dave Perry, executive vice president, Avocent Corp. "Customers will
realize increased efficiencies and reduced costs as a result of
using Avocent's DASH and WS-Management firmware on the
industry-leading AMD platform."
About AMD
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is a leading global provider of
innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and
consumer electronics markets. AMD is dedicated to driving open
innovation, choice and industry growth by delivering superior
customer-centric solutions that empower consumers and businesses
worldwide. For more information, visit www.amd.com.