Ibase has launched the first network appliance based on AMD’s Epyc Embedded 3000 SoC. The 1U rackmount “FWA8800” appliance features 16 or 32 GbE ports and is built on a new “MBN806” ATX board.



We don’t regularly cover high-end, rackmount network appliances, but we thought this one might be of interest: As promised in February when AMD announced the Xeon-like Epyc Embedded 3000 SoC along with its Ryzen Embedded V1000, Ibase has released the first network appliance based on the Epyc chip. The 1U rackmount FWA8800 network appliance features 2x or 4x NIC slots for up to 16x or 32 GbE ports.







FWA8800 (left) and MBN806

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The FWA8800 is built around a separately available Ibase MBN806 ATX board equipped with an octa-core Epyc Embedded 3201 clocked to 1.5GHz (3.1GHz max. boost). No OS details were mentioned, but the original benchmarks for the Epyc Embedded 3000 were run on Ubuntu Linux and Windows 10.

“The FWA8800 is optimized for throughput performance and high-density deployments in applications such as network security, VPN/SDN/NFV/SD-WAN, and data management and analytics,” stated Jason Ko, senior product manager at Ibase.







Epyc Embedded 3000 models, including 3201 model used on the FWA8800 and MBN806

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The edge server focused, x86 compatible Epyc Embedded 3000 offers 4x to 16x cores available in single or multi-threading models with TDPs ranging from 30W to 100W. The mid-range Epyc Embedded 3201 found on the MBN806 board and FWA8800 appliance is single threaded but offers the lowest available TDP at 30W. The SoC has a 16MB L3 cache.



MBN806 ATX board

Driving the FWA8800 appliance is the first motherboard we’ve seen running the Epyc Embedded 3000. The 306 x 280mm ATX form-factor MBN806 board is equipped with 4x DIMM slots for up to 64GB UDIMM DDR4-2667 RAM or up to 128GB RDIMM DDR4. (The server-oriented RDIMM, or Registered DMMM, can offer two to three times the capacity of standard UDIMM RAM, but typically requires a throttling back to slower 1066MHz memory operation.)







MBN806 angle views

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The MBN806 has a single Intel I210-AT GbE controller, with the number of NIC slots depending on the SKU. The default is dual NIC slots. There are also dual SATA slots, as well as a rear expansion PCIe x8 slot and an M.2 M-key (PCIe x4 + SATA) interface.

Although the Epyc Embedded 3000 is headless, you can select an optional IPMI 2.0 module that supports VGA output. Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) is a Board Management Controller (BMC) technology typically found on server-class products such as Xeon-based COM Express Type 7 modules.

The MBN806 is equipped with an “IDN806” module that provides 2x USB 2.0 ports, an RJ45 console port, GPIO based factory default button, 3x LEDs, and an MGMT interface shared with the IPMI NC-SI port. The board supports 0 to 60°C temperatures.

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FWA8800 network appliance

The 1U rackmount, 500 x 328 x 44mm FWA8800 network appliance offers all the features of the MBN806 motherboard, including the dual NIC modules with up to 16 GbE ports and the single WAN console port. The press release, but not the product page, mentions an option to double this to 4x NIC slots for 32 GbE ports.







FWA8800 front view

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FWA8800 rear views showing single (left) and redundant power supplies

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The dual SATA ports can optionally be deployed with dual hot-swappable 2.5-inch SATA bays or a single 3.5-inch bay. The IPMI 2.0 module with the VGA port continues to be optional. Other options include a TPM 2.0 security chip.The FWA8800 is equipped with a 250W ATX power supply, which can be swapped out for a 300W 1+1 redundant supply (see above image at right). The system has a 0 to 40°C range.



Further information

The FWA8800 network appliance and MBN806 ATX board appear to be available now, with pricing undisclosed. More information may be found in Ibase’s FWA8800 announcement and on its FWA8800 and MBN806 product pages.