Heard in the Channel: Avnet’s RGS Opens Second OCP Innovation Lab

Jan. 28, 2014
Lab supports distributor’s commitment to open technology innovation; plus news from Future Electronics, Peerless Electronics, and TTI

Avnet Electronics Marketing’s Rorke Global Solutions (RGS) business unit launched its second Open Compute Project Innovation Lab. Produced in partnership with the University of Texas at San Antonio, the facility will showcase Open Compute Project (OCP) technology and offer space for users, developers, and partners to design, deliver, and integrate cost-effective, power-efficient compute, storage, and networking solutions. The UTSA facility is similar to RGS’ first such lab, located in Eden Prairie, Minn.

Announced in early 2013, RGS’ Open Compute Project Innovation program helps designers develop efficient server, storage, and data center hardware designs for scalable computing. Working with students at UTSA, the RGS OCP Innovation Lab will offer local and remote access to resources for developing and qualifying OCP-branded solutions, as well as interoperability with non-OCP products and solutions, according to RGS.

“RGS is committed to helping our customers create cost-effective, power-efficient compute, storage and networking solutions,” Scott MacDonald, vice president and general manager at RGS said in a statement announcing the new lab. “And we’re also passionate about contributing to the education of young developers who will pioneer next-generation technology in the not-so-distant future.”

The first Decathlete platform to become OCP certified was approved this January by UTSA as a result of contributions from Intel, Micron Technology, and RGS. Decathlete is a server motherboard specification contributed to the OCP community by Intel featuring support for dual Intel® Xeon™ processors.

“It has been proven through the years that open technology can bring about faster innovation,” UTSA Certification and Solution Laboratory Director Paul Rad said. “This partnership will not only train our students in real-world scenarios, but will also benefit Avnet’s customers through the research and testing of breakthrough technologies.”

In related news, RGS is offering a sneak peek at RGS Cold Storage powered by SageCloud at this week’s Open Compute Project Summit in San Jose, Calif. The first-of-its-kind cold storage solution for archival, back up, and big data, RGS Cold Storage is a cost-efficient way to store infrequently accessed data on disk. The on-premise solution is ideal for financial services, healthcare, media and entertainment, government and cloud services markets, according to Rorke Global Solutions, which develops solutions for customers that blend hardware, software, and services.

And in other industry news:

  • Future Electronics announced the expansion of its distribution agreement with Central Semiconductor to include Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
  • Distributor Peerless Electronics received two awards from Honeywell Sensing and Control for 2013: Authorized Distributor NBO Award, for creating and winning the largest amount of new business opportunities for Honeywell in switches and sensing products, and the Top Authorized Distributor-Silver Award.
  • Peerless also announced that its Value Added Assembly Team is now certified to MIL-STD-2000A as well as CIS Certified IPC Specialists, meeting the J-STD-001 soldering certification.
  • Distributor TTI, Inc. launched a new video in its series, The Specialist, focusing on malfunctioning robots in industrial automation programs.

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