Super Blade

Emerging Custom-System Player
Super Micro Computer Inc., San Jose, Calif., has been a longtime supplier of components and boards to the custom-system channel, and after spending several years flying under the radar, the company has stepped into a brighter spotlight in the past few years. Super Micro opened up its product line to also feature systems based on processors from Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., in addition to Intel Corp., Santa Clara Calif. In fact, the SuperBlade system that the CMP Channel Test Center examined included servers based on both AMD and Intel processors.

In 2007, Super Micro launched an initial public offering and has been approaching $500 million in annual sales.

The SuperBlade product has been among its most ambitious, offering resellers and system builders the opportunity to source a highly customizable data center-focused product in addition to its more traditional business with industry-standard server and PC boards.