HPE (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise) launched a reliable supply chain initiative last week to address the growth in demand for domestically manufactured and trustworthy servers. The company announced that it shipped its first ProLiant DL380T servers.
The servers were made in a secure facility and integrate advanced security features. HPE announced that the new secure servers and the supply chain, adheres to the rules set by the U.S. government and public sector demands.
The U.S.-sourced hardware is encouraged to have ‘verifiable cyber assurance.’ This shift to domestic manufacturers reflects gaps in the supply chain, exposed by the pandemic.
Silicon-based security features
HPE said that its trusted supply chain will continue to expand to cover its entire server portfolio by next year. HPE says it’s the first hardware maker to embed silicon-based security features in industry-level servers.
The move by the company to embed security features in hardware in addition to software security updates is a shift in strategy. Hardware security is done very early in the chip design process.
The company has said that the secure servers have a layer of security added before they are sent to customers. HPE has a root of trust framework which prevents booting compromised operating systems or tweaking the firmware.
Additional security features
Other security features are a physical lock and an embedded alarm. The latch detects intrusion into the chassis and registers unauthorized access even when the power is off. The servers are shipped in a security mode to authenticate users and keep the 4 million lines of firmware code safe.
The secured servers have network security for wired and wireless networks. In addition to this, there are zero trust capabilities for service authentication across cloud, on-premise infrastructure and app containers.
Chip makers are ramping up efforts to secure supply chains and hopefully, it works in the suppliers’ favors.
Tip: HPE Intelligent Data Platform as storage foundation for hybrid cloud
10 hours ago
