The Server Platform Task Group shall define a specification for a standardized set of hardware and software capabilities, that portable system software (such as operating systems and hypervisors) can rely on being present in a RISC-V server platform.
A server is a computing system that is designed to manage and distribute resources, services and data to other computers or devices on a network. It is often referred to as a "server" because it serves or provides information or resources upon request. Such computing systems are designed to operate continually and have a higher degree of requirements on RAS, security, performance, quality of service, etc. Examples of servers include web servers, file servers, database servers, mail servers, game servers, etc. The focus of this specification is to define requirements for general purpose server computing systems that may be used for one or more of these purposes.
It is important to standardize the requirements for ISA, hardware interfaces and capabilities (e.g. harts, timers, interrupt controllers, PCIe RCs, RAS, QoS, PMU, etc.), software (OS loader interfaces, hardware description mechanisms, etc.) and security (e.g. trusted boot) provided by a server platform, so that operating system and hypervisor vendors may support such platforms with a single binary OS image distribution.
Server platform has been chosen as the first platform to standardize, this being consistent with efforts inside the RISC-V community to enable general purpose computing platforms. Other platform standardization efforts may, of course, happen within RVI. Server platform as the first standardized platform is similar to RVA ISA Profile being standardized as the first RVI profile. In both of these cases the efforts are driven by markets that most value and need standardization.
The produced specification will tie together the many hardware and software requirements for a server platform, many of which are defined in detail by other RISC-V specs, such as:
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ISA Profiles
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Boot and Runtime Services
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Server SoC
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Platform security Model
The intent is that most of the normative content is developed by other TGs and that the Server Platform Specification is the document that binds everything together and provides a practical architectural guide to achieve the stated goals.
The specification is meant to be driven by functionality and interoperability requirements from operating system vendors and solution providers, and thus concerns itself with systems and application software-observable behavior. The focus is thus how the system will behave rather than how it will be built. This is consistent with other specs such as the Server SoC and BRS specifications.
Where applicable, the produced specification shall reference relevant industry standards.
It is expected that the Server Platform Specification will add additional (refining) requirements in relevant areas. For example, the firmware requirements may be more stringent than the ones covered in the BRS and include server-specific elements. The specification will be styled in a manner consistent with the related specs (e.g. Server SoC).
The Server Platform TG shall define a coverage plan and approach to determine compliance to the requirements defined by the specification. This coverage plan will include and build on the coverage plans defined by relevant TGs for the dependent specs (e.g. BRS, Server SoC, etc). This includes a test specification and a high-level plan for a certification suite.
The Server Platform Specification is expected to be updated periodically to stay up to date with the evolution of dependent RISC-V and industry specifications, and to meet the evolving market requirements identified by RISC-V International stakeholders.
The specification will not cover mechanical, electrical, thermal, form-factor and performance aspects of a server platform.