Major milestones for Arm SystemReady in driving ecosystem standards

By Andy Rose, chief system architect and fellow, Arm

May 16, 2022 -- The data center market is a thriving and innovative one, but to continue to scale the industry needs to tackle issues around fragmentation, finding the right balance between standardization where it makes sense, and differentiation where it matters. Arm introduced the SystemReady program in 2020 to address these challenges, supported by a broad set of partners from across the ecosystem. SystemReady provides a formal set of compute platform definitions to cover a range of systems from the cloud to IoT and edge, helping software 'just work' seamlessly across a vibrant, diverse ecosystem of Arm-based hardware.

Today, we’re sharing some significant milestones for the SystemReady program, including some exciting “firsts” in the Arm-based server and virtual machine space:

• The Microsoft Azure Ampere Altra Arm-based server has achieved SystemReady SR certification, the first cloud solution provider (CSP) server to do so
• The Azure Virtual Machines series featuring Ampere Altra Arm-based processors are the first virtual systems to be certified under the new Arm SystemReady Virtual Environment (VE) certification
• The Arm SystemReady program has reached over 50 certifications since its launch only 18 months ago, demonstrating tremendous momentum

Microsoft leads the way in driving critical standards

Microsoft has been a strong supporter and collaborator on SystemReady since its inception, and these certifications not only illustrate the company’s leadership in driving standards, but also pave the way for more industry players to embrace the SystemReady approach and ultimately benefit from it.

“At its core, the Arm SystemReady compliance certification program preserves the investments that we and customers make in our software stacks," said Arun Kishan, Technical Fellow and Corporate Vice President (CVP), Microsoft. “For Microsoft Azure, the SystemReady platform certification means we can easily move from one generation to another. For customers, the SystemReady Virtual Environment (VE) certification means that their software investments are preserved across multiple VM generations as well. Arm’s SystemReady compliance program is an essential component of building an innovative and evolving server ecosystem.”

Growing Ecosystem Support

We have received strong support across the ecosystem since the SystemReady program was established and recently celebrated that our partners have achieved more than 50 SystemReady certifications since its inception. These systems all demonstrate interoperability within the specific SystemReady bands, allowing an out of the box experience for the end user, with software up the stack 'just working'. You can read more in this blog.

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It’s been an exciting 18 months for the SystemReady program, and we look forward to many more close collaborations as we continue to work with partners to drive the right kind of standardization across the industry.

About Arm

Arm technology is at the heart of a computing and data revolution that is transforming the way people live and businesses operate. Our energy-efficient processor designs and software platforms have enabled advanced computing in more than 225 billion chips and our technologies securely power products from the sensor to the smartphone and the supercomputer. Together with 1,000+ technology partners we are at the forefront of designing, securing and managing all areas of AI-enhanced connected compute from the chip to the cloud.