Private cloud infrastructure startup Oxide Computer reportedly raises $200M in fresh funding

Cloud-inspired data center infrastructure startup Oxide Computer Co. has reportedly raised $200 million in a fresh round of funding.

The round was first reported by Axios, which named the U.S. Innovative Technology Fund as the lead investor. It comes less than a year after the startup raised $100 million in a Series B funding round.

Founded in 2019, Oxide is the developer of cloud-like data center equipment that’s targeted at enterprises that require the agility and convenience of public cloud computing services as well as the control, cost-effectiveness and security provided by having their own, physical on-premises infrastructure.

Its flagship product is the Oxide Cloud Computer, which is a massive, 1.15-ton integrated rack system. It combines its custom servers, storage and networking hardware with Helios, a specialized operating system that delivers a private cloud-like experience.

The Oxide Cloud Computer packs up to 64 servers on a single rack, with each one powered by a 64-core Advanced Micro Devices Inc. central processing unit plus 1.09 terabytes of dynamic random-access memory and 64 terabytes of flash storage. Compared with standard on-premises servers, one of the main advantages of Oxide Cloud Computer is that it’s relatively painless for companies to set up and use. It takes about two hours to get the system up and running. Once it’s ready, developers can provision the hardware to run cloud workloads using an application programming interface, in much the same way as they would with traditional cloud resources.

Oxide developed many of the components of its system in-house, including the main service processor and a special module that’s responsible for managing the power flow to the individual servers. The startup says the service processor strips out many of the features found in off-the-shelf chips – this was done purposely to simplify management and harden it against vulnerabilities.

Each of the servers is linked to the others via two Intel Corp. switches. The system can manage network traffic on the fly, and if it detects that one of its network links becomes congested or is about to fail, it can automatically switch traffic to another connection. The switches come with a firewall that filters out packets that may pose a cybersecurity risk.

Auto-recovery is another key feature of the Oxide Cloud Computer. When Helios detects that a server is having problems or shuts down, whatever workload it was running can be migrated to a fresh machine to maintain uptime.

Oxide co-founder and Chief Executive Steve Tuck told Axios that the latest funding will help the company to scale and meet the growing customer demand for “cloud ownership” and accelerate its overall roadmap.

Photo: Oxide Computer