Comment by kev507
4 hours ago
This is akin to asking why not install iOS on a lower cost, easily available Android phone. Much of the benefit is only available if one provider designs the hardware and software as one. The complete elimination of the security-nightmare UEFI layer is a good example.
It’s not like they get magical components or firmware. All it takes is supporting specific rack configurations from top vendors. Or, if you want more lockdown, reselling custom-ordered racks with your software on top.
They do get magical components and firmware, they make them
they do get custom firmware, for example there is no hardware vendor in the world that can supply a server that could start an AMD CPU without a UEFI the way we require. Supporting the existing hardware out there would necessitate worsening the Oxide software to compensate. Trust me, if this were possible to achieve on commodity hardware, it would be done on commodity hardware. Same reason AWS, GCP, and Azure make their own hardware- there are advancements that can't be made on commodity gear. The cabled backplane is another good example, it can't be done on commodity gear and eliminates days of setup and manual servicing/configuration errors.