Zoho unveils made-in-India server called Nathu La
According to Zoho, India's digital infrastructure is expanding at an unprecedented pace. However, the server technology underpinning that infrastructure has historically been sourced from abroad, with Indian enterprises paying royalties and licensing fees to foreign entities.
Chennai-based SaaS company Zoho has launched its indigenously designed server named Nathu La.
Zoho said the rollout marks a new development in the company’s journey of building a full technology stack from hardware layers to software applications.
The new server was built out of its Nagpur centre, which was set up in 2020 to work on R&D projects such as designing servers. According to Zoho, in 2023, the Indian government announced import restrictions on compute devices including servers, further highlighting the necessity to develop this technology in the country.
The Nathu La server, based on Intel Xeon 6 Processors, is designed to optimise performance for virtualisation (VM), High Performance Computing (HPC), AI inference, and storage applications.
"We are proud to build a server system that is truly designed in India and taking a step towards creating sovereign technology," said Shailesh Davey, CEO, Zoho Corp, per a statement.
All modular components including the DC-SCM and NIC (Network Interface Card) were designed in-house by Zoho's hardware engineering team and assembled by Indian EMS partners. Over five patents have been filed covering thermal management and cost-optimised server architecture designs.
Zoho claimed that Nathu La has achieved equivalent performance with 12-18% lower power consumption and 20-30% lower total cost of ownership (TCO). The Nathu La server, comprising Intel Xeon 6 processors, was developed collaboratively with Intel, leveraging their enablement capabilities and technical expertise.
According to Zoho, India's digital infrastructure is expanding at an unprecedented pace. However, the server technology underpinning that infrastructure has historically been sourced from abroad, with Indian enterprises paying royalties and licensing fees to foreign entities.
"The development of the Nathu La server reflects our commitment to creating complex technology powered by talent from smaller towns and villages. Through focused investments in R&D and skill development, this foray into hardware enables us not only to build and own the technology, but also to cultivate the expertise and talent behind it," Davey said.