Tuesday, May 5th 2020

Huawei Ready to Enter PC Industry with Custom OS and Processor

Since the debut of its plans to create a custom Operating System and make itself independent from everyone, Huawei has been working hard to bring that idea to life. Creating custom software and custom hardware solutions, Huawei's engineers have been rather busy. And now, Huawei aims to be the new player in the Chinese PC industry, replacing the already available solutions that have foreign technology with potential backdoors that could represent a threat to Chinese information security. So to prepare for that, Huawei is creating a custom OS called HarmonyOS that will accompany custom hardware solutions.

The HarmonyOS was announced last year at Huawei Developer Conference 2019 (HDC 2019) as a project Huawei is working on. However, it seems like that project will become some of the more important things the company is working on. A well-known person for tipping about the latest industry news on Weibo said that Huawei is preparing to launch custom PCs very soon for domestic (Chinese) audience. Huawei is supposedly working with major cities and regions in China to supply its infrastructure with new solutions. And what those solutions will be? Well, Huawei plans to combine the HarmonyOS with its already launched Kunpeng Desktop Board.
Huawei Kunpeng Desktop Board Huawei Kunpeng Desktop Board
Specifications of the Kunpeng Desktop Board:
  • Processor - Kunpeng 920 processor with 4/8 cores running at 2.6 GHz
  • Storage - 6xSATA 3.0 hard drive interfaces, 2xM.2 SSD slots
  • Memory - 4xDDR4-2400 UDIMM slots, maximum capacity 64 GB
  • PCIe Expansion - 1xPCIe 3.0 x16, 1xPCIe 3.0 x4, and 1xPCIe 3.0 x1 slots
  • Networking - 2xLOM NIC, supporting GE network ports or optical ports
  • USB - 4xUSB 3.0 and 4xUSB 2.0
Source: Huawei Central
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41 Comments on Huawei Ready to Enter PC Industry with Custom OS and Processor

#26
sepheronx
zlobbyYes, my comment was rather sarcastic, with accent on the inferiority of Russian CPU.

I have a chance to play with Huawei's new Taishan. It's a really nice CPU TBH, even for an ARM one. Its design, esp. security-wise makes more sense to me too.
If you are a developer, you can always try to contact INEUM or MCST and see if you can obtain an Elbrus 8C system. Already released samples from TSMC for Elbrus 16C (16nm). Would be neat to see English speaker get access to it and test. I tried but was denied due to not being a developer.
Posted on Reply
#27
Bansaku
It will never be sold outside of China
Posted on Reply
#28
holyprof
TheLostSwedeWhy is the top x16 slot shifted compared to the bottom two PCIe slots?
Bad mockup designer? :p
Probably on purpose, to make it incompatible with existing "american" ATX boards
Posted on Reply
#29
ValenOne
Kunpeng 920 is based on ARM Cortex-A72 with double SP Vector throughput (2 inst/cycle, up from 1) custom ASIMD (Neon 128 bit) .

ARM is owned by Japan's Softbank.
Posted on Reply
#30
kapone32
AquinusIt's disingenuous to treat all of these institutions as equals when it comes to their actions regarding privacy. Nobody is going to win a purity contest here.
It is a known fact that Hauwei like most large Chinese companies have ties to the Chinese Government that would be considered illegal in Wetsern societies. Countries are not banning Hauwei 5G just because. Would people buy Apple if they knew their information was going to the Government on purpose?
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#31
sepheronx
kapone32It is a known fact that Hauwei like most large Chinese companies have ties to the Chinese Government that would be considered illegal in Wetsern societies. Countries are not banning Hauwei 5G just because. Would people buy Apple if they knew their information was going to the Government on purpose?
Except they are and people are aware of it. Same with Google and Microsoft. The question is: Would you rather have your own government, whom can directly affect you, have most access against you and all your personal information or the other party that cant do anything directly against you because they have no authority or jurisdiction over you?

Hence why I dont care if the Chinese spy on me. They will get nothing useful out of it. If I am sitting on the toilet with the phone in my hand while naked, its the poor guy on the other hand that will have to pay for psychiatry after seeing that.
Posted on Reply
#32
mak1skav
kapone32Would people buy Apple if they knew their information was going to the Government on purpose?
Based on Facebook as an example I say yes I think they would. Facebook got caught selling data to the highest bidder quite few times but people still using it.
Posted on Reply
#33
R-T-B
steve360Chinese OS with Chinese tech made by a Chinese company with links to the Chinese government.

What could possibly go wrong?
Nothing, in China. It only goes wrong when you buy something else. ;)
TurmaniaGet yourself disconnected, all your first world problems solved....
You are doing it wrong.
JossThis.
Don't buy Chinese if you can!
Haha, he thinks he can do that.
Posted on Reply
#34
Aquinus
Resident Wat-man
sepheronxHence why I dont care if the Chinese spy on me. They will get nothing useful out of it. If I am sitting on the toilet with the phone in my hand while naked, its the poor guy on the other hand that will have to pay for psychiatry after seeing that.
That is flat out incorrect. A foreign actor doesn't need physical access to you to make your life hell. Tell me more about how a foreign actor who steals your credit card number can't make your life hell with the information that they've obtained.
Posted on Reply
#35
R-T-B
AquinusThat is flat out incorrect. A foreign actor doesn't need physical access to you to make your life hell. Tell me more about how a foreign actor who steals your credit card number can't make your life hell with the information that they've obtained.
Exactly. People using analogies like "spying on me while on the pot" really have no idea what data is and isn't valuable.
Posted on Reply
#36
sepheronx
AquinusThat is flat out incorrect. A foreign actor doesn't need physical access to you to make your life hell. Tell me more about how a foreign actor who steals your credit card number can't make your life hell with the information that they've obtained.
That is true yes. But people here are associating it with government. If I was pissed off with a government entity stealing from me then I would be in Ottawa right now. Only once I had information stolen from me and my financial accounts were at risk and it was local as well. It can happen yes, but that goes for everywhere anyway as is. So yes, if we are talking about my information stolen by foreign entities (Chinese or not) because of shoddy security, then a motherboard and processor made in China is only one of many, many ways for foreign actors to steal mine, yours or majority of others information.
R-T-BExactly. People using analogies like "spying on me while on the pot" really have no idea what data is and isn't valuable.
I think they are also aware (as I am) of the risks due to financial because of stealing credit card information online. But that risk exists as is currently and locally when you use your credit card anyway. Always a risk. And since majority here are complaining about Chinese government ran form of spying, I highly doubt they would be interested in making my life hell (or someone within the government that has my access and may want to sell it) vs someone who actually has money and is important.

Out of curiosity, does anyone here have experience with Chinese entities stealing their information? I cant remember if it was you (R-T-B) who helped an individual out with a computer issue where I think the attack came from his router. Now no real details was handed out obviously so I am wondering if it was Chinese entities who were responsible? Or was it more local?

I mean, if I am to worry about this all the time even if buying a Chinese computer components or American made ones - I guess it would be much better for me to move back to a typewriter at this point. I know and understand the risks, but I know this when I use: Steam, my computer, look at porn, checking streaming services, using my bank account online, etc etc etc. Maybe you guys are going further and saying about using my information to extort me in any way or form but once again and I understand.
Posted on Reply
#37
zlobby
R-T-BExactly. People using analogies like "spying on me while on the pot" really have no idea what data is and isn't valuable.
All information and data is valuable in the right context. Every. Bit. Counts.

Knowing when someone is on a device or not has huge value in the right hands, although it may seem like nothing.
Posted on Reply
#38
R-T-B
sepheronxOut of curiosity, does anyone here have experience with Chinese entities stealing their information? I cant remember if it was you (R-T-B) who helped an individual out with a computer issue where I think the attack came from his router. Now no real details was handed out obviously so I am wondering if it was Chinese entities who were responsible? Or was it more local?
It was eventually handed off to local authorities. I have no idea other than international servers were involved, and a compromised cable node which took it out of my hands.

Essentially if you can't trust your first hop, you are always gonna be boned.
Posted on Reply
#39
kapone32
sepheronxExcept they are and people are aware of it. Same with Google and Microsoft. The question is: Would you rather have your own government, whom can directly affect you, have most access against you and all your personal information or the other party that cant do anything directly against you because they have no authority or jurisdiction over you?

Hence why I dont care if the Chinese spy on me. They will get nothing useful out of it. If I am sitting on the toilet with the phone in my hand while naked, its the poor guy on the other hand that will have to pay for psychiatry after seeing that.
It's not just your information. In some cases they can gain access to your GPU and CPU resources without you knowing about. This for me would allow them to do that from a local level. If nefarious enough apply some or all of the much noted flaws in Intel and AMD CPUs but if they can make boards, CPUs and OS, they could hide all of that in one or all of those without you the user even knowing, The US and Japan were had the height of trade weeks before Japan attacked the US.
Posted on Reply
#40
sepheronx
R-T-BIt was eventually handed off to local authorities. I have no idea other than international servers were involved, and a compromised cable node which took it out of my hands.

Essentially if you can't trust your first hop, you are always gonna be boned.
Fair enough. I just dont really trust my PC all too much because of all these compromises - windows as example.
kapone32It's not just your information. In some cases they can gain access to your GPU and CPU resources without you knowing about. This for me would allow them to do that from a local level. If nefarious enough apply some or all of the much noted flaws in Intel and AMD CPUs but if they can make boards, CPUs and OS, they could hide all of that in one or all of those without you the user even knowing, The US and Japan were had the height of trade weeks before Japan attacked the US.
Yeah, that is also true, hence why I monitor the system use and the network traffic. I also understand most won't know to do that so I agree.
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