HPE

Overview

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is a global enterprise infrastructure company that co-created the DC-MHS (Data Center Modular Hardware Servers) specification with other OCP founding contributors to enable modular server design and easier integration of diverse chip architectures. HPE co-leads the OCP Open Platform Firmware (OPF) work group, investing significantly in system-level firmware modularity and automated system management. HPE participates selectively in OCP work groups, focusing on system management, DC-MHS, and Open Platform Firmware rather than spanning all work groups.

HPE's approach to multi-architecture support involves sharing a common UEFI and I/O stack between x86 and ARM server systems to improve manageability. The company is driving the PnP (Plug and Play) specification for DC-MHS — currently at version 0.5 as of October 2025, targeting V1 by 2026 — enabling hot-swap of x86, RISC-V, and ARM boards within the same chassis. A critical finding disclosed at OCP Global Summit 2025: HPE tested that its DC-MHS designs are not cross-vendor compatible with competitors' DC-MHS implementations despite both following the OCP specification, revealing significant compliance and interoperability gaps across the industry.