Customer stories

Inphi

Inphi leverages OpenText Exceed TurboX to consolidate data centers. International semiconductor company uses OpenText software to drive engineering design efficiency and simplify IT infrastructure management

Challenges

  • Complex environment
  • Costly infrastructure
  • Disparate data sources

Results

  • Supported on-time, quality production

  • Reduced costs, unlocked more resources for engineers

  • Protected intellectual property

Story

Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Inphi employs approximately 580 engineers and business professionals across 15 locations worldwide. Like other global organizations, the semiconductor company faced challenges consolidating disparate data sources. After assessing its options to optimize its Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools, Inphi deployed a new operating approach, as well as OpenText™ Exceed™ TurboX, a thin-client remote access solution for dependable, managed application access for X Window systems.

Technician in protective suit and gloves looking at computer chip

We use thin-client technology to enforce security and to make sure that we have good controls and visibility into where our data goes.

Scott Clark
VP, IT / InfoSecurity, Inphi

In terms of approach, Inphi deployed a centralized data center that maximizes its ability to supply the speed and reliability its employees need—an approach that is both simple and flexible. “OpenText Exceed TurboX is a key enabler of a centralized data center approach,” said Scott Clark, vice president of information technology and security for Inphi. “We use thin-client technology to make sure that we have good controls and visibility into where our data goes.”

Speed and reliability

Engineers need a fast and reliable infrastructure to run simulations, fully vetting a semiconductor design before it goes into production. If this access is unreliable or slow, risk increases in terms of product performance and time-to-market—an expensive prospect, as cutting a new mask for a 7nm device could run into significant cost.

It is also critical to avoid missing a schedule, which could result in the loss of a customer. Thus, for engineers with fast, reliable access, utilizing Exceed TurboX is critical to Inphi’s overall mission. Clark explained: “We make sure our engineers can get their jobs done. The task can be completed quickly and with high predictability.”

With Exceed TurboX, Inphi reported improved responsiveness from its global workforce and it demonstrated the greatest performance boost among alternative solutions. Inphi engineers across the globe now collaborate in a responsive, high-performance graphical environment. They can even disconnect from their sessions, as an external session proxy allows users to run simulations without losing work.

By leveraging OpenText Exceed TurboX, we dedicate less staff to management and mandate that our environment be simple instead of complex.

Scott Clark
VP, IT / InfoSecurity , Inphi

Further, Clark noted that efficient centralized management returns economic results. With a less costly infrastructure, Inphi puts the savings into resources for engineers. “If you look at it from the value to the company, we get to throw all of those resources at each chip design,” he explained. “We make sure that everybody gets as many resources as they need to meet their schedule.”

Simplicity

Consolidation into a single data center also simplifies management for Inphi’s lean IT staff. “The more data centers you have, the more data replication you have to do and the more complex your environment gets,” Clark said. Instead, Exceed TurboX joins other technologies and processes chosen for their reliability and simplicity. “By leveraging Exceed TurboX, we dedicate less staff to information technology management and mandate that our environment be simple instead of complex,” Clark noted.

Flexibility

Finally, a single, on-site data center allows Inphi to scale infrastructure. Instead of taking a year to retrofit new locations after an acquisition, Inphi’s IT team completed system integration in a few months. Through careful management, no hiccups accompanied the transition to combined engineering. “On Friday, everybody was doing design in their data centers, and on Monday they were doing design in our centralized data center,” Clark recalled.

For the future, Inphi plans to continue evolving its latency story with Exceed TurboX, building near realtime responsiveness to the end user. Together, Inphi and OpenText are extending the reach of today’s tools for tomorrow’s innovation.

About Inphi

Inphi Corporation is a leader in high-speed data movement. We move big data – fast, throughout the globe, between data centers, and inside data centers. Inphi’s expertise in signal integrity results in reliable data delivery, at high speeds, over a variety of distances. As data volumes ramp exponentially due to video streaming, social media, cloud-based services, and wireless infrastructure, the need for speed has never been greater. That’s where we come in. Customers rely on Inphi’s solutions to develop and build out the Service Provider and Cloud infrastructures, and data centers of tomorrow.