RISC-V is reaching a new stage of development in the data center. SiFive has introduced the BigSky SF-2U870, a rack-mountable 2U server specifically developed for porting and testing professional server applications on the open processor architecture. SiFive describes BigSky as the first enterprise-grade, rack-mountable RISC-V development server. However, it is not yet a conventional production server intended to compete directly with current AMD EPYC or Intel Xeon systems. The platform is initially aimed at hyperscalers, chip manufacturers, and software developers who want to prepare their programs for RISC-V.
P870-D provides the technical foundation
At its core, the platform is based on SiFive’s P870-D processor design. It supports the current RVA23 profile and therefore includes important extensions required by modern operating systems, compilers, and server applications. SiFive lists Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 as supported operating systems. This allows developers to port and optimize existing Linux applications and test them on real RISC-V hardware instead of having to rely exclusively on emulators or smaller development boards. The most important demonstration concerns collaboration with NVIDIA. CUDA is already running on BigSky, with the RISC-V server serving as the host system and a connected NVIDIA GPU acting as the actual accelerator. While the RISC-V processors handle the operating system and control tasks, the CUDA kernels are executed on the NVIDIA GPU. This does not mean that CUDA computations run directly on the RISC-V cores. Rather, the key point is that the CUDA software environment, which has so far been strongly oriented toward x86 and Arm systems, has been demonstrated for the first time with a RISC-V host for modern AI workloads.
NVLink Fusion as the next step
SiFive and NVIDIA are also working on integrating NVLink Fusion into future RISC-V platforms. This could enable specially designed RISC-V processors to be connected to NVIDIA accelerators with high bandwidth and coherent memory access. However, the first chips equipped accordingly are not expected before 2027 at the earliest. BigSky therefore primarily serves as a development and validation platform that allows the necessary software to be prepared before custom data center processors become available. If the collaboration proves successful, RISC-V could eventually become an open alternative to x86 and Arm host processors in AI servers. The BigSky server is not yet a finished breakthrough for the mass market, but it is an important step from the development board to the professional data center.
| Source | Summary | Verified link |
|---|---|---|
| SiFive | Describes BigSky, P870-D, operating system support, and the collaboration with NVIDIA. | Product announcement |
| Futurum Group | Classifies BigSky as the first rack-mountable enterprise RISC-V development server and porting platform. | Analysis |
| RISC-V International | Describes the CUDA demonstration with a RISC-V host and an NVIDIA Blackwell GPU. | Weekly report |
| Reuters | Confirms the planned integration of NVLink into future SiFive processors. | Report |
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