Cloud infrastructure startup Aparna Systems today launched an open-software “cloud-in-a-box.”

Aparna’s Orca cloud and server technology is an “ultra-converged” compute, storage, and network solution, not to be confused with a hyperconverged solution, according to the company. The latter relies on an external top-of-rack switch to create server clusters, while ultra-convergence goes beyond hyperconvergence by integrating the network switching.

The CPU core density is note-worthy, too. Aparna Systems claims it can support up to 10,000 cores per rack, and consumes less than 75 watts per server.

Sam Mathan founded the Fremont, California-based company that formally launched today. He’s the former CEO of Matisse Networks and Amber Networks.

The company raised $500,000 from Divergent Venture Partners; the rest of its funding comes from Mathan and other Silicon Valley execs: former Cirrus Logic CFO Sam Srinivasan, Brocade founder Kumar Malavalli, and Clearstone Partners’ Vish Mishra.

In an interview with SDxCentral, Mathan said data-intensive applications are driving the need for increased storage and compute. But only the “Super 7” cloud computing companies including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon can afford to build the data centers necessary to deploy more storage, compute, and networking.

“The rest of the industry, whether the enterprise or service providers, have to figure out how to use that same technology, same distributed application infrastructure, in a much more cost-effective fashion,” Mathan said. “One of the things we also see in the market place is a huge amount of applications infrastructure growth that requires more low-latency access at the edge.”

Aparna Systems built its open software cloud in a box to address both. It’s targeting service provider and enterprise customers, and is well-suited for both edge computing and central data centers with limited space and power, he said.

“Aparna’s Cloud-in-a-Box has the potential to be a real game-changer in a variety of applications,” said Michael Howard, senior research director and advisor for Carrier Networks at IHS Markit in a statement. “This is particularly true at the edge of the network, including in central offices, where carriers have struggled to find a practical and affordable way to deploy adequate compute and storage resources. The system’s high density and design innovations combine to also drastically improve scalability and energy efficiency compared to blade servers.”