Confidential compute, ready on arrival

Running sensitive workloads at the edge should not require customers to build a confidential computing platform from individual components.

Yet that is often how deployments begin. Teams select and qualify a server, install an infrastructure platform, align firmware and security settings, configure memory encryption, validate virtualization, and then repeat the process for every system or site. Before the first workload is deployed, the organization has already taken on a significant integration project.

Mainsail and HIPER Global are removing that friction.

The companies are bringing together Mainsail's Starlight platform and HIPER Global's HG-5610-2UF rugged edge server as an integrated hardware appliance. Starlight is installed during the system build, and Intel Trust Domain Extensions (Intel TDX) confidential computing is configured before shipment. When the appliance reaches the customer site, the confidential compute foundation is ready for workload onboarding.

The result is a coordinated hardware-and-software platform designed to help organizations deploy protected virtual machines, containers, and AI workloads closer to where data is generated and decisions are made.

Confidential computing configured before delivery

Encryption traditionally protects data at rest and in transit. Confidential computing addresses the third state: data in use.

Intel TDX creates hardware-isolated virtual machines called trust domains. These trust domains are designed to protect a workload's memory and CPU state from access by the host operating system, hypervisor, platform administrators, and other virtual machines. This adds a hardware-enforced isolation boundary around sensitive workloads while they are running.

The Mainsail and HIPER Global appliance is built around a supported fifth-generation Intel Xeon Scalable processor and the memory, firmware, and BIOS configuration required for Intel TDX. HIPER Global completes the system-level configuration as part of the appliance build, including the required memory population and platform security settings. Starlight arrives installed and prepared to run confidential workloads on that foundation.

Customers therefore do not have to begin by determining whether the processor, memory layout, firmware, BIOS, and virtualization stack have been aligned correctly. Those dependencies are handled before the appliance leaves the integration facility.

This is what makes the offering more than a compatible server. It is confidential compute configured and ready to operate at the customer site.

Rugged, serviceable hardware for demanding environments

The appliance is based on the HIPER Global HG-5610-2UF, a modular platform built on Dell PowerEdge XR5610 technology. Its short-depth steel chassis is designed for edge locations where space, access, connectivity, and environmental conditions differ from those of a conventional data center.

Key platform capabilities include:

• A 2U, 18-inch-deep chassis with front-accessible I/O and storage
• A supported fifth-generation Intel Xeon Scalable and edge-enhanced processor
• Eight DDR5 DIMM slots supporting registered ECC memory, with up to 1 TB capacity
• Four front-accessible 2.5-inch SATA, SAS, or NVMe drive bays, with up to 30.72 TB of storage
• Embedded 4 x 25 GbE SFP+ networking, with additional copper or fiber networking options through PCIe or OCP
• Dell iDRAC9 and Redfish-based management for remote monitoring and administration
• Optional 1+1 redundant, hot-swappable power supplies
• Variable-speed, air-cooled system fans

The HG-5610-2UF is specified for operating temperatures from 0°C to 50°C and is available with environmental and regulatory capabilities addressing temperature, humidity, power, EMI, noise, vibration, and shock requirements. Exact environmental qualifications depend on the selected appliance configuration, and an enhanced SKU may be required.

For defense, industrial, surveillance, critical infrastructure, and other distributed environments, this design provides a compact footprint, serviceable front access, flexible networking, remote management, and resilient power options on a widely recognized Dell server foundation.

Starlight makes confidential infrastructure operational

Confidential computing hardware is most valuable when teams can use it without creating a new operational silo.

Starlight is Mainsail's local-first infrastructure platform for running virtual machines, containers, and AI workloads on customer-owned infrastructure. It brings compute, storage, networking, policy, observability, security, and lifecycle operations together under a consistent operating model.

Starlight is designed for distributed environments where connectivity may be limited, intermittent, or unavailable. Nodes continue running workloads locally through disconnected or degraded conditions, while centralized visibility and coordination resume when connectivity returns.

On the HG-5610-2UF, Starlight turns Intel TDX capabilities into a deployable confidential computing platform. Organizations can place sensitive workloads closer to users, sensors, operational systems, and data sources while maintaining hardware-backed isolation for data in use.

From factory configuration to faster field outcomes

Delivering Starlight and the server as one coordinated appliance changes the deployment experience.

Confidential compute is ready on arrival. The processor, memory configuration, firmware, BIOS security settings, and Starlight installation are aligned before shipment.

Integration work is reduced. Customers receive an operational foundation instead of a bare server followed by a separate platform installation and TDX enablement project.

Time to first protected workload is shortened. Site teams can focus on network onboarding, workload deployment, identity, and policy instead of assembling the confidential computing stack.

Deployments become repeatable. A defined appliance configuration can be reproduced across remote sites, tactical environments, industrial facilities, and distributed fleets.

Procurement becomes simpler. Hardware, platform software, and confidential computing readiness are brought together in one coordinated offering.

Lifecycle responsibilities are clearer. HIPER Global's system engineering, manufacturing, logistics, and lifecycle capabilities complement Mainsail's Starlight platform expertise.

Protecting data where it creates the most value

For a defense program, the appliance can provide a compact foundation for confidential mission workloads that must remain available through unreliable connectivity. At an industrial site, it can support protected virtual machines and containerized services while keeping operational data under local control. In surveillance and critical infrastructure environments, it can move protected compute closer to high-volume data sources without making continuous cloud connectivity a prerequisite.

The important outcome is not simply that the system supports Intel TDX. It is that the confidential computing capability arrives configured as part of a complete operational platform.

Customers gain:

• Hardware-backed isolation for sensitive workloads and data in use
• A faster path from delivery to operational capability
• Less infrastructure assembly and validation work
• Consistent operations across remote and distributed sites
• Continued local workload operation during network disruption
• A scalable foundation for virtual machines, containers, and AI
• A repeatable appliance model for fleet deployments

A deployable foundation for trusted edge infrastructure

Confidential computing at the edge has traditionally required specialized hardware knowledge, careful platform configuration, and extensive coordination between vendors. Mainsail and HIPER Global are turning those requirements into a delivered capability.

HIPER Global contributes rugged system engineering, Dell-based hardware integration, manufacturing, logistics, and lifecycle support. Mainsail contributes Starlight's unified, local-first platform for running and managing modern workloads. Intel TDX provides the hardware-enforced foundation for protecting virtual machines and their data while in use.

Together, these technologies form a confidential computing appliance that is configured before it ships and ready when it reaches the customer site.

Ready to deploy confidential computing at the edge? Talk with Mainsail about a Starlight appliance configured around your workloads, connectivity model, environmental needs, and operational requirements.