Three systems, one driver stack
Debian, Proxmox VE or Ubuntu
Our TaiShan port comes in three flavors: as a lean, native Debian 13 on bare-metal hardware, as a virtualization host running Proxmox VE, and as Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Server. The same adapted drivers, one shared foundation.
Native Debian 13
Debian 13 “trixie”
Runs directly on the TaiShan hardware. Successfully verified, including the hiraid DKMS package and adapted netinst media; a lean base for server workloads, containers and cloud-native stacks.
Proxmox VE 9.2
ARM64, verified
The TaiShan server as a virtualization host for VMs and containers. Successfully verified, including DKMS integration and an adapted ISO installer.
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
ARM64, verified
Ubuntu Server directly on the TaiShan hardware. Successfully verified, with an adapted installer and the hiraid driver built in for installation onto the RAID volume.
The TaiShan platform at a glance
| Architecture | ARM64 with Huawei Kunpeng processors |
|---|---|
| Model range | 1U, 2U and 4U rack servers plus high-density systems |
| Processors | 1 to 4 sockets, up to 64 cores per CPU, SMT with two threads per core on current Kunpeng generations |
| Memory | DDR5 on current generations, eight or more memory channels per CPU |
| Storage | NVMe, SAS and SATA configurations with hot-swap, up to 24× NVMe in 2U |
| I/O & networking | PCIe 4.0 and newer, 10GE/25GE up to 100GE |
| Availability | Redundant power supplies and fans (N+1), hot-swap components |
| Typical workloads | Cloud-native workloads, big data, distributed storage, databases, virtualization |
Specifications vary by model and generation. See Huawei Enterprise for details.
Server families
For Europe, Huawei currently offers two models of the TaiShan 200 series: the balanced all-rounder 2280 V2 and the storage-dense 5280 V2. The next generation, TaiShan 500, is launching now. Debian 13 runs across the entire Kunpeng-based line.
TaiShan 200 2280 V2
Balanced
The all-rounder. Two Kunpeng 920 sockets in a 2U chassis, balanced for big data, software-defined storage, web and virtualization. Available in Europe.
TaiShan 200 5280 V2
Storage
Built for capacity. High drive density in a 4U chassis for big data analytics, distributed storage and backup. Available in Europe.
TaiShan 500
Launching now
The next server generation, unveiled at MWC 2026. The series covers every performance class from entry level to high end and is rolling out now.
Model details based on manufacturer and partner information as of September 2026. Availability and configuration vary by region.
What makes the port special
Engineering highlights
The TaiShan drivers originally ran only on the Linux 6 kernel. The jump to kernel 7.x took painstaking work. These are the key points.
Ported to kernel 7.x
The drivers were built for the Linux 6 kernel. We adapted them to the deeply reworked SCSI and block-layer interfaces of kernel 7.x.
The RAID controller: the biggest hurdle
The Huawei SP686C triggered a kernel panic at boot. We rewired the hiraid driver cleanly; the RAID volume is reliably available.
Correct CPU detection
The Kunpeng processors are detected and initialized reliably, including SMT: two threads per core (the hyper-threading principle) are available as logical processors under Debian, Proxmox VE and Ubuntu. The basis for stable operation on the ARM64 platform.
Update-safe, no manual work
The driver ships as a DKMS package. On every kernel update the system rebuilds the module automatically, with no manual rework.
Install straight onto the RAID
The module is built into the live environments and ramdisks of the installation media. The RAID array is available as the root drive right at boot.