Server Makeover – Intel SkyLake SP Vs AMD EPYC
Servers are the pillars of the modern software-defined datacenter features with cloud-enabled infrastructure. Servers provides scalable business architecture, intelligent automation, and integrated security for workloads. Servers should have expertise in system design, storage and virtualization to handle new type of workload such as
- Modernizing with Big Data Analytics which rapidly analyze large amounts of data,
- Cloud transformation,
- Mobility which quickly deliver apps and services,
- Upgrading converged or flash optimized servers that can improve compute and I/O performance.
- Software-defined data center
Updated Server Technology
Server technology has an entirely new strategy in which the focus moves from the box itself to the pool of resources that can be located anywhere, scaled to any workload and available at all times instead of hardware centered data centers with dedicated servers and appliances.
Processing resources are pools that are virtualized and converged with networking, storage and management.
Latest Intel Xeon Scalable Processor Family
The Intel Skylake SP has four different levels with new RAS features, and support for up to eight sockets.
Platinum
Intel Platinum 81XX Processor
- Have higher TDP ranges (105W – 205W) Vs Gold series(85W – 200W)
- Have higher memory capacity support
Gold
Intel Xeon Gold 6100
- Limited to up to 4 sockets.
- It has a full 3 UPI links
- Supports full DDR4-2666 memory speeds
- It has both FMA units operational and
- Scales up to 22 cores 44 threads.
Xeon Gold 5100(Another name Intel Xeon Jade)
- Run with up to four sockets
- But can only handle 2 UPI links meaning socket to socket bandwidth will be limited.
- With only DDR4-2400 support,
- Up to 14 cores 28 threads
- Deployed in 1 or 2 socket configurations.
Generally, Silver and Bronze levels that only
- Support up to two sockets each,
- Have only 1 FMA unit,
- Have a lower RAS feature set and
- Lower 9.6GT/s UPI links.
Silver
The Intel Xeon Silver 4100 series
- Limited to 12 cores 24 threads and
- DDR4-2400 memory operation.
- Targeted at lower power workloads.
Bronze:
Intel Xeon Bronze 3100
- The successor to the low-end Intel like Xeon E5-2603, E5-2609 With only 8 cores
- Memory speed to DDR4-2133 (2015 level)
- Light the platform at minimum cost parts but significant step up from the old generations.
Final Words: Next-generation Intel CPU in this series is Knight’s Mill Scaler Processor V2 (Knight’s Mill SP v2) with higher TDP. LGA3647 was designed for that.
Naming Convention
AMD EPYC
CPU: From 8 Cores to 32 Cores
Datacenter processors EPYC 7251 @ 2.1 GHz with 8 CPU cores at 120W TDP
Datacenter processors EPYC 7601 @ 2.2 GHz with 32 Cores and at 180W TDP
RAM:
All EPYC CPUs will have 8 channels of DDR4 2666 MHz memory and 128 PCIe lanes
Infinity Fabric:
Infinity Fabric to enable high-performance highly-scalable links between maxes out at 8 cores. So, to go above 8 cores, AMD uses an MCM (multi-chip module) to connect all the 8 cores together. So, for a 32-core EPYC processor, AMD would place four, 8 core dies on the MCM.
SECURITY
EPCY silicon-level security that enables full memory encryption to protect against common attacks of data in memory
Final thoughts:
Experts says compared t0 Intel Xeon (Gold 5100 / Silver or Bronze ranges), AMD EPYC is going to be worth investing. Here is why?
- AMD EPYC does not de-tune memory speeds (DDR4-2666 across SKUs.)
- AMD EPYC has more PCIe lanes.
- AMD EPYC has more memory capacity across the range (2TB per socket versus 768GB for Intel.)
The Intel Xeon SKU level v. AMD EPYC memory configuration
For one or two socket configurations, moving from Xeon Platinum 8180 to 8180M is about $3,000 more just to be able to use an additional 768GB of RAM for 1.5GB total.
AMD has parts at a few hundred dollars that can handle more RAM than two Intel Xeon Gold 5100 series parts or Intel Xeon Platinum 8180 SKU.
The fact that AMD has more RAM slots and DDR4 channels in its platform means that one can use lower cost 32GB DIMMs before moving to 64GB DIMMs which can save a lot. Also, while at the high capacities using 128GB LRDIMMs RAM costs can be higher side per socket making CPU pricing a small drop compared.
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