Showing posts with label ARM Server. Show all posts
SAN JOSE, Calif. March 8, 2017 – Cavium, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAVM), announced today that they are collaborating with Microsoft on evaluating and enabling a variety of cloud workloads running on Cavium’s flagship ThunderX2 ARMv8-A Data Center processor for the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
The
companies are also demonstrating web services on a version of Windows Server
developed for Microsoft’s internal use running cloud services workloads on
ThunderX2. The server platform is based on Microsoft’s Project Olympus –
Microsoft’s next generation open source hyperscale cloud hardware design. The demonstrations will be shown at the Open Compute Project (OCP) U.S. Summit in
San Jose on March 8 and 9, 2017 and are the result of an extensive long term
collaboration between the two companies.
The ThunderX2 product family is Cavium's second
generation 64-bit ARMv8-A server processor SoCs for Data Center, Cloud and High
Performance Computing applications. The family integrates fully out-of-order
high performance custom cores supporting single and dual socket configurations.
ThunderX2 is optimized to drive high computational performance delivering
outstanding memory bandwidth and memory capacity. The new line of ThunderX2
processors includes multiple workload optimized SKUs for both scale up and
scale out applications and is fully compliant with ARMv8-A architecture
specifications as well as ARM's SBSA and SBBR standards. It is also widely
supported by industry leading OS, Hypervisor and SW tool and application
vendors.
Cavium’s hardware platform is fully compliant with
Microsoft’s Project Olympus which is
one of the most modular and flexible cloud hardware design in the data center
industry. The platform integrates two ThunderX2
processors in a dual socket configuration. ThunderX2 SoC integrates a large
number of fully out-of-order custom ARMv8-A cores with rich IO connectivity for
accommodating a variety of peripherals for Azure, delivering excellent
throughput and latency for cloud applications. The platform has been designed
in collaboration with a leading server ODM supplier for Microsoft.
“Cavium is excited to work with Microsoft on
ThunderX2,” said Gopal Hegde, VP/GM, Data Center Processor Group at Cavium.
“ARM-based servers have come a long way with first generation ThunderX-based server
platforms being deployed at multiple data centers, which enabled a critical
mass of ecosystem partners for ARM. We see the second generation products
helping to drive a tipping point for ARM server deployment across a mainstream
set of volume applications. Microsoft’s support will help accelerate commercial
deployment of ARMv8 server platforms for Data Centers and Cloud.”
Dr. Leendert van Doorn, Distinguished Engineer,
Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Corp said, “We’re impressed with the innovation and
competitiveness of the latest generation of ARM server processors, like
ThunderX2, and are excited about the roadmap. Microsoft has developed a version
Windows Server, for Microsoft’s
internal use, that supports ARMv8. We have also have been working closely with
Cavium on ThunderX2 to support Microsoft’s Project Olympus design so they can
be consumed in our data centers.”
About Cavium
Cavium, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAVM), offers a broad portfolio of infrastructure solutions for compute, security, storage, switching, connectivity and baseband processing. Cavium’s highly integrated multi-core SoC products deliver software compatible solutions across low to high performance points enabling secure and intelligent functionality in Enterprise, Data Center and Service Provider Equipment. Cavium processors and solutions are supported by an extensive ecosystem of operating systems, tools, application stacks, hardware reference designs and other products. Cavium is headquartered in San Jose, CA with design centers in California, Massachusetts, India, Israel, China and Taiwan.
Cavium, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAVM), offers a broad portfolio of infrastructure solutions for compute, security, storage, switching, connectivity and baseband processing. Cavium’s highly integrated multi-core SoC products deliver software compatible solutions across low to high performance points enabling secure and intelligent functionality in Enterprise, Data Center and Service Provider Equipment. Cavium processors and solutions are supported by an extensive ecosystem of operating systems, tools, application stacks, hardware reference designs and other products. Cavium is headquartered in San Jose, CA with design centers in California, Massachusetts, India, Israel, China and Taiwan.
Media Contact:
Angel Atondo
Sr. Marketing Communications Manager
Telephone: +1 408-943-7417
Email: angel.atondo@cavium.com
Sr. Marketing Communications Manager
Telephone: +1 408-943-7417
Email: angel.atondo@cavium.com
2017
promises to be an exciting year for servers and the competitiveness of
compute offerings. This year will see this scope of impact not only
include enterprise datacenters and the public cloud, but extend to the
emergence of "edge computing". Edge computing is defined as compute
required to deal with data at or near the point of creation. Among other
things, these devices will include the “ocean” of remote, smart
sensors, commonly included in internet of things (IoT) discussions.
Here
is a list of a few things to we’ll see concerning specific CPUs.
It
should come as no surprise that Intel INTC -0.16% continues to dominate
(>99%) the server market but is under enormous pressure on all fronts. Xeon
and its evolution continue to be their compute vanguard. Xeon-Phi (and now the
addition of Nervana) make up their engines for high-performance computing /
machine learning. Phi has seen some success, but it isn’t clear yet how Nervana
offerings will materialize.
Advanced
Micro Devices AMD -0.57% (AMD) has their best shot in years for fielding an
Intel competitor that just about everyone (except perhaps Intel) is eager to
see. If the AMD Zen server CPU is simply good enough (meaning, it shows up,
works and has at least some performance value), it will take market share
simply by being an x86 competitor. AMD is encouraged by early indicators. They
also have their ATI GPGPU technology which will provide additional
opportunities.
ARM
Holdings will continue to dominate the mobile and embedded device space, but
the fight is hard in these segments. The more likely opportunity for ARM
expansion will be at the "edge" and not so much in the server space.
The death of Vulcan by Avago, the acquisition of Applied Micro Circuits (APM)
and their plan to find a place for X-Gene leaves the Cavium CAVM +0.69%
ThunderX, the "yet to be launched" Qualcomm QCOM -0.02% Centriq CPU
and a few other very focused ARM initiatives still standing. After years of
"This is the Year for ARM Servers", the outlook could be better, and
if AMD produces a plausible Intel competitor (capable of running x86 software),
it will put extreme pressure on whole ARM server CPU initiative.
OpenPOWER
seems on the other hand to have a lot of momentum but to date has not
significantly impacted the x86 server market. 2017 may end on a different note.
OpenPOWER‘s (IBM IBM -1.27%) willingness to embrace NVIDIA NVDA -0.74% (the
darling of the machine learning segment) and embed an NV-Link interface is
going to play well with much of AI and HPC communities. By the end of the year,
we will have seen some interesting OpenPOWER offerings emerge based on advanced
silicon process technology from a variety of sources, and 2018 may see a whole
different story. Especially if an embrace from Google GOOGL -0.14%, who has
been flirting with OpenPOWER for a while now, materializes and creates a
tipping point.
The
real challenge to all CPUs is the way they do work. Their philosophy is built
on the principle that data must come into the chip, be operated on by the chip,
with results or even new data being pushed out of the chip. This whole process
creates a natural bottleneck that we've flirted with for decades. As the
magnitude and scope of data increases, something has got to give, and a
favorite candidate is more parallelism. So far, this has favored GPGPUs or
accelerators.
At
the bigger-picture business level for datacenters and the public cloud, the
real question is not so much which CPU (in fact, the business folks probably
couldn't care less), but the economics of private, public or hybrid solutions.
It is safe to say enterprise computing will not disappear any time soon, and
while there is much activity, the implementations and economics of hybrid
solutions have proven to be difficult. According to Gartner, by 2020 more
compute power will have been sold by IaaS and PaaS cloud providers than sold
and deployed into enterprise datacenters. The fact that companies (especially
smaller ones) are either being born in or moving to the cloud at a rapid pace
is undeniable. However, NOT all are seeing the expected saving materialize from
this move. 2017 will certainly see some careful thinking and maybe even some
rethinking of strategy.
The
explosion of data at the edge is simply going to change data processing as we
know it and will create a variety of computing problems that are difficult to
do in the cloud (even though the results may end up there). However, they may
not be in the enterprise datacenters as we know them either, and we may find
them “stuck” all over the place. For more than sixty years, we have seen
compute follow the data. First from the original mainframe datacenter to the
desktop, to departmental servers, into enterprise datacenters, and now
significantly into the cloud. It is my opinion, that If you plan to put just
your data into the cloud, economics (the cost of network usage) will drive your
compute there sooner or later. You want to consider this carefully based on
your actual needs and usage. There might be a better overall business outcome,
depending on your size and ability to operate, in your own datacenter.
The
major emerging source of data is at the edge and will drive the need for much
compute there. By the way, all the CPUs mentions here should be able do the
edge reasonably well so … Game on again!
Disclosure:
My firm, Moor Insights & Strategy, like all research and analyst firms,
provides or has provided research, analysis, advising, and/or consulting to
many high-tech companies in the industry including Advanced Micro Devices,
Applied Micro Circuits, ARM Holdings, IBM, Intel, NVIDIA and Qualcomm. I do not
hold any equity positions with any companies cited in this column.
Microsoft has announced a partnership with Qualcomm to bring Windows 10 - real Windows 10, not the aborted cut-down version formerly known as Windows RT - to the company's ARM processors.
Microsoft's previous attempts at playing with non-x86/AMD64 platforms have not exactly set the world aflame. The company has long offered an embedded Windows release which supports ARM and other non-x86/AMD64 architectures, and recently made that available to a wider audience under the moniker Windows 10 IoT Core. Although Windows 10 IoT Core does indeed run on ARM-based devices, in particular the popular Raspberry Pi single-board computer, it's not Windows as most users would know it; instead it's a cut-down operating system designed to run a single application at a time, and built with the intention of winning over embedded developers from Linux and other non-Windows kernels to the Windows ecosystem.
The closest Microsoft has ever come to a true release of a consumer-centric Windows version on ARM was Windows RT, launched alongside Windows 8 on Microsoft's Surface family of tablets. While one or two hardware partners licensed Windows RT, it was soon abandoned by both third parties and Microsoft itself: Microsoft confirmed in 2015 that Windows RT would not be updated to a Windows 10-based version, and sank the final nail into its coffin a few months later by leaving Windows RT out of its so-called 'Universal' Windows Platform.
Now, though, Microsoft is having another crack of the whip, and it's convinced Qualcomm to come along for the ride. Devices built around Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon processors will, the companies have jointly announced, be able to run Windows 10 - and this time it's truly the same release of Windows you'd find on an x86/AMD64 device. Not only will it run Windows 10, mind you, but also Windows 10's considerable ecosystem of applications - including those compiled exclusively for Win32 under the x86 architecture and the Universal Windows Platform.
'To deliver on our customers' growing needs to create on the go, we announced today that Windows 10 is coming to ARM through our partnership with Qualcomm,' explained Microsoft's Terry Myerson in a blog post late last night. 'For the first time ever, our customers will be able to experience the Windows they know with all the apps, peripherals, and enterprise capabilities they require, on a truly mobile, power efficient, always-connected cellular PC.'
Technical details of how the system will work have not yet been released, but the secret lies in emulation: a translation engine will take the x86/AMD64 instructions from the operating system and the software it's hosting and translate them into ARM instructions for the host processor. It's a tried-and-tested approach which gave machines like the Acorn Archimedes and Commodore Amiga basic x86 support in the 1980s and 1990s, though one which typically comes with a considerable performance hit - something for which Qualcomm's latest chips, it is to be hoped, can compensate.
A video demonstrating Windows 10 and Adobe Photoshop running on an ARM-based device is reproduced below, with Qualcomm and Microsoft promising to launch the first units some time next year.
Packet.net strong-ARMs cloud for $0.005 per core per hour
CEO
Zachary Smith told The Register that the company's cooked up the cloud for a
few reasons. Price is one: Packet will offer ARM cores at a tenth of the price
it charges for Intel cores, at US$0.50 per hour per server, or $0.005 per core
per hour. Smith thinks that will be a head-turner by itself.
Packet.net,
a bare-metal cloud aimed at developers, has flicked the switch on cloud-running
servers powered by a pair of Cavium's 48-core ARMv8-A ThunderX processors.
He
also thinks developers will appreciate the chance to try native Docker on
many-cored machines and appreciate the opportunity an ARM-powered cloud
represents as they pursue 100 per cent portable software. He believes open
source folk will see the arrival of an ARM-powered cloud as incentive to
accelerate cross-platform versions of their pet projects.
Even
ARM will benefit, he says, because having a working cloud on the market will
give both it and licensees more reason to innovate for the data centre.
ARM's
recent purchaser, SoftBank, recently tipped some money into Packet.net, but Smith
swears he's had a long-term ambition to offer an ARM-powered cloud, if only
because he enjoys having multiple ARM server CPU vendors willing to do deals.
That kind of competition is not currently possible in the x86 world, at least
until AMD returns to servers in 2017.
Smith
also feels that ARM clouds are inevitable, probably thanks to telcos looking to
offer cores to rent at the edge of their networks. The CEO feels that telcos
will build edge clouds because they're sick of over-the-top players having all
the fun and profits: this time telcos want to build a revenue-generating
platform beyond mere carriage.
For
now, Packet's ARM cloud offers 64-bit Ubuntu 16.04, but promises that CoreOS,
FreeBSD and CentOS are in the pipeline. Four different ARM server
configurations are also in the works.
The
cloud will have an API, a portal, and will also be accessible from DevOps
favourites likes Terraform and Ansible. Four of the company's bit barns – in
Parsippany New Jersey, Sunnyvale California, Amsterdam and Tokyo – will offer
the service as of Tuesday.
"We
want to offer a super-cheap, 'you would be stupid not to try it'
offering," Smith told The Register. "If we can get the open source
ecosystem rebooted, I think Intel's grip on the data centre will be
shattered." ®
A sprinkling of Internet of Things ... and ... it's alive: Startup
Igneous Systems has re-discovered and re-imagined the idea of customers renting
an externally managed system on their premises, giving it an Internet of Things
(IoT) and public cloud make-over.
Customers
start with a 2x1 system of two dataRouters and one dataBox at a usable capacity
of 212TB. The dataRouters and dataBoxes can scale independently.
The
new angles are that IoT devices can generate vast amounts of data which is
difficult to send to a set of on-premises servers or the public cloud because
transmission is too slow and/or the data is sensitive and needs to be retained
on site.
Igneous's
answer is to store it locally in a public cloud-like, scale-out,
hyper-converged system that can run some compute processes on the data, and be
managed through the cloud. Example compute workloads are auto-tagging, metadata
extraction, image processing, and text analysis.
Igneous
owns and operates the on-premises equipment and the customer has a
capacity-based subscription pricing scheme. The systems are remotely managed
and monitored through a cloud service, and there is automated cloud management
processes for upgrades, troubleshooting, and failure management. Igneous claims
that these functions can be performed on a mirror of incoming and outgoing data
streams without slowing down low-level system functions.
The
Igneous architecture utilises a microservices approach and incorporates stream
processing, an event-driven framework, and container services.
The
equipment is based on ARM-powered nano-servers, with each being a disk drive,
ARM processor and Ethernet link. Igneous calls this a JBOND - Just a Bunch of
Networked Drives. There is a SoC (System On Chip) with a Linux-running Marvell
32-bit Armada 370 processor, with two Cortex-A9 cores running at up to 1 GHz.
Networking is via two 1 GbitE ports, and the nanoservers operate in a kind of
mesh.
It
reminds El Reg of Seagate's Ethernet-addressed Kinetic disk drives, except that
Igneous has had its own nanoservers built and the JBOND is accessed as an S3
data store. Any processing capabilities to operate on the stored data need
adding. Data is stored using erasure coding and failed nanoserver disks have
data rebuilt using other nanoservers.
We
also think 32-bit ARM CPUs look a bit light in compute power terms and 64-bit
ones will need to be used if any serious compute is going to be done on the
data.
Access
is via Amazon's S3 API across a customer's 10Gbit Ethernet infrastructure.
Other public cloud service access protocols will probably be added in the
future.
A
dataBox has 60 drives (nano-servers with 6TB disks) in a 4U enclosure and is a
capacity store. A dataRouter is a stateless 1U server used for protocol
endpoints and keeping track of data in the nanoserver mesh.
There
is some existing third-party software support. For example, Commvault Virtual
Server Protection (VSP) enables users to back up to an Igneous System and
Infinite IO works with Igneous.
This
Igneous nanoserver kit is an interesting start in what we might ultimately call
micro or nano hyper-converged systems. Getting involved with it means
leading/bleeding edge work for Linux and S3 buffs.
Get
a datasheet here. The Igneous Data Service is available immediately to
customers in North America. Customers can purchase annual subscriptions in
increments of 212TB of usable capacity, starting at under $40,000 (equivalent
to 1.5 cents/GB/month). This is claimed to be lower than the cost of S3 (3
cents/GB/month). Volume discounts are available, based on installed capacity or
contract duration. ®
CHIPMAKER Intel's Altera unit has unveiled the Stratix 10, a quad-core FPGA that features a 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 with five times the density and twice the performance of Altera's previous generation Stratix V.
The Stratix 10 offers
70 per cent lower power consumption for the same performance and will be
produced on Intel's latest 14nm process technology.
The
device was unveiled by Dan McNamara, corporate vice president and general
manager of the Programmable Solutions Group (PSG) at Intel.
"Stratix
10 combines the benefits of Intel's 14nm tri-gate process technology with a
revolutionary new architecture called HyperFlex to uniquely meet the
performance demands of high-end compute and data-intensive applications ranging
from data centres, network infrastructure, cloud computing and radar and
imaging systems," he said.
The
device is intended for data centre applications and networking infrastructure,
and comes after Intel signed adeal in August with ARM to produce chips based on ARM's
intellectual property in Intel's most advanced chip production facilities.
The
arrangement came after Intel struck a deal in2013 to make 64-bit ARM chips for Altera when it was
designing the Stratix 10.
"FPGAs
are used in the data centre to accelerate the performance of large-scale data
systems. When used as a high-performance, multi-function accelerator in the
data centre, Stratix 10 FPGAs are capable of performing the acceleration and
high-performance networking capabilities," explained McNamara.
The
device is among the first new products that Intel will produce on its own fabs
that incorporate ARM microprocessor technology since offloading the Xscale
business to Marvell in 2006.
Intel
had acquired the Xscale business, then called StrongARM, after buying Digital
Equipment's semiconductor operations in the late 1990s.
Meanwhile,
Intel completed the acquisition ofAltera in December 2015, when CEO BrianKrzanich said: "We will apply Moore's Law to grow today's
FPGA business, and we'll invent new products that make amazing experiences of
the future possible - experiences like autonomous driving and machine
learning."
This
is not the first time that a chip design company has blended memory with
switching fabric. The Xilinx Zynq-7000 is an all-programmable SoC comprising
two 32-bit ARM Cortex-A9 cores, an FPGA and a number of controller cores to
handle Ethernet, USB and other controllers.
Intel-owned
Altera has produced a white paper explaining the technicalintricacies of the Stratix 10. µ
Japanese-owned chip designer ARM has today unveiled a new chip designed with safety as its key feature.
Unlike
standard chipsets, the ARM Cortex-R52 is designed to comply with the most
stringent safety standards in the automotive and industrial markets.
Such
a chipset is necessary for a number of new emergent computing fields, including
self-driving cars and medical robots.
In
these fields, compromised code on the chip itself could result in very
dangerous consequences when in use.
To
mitigate this danger, within the Cortex-R52 chip safety-critical code is fully
isolated by ‘hardware-enforced separation’ of software tasks.
“The
Cortex-R52 is the first processor built on the ARMv8-R architecture and it was
designed from the ground up to address functional safety,” said James McNiven,
general manager for CPU at ARM.
While
the chips were designed by ARM, the company has already signed a deal with
STMicroelectronics for them to be the first licensed manufacturer of the
Cortex-R52.
STMicroelectronics
themselves noted the security provided by the chips as a key selling point.
“The
Cortex-R52’s ability to compartmentalize software provides our users with the
best solution for safety without loss of determinism,” said Fabio Marchiò,
automotive digital division general manager of STMicroelectronics.
The
announcement of this chip comes at a time of growth for autonomous vehicles and
other critical robotic systems.
With
recent hacking demonstrations showing the relative insecurity of the current
chips and software used in these systems, the new ARM chip could find a strong
market niche.
The
release of the Cortex-R52 also follows ARM’s recent acquisition by Japanese
electronics company Softbank.
One
of the main drivers of this deal was for Softbank to acquire the chip
technology which would underpin the explosion of so-called Internet of Things
(IoT) devices.
As
autonomous cars and industrial/medical robots are key parts of the IoT
ecosystem, this acquisition already appears to be bearing fruit for Softbank.
Further
demonstrating the interest in this sector, key rival Intel earlier this year
acquired Yogitech, another company which specialized in designing safety chips.
The Cortex R52 is coming to a robot near you - ARM announces safety-first IoT processor for robots and cars
MICROPROCESSOR
DESIGNER ARM has announced a new chip for real-time safety-critical
applications when humans come into contact with machines.
The
Cortex R-52 has been five years in development and is engineered to meet new
safety standards as ARM takes aim at the growing market of large-scale smart
devices, such as surgical robots and self-driving cars.
Chip
manufacturers see the safety-critical processor as an important growth market
as the IoT moves more into the consumer realm. Intel scooped up Yogitech in
April, an IoT startup focused on boosting the security credentials of chips
used in robots, self-driving cars and other autonomous devices.
The
new ARM chip can switch between tasks 14 times faster than its predecessor, the
Cortex R-5, according to John Ronco, vice president of product marketing at
ARM, who said that the design has already been commercially licensed to
semiconductor firm STMicroelectronics.
Safety-critical
chips are vital in situations where autonomous or semi-autonomous machines
could cause injury or death in the event of a fault or a hack.
Vehicles
are becoming increasingly dependent on software to optimise performance and
make autonomous decisions, but one of the key problems holding back
developments such as driverless cars is concern over how easily they can be
hacked and the consequences of software bugs.
ARM
claimed that the Cortex R-52 "delivers the highest level of integrated
capability for functional safety" of any ARM chip so far.
"Cortex-R52
implements hardware to simplify the integration of increasingly complex
real-time software environments while providing the robust separation of
software necessary to protect safety-critical code," ARM said on its
website.
"As
the first ARMv8-R processor, Cortex-R52 introduces an extra privilege level
which provides support for a hypervisor."
ARM
unveiled the Cortex-A73 processor and Mali G71 CPU in May which it said will
power the majority of virtual reality-ready smartphones in 2017.
Formerly
the UK's biggest technology firm, ARM was recently acquired by Japan's SoftBank
Group for £23.3bn. μ
ARM’s
newsroom site says nothing about it – yet. However, according to PC World,
ARM’s first supercomputer chip will find its way into a machine based in Japan.
The Post-K computer, to be developed by Fujitsu, and should be 50 – 100 times
faster than its predecessor, the K Computer.
At
peak performance, the K Computer delivers 10.5 petaflops (one quadrillion
floating point operations per second (FLOPS). PC World says the new processor
will be based on the 64-bit ARM-v8A architecture. It will have vector
processing extensions called Scalabe Vector Extension.
ARM
has made a name for itself creating mobile chips, and with its products being
featured in Apple’s iPhone, it is a pretty powerful company. However, it was
acquired by Japanese company Softbank, for $32 billion (£24.5bn). With this
cash, ARM will be looking to strengthen its position in both servers and IoT
(internet of things) industries.
What
we should expect in the near(er) future is for these supercomputers to reach
one exaflop. All hotshots (Intel, Nvidia, IBM), have been pushing to reach that
goal some time now. Some media are also saying that ARM’s chips could be a more
power-efficient alternative, knowing that large-scale supercomputers draw
megawatts of power.
