{"id":2774,"date":"2017-06-20T13:01:05","date_gmt":"2017-06-20T20:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/?p=2774"},"modified":"2019-10-02T07:31:10","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T14:31:10","slug":"amd-is-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/amd-is-back\/","title":{"rendered":"AMD is back!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For many years, AMD has been dormant; its most recent generation of processors (Opteron) launching over five years ago. In the intervening years, the competition has steadily moved forward, removing the AMD Opteron processor from consideration for new server deployments. With the launch of the EPYC processor series, this has all changed. Not only does this new processor have performance comparable to the current x86 competition, but it also supports a full 128 lanes of PCIe with only a single processor. This is a feat with which the current competition simply cannot compete.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/amd-is-back\/#Improved_CPU_Utilization\" >Improved CPU Utilization<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/amd-is-back\/#Ideal_for_Software_Defined_Storage_and_GPU_computing\" >Ideal for Software Defined Storage and GPU computing<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/amd-is-back\/#Better_price_to_performance_ratio\" >Better price to performance ratio<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/amd-is-back\/#Specifications\" >Specifications<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Improved_CPU_Utilization\"><\/span>Improved CPU Utilization<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When AMD set out to design its latest generation of processor, it decided to zero in on what it found when looking at many data centers &#8212; low CPU utilization. While most data centers are filled with dual-processor servers, these systems have on average only a 40% utilization rate. Also, most applications are rarely CPU bound, with memory and I\/O being the two main bottlenecks. In many of these instances, the main advantage of having dual CPU\u2019s is what it provides in the form of total memory count and number of available PCIe lanes. The processing power just isn\u2019t necessary.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"243\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2791\" style=\"margin-left: 70px; width:500px; height:243px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/performance-flexibility-security.jpg\" alt=\"Advantages of the AMD EPYC Processor\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Ideal_for_Software_Defined_Storage_and_GPU_computing\"><\/span>Ideal for Software Defined Storage and GPU computing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Instead of talking in generalities, let\u2019s look at two scenarios where a single processor AMD EPYC system could really benefit end users &#8212; Software Defined Storage (SDS) and GPU computing. In most of our storage deployments, a powerful appliance or head node makes all the difference. However, most storage systems are not CPU bound. The most important attributes are number of I\/O lanes, bandwidth, and memory count. Storage servers must have maximum connectivity (lots of PCIe lanes) and high memory counts (lots of caching). Processing power is secondary. AMD EPYC processors allow a single processor storage system to maximize performance while saving upfront costs and decreasing power consumption over the life of the system.<\/p>\n<p>GPU systems have similar needs as storage systems. However, instead of having lots of external I\/O connections, they have the need for massive internal I\/O in the form of many GPU co-processors all connected by PCIe. Since the bulk of the processing is being performed by the GPU cards, dual processors are not necessary. Again this is another situation where the TCO of the solution can be reduced by using the AMD EPYC processor.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"212\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2792\" style=\"margin-left: 70px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/architecture.jpg\" alt=\"AMD EPYC Processor Architecture\" style=\"width:500px; height:212px;\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Better_price_to_performance_ratio\"><\/span>Better price to performance ratio<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In addition to single processor systems, the new AMD processor will also be a great choice for regular dual processor (DP) servers&#8211;such as the refreshed Atlas 1288R. Based on preliminary performance data, the AMD DP systems are already proving to be comparable to other x86 based systems on the market, and with better price \/ performance. Competition is good, and with the EPYC processor &#8212; we\u2019re glad AMD is back!<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Specifications\"><\/span>Specifications<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline;\">Compute<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\">\u25cb 16 to 32 AMD x86 cores (32 to 64 threads)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\">\u25cb 512KB L2 cache per core (16MB total L2 cache)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\">\u25cb 64MB shared L3 cache<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Memory<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\">\u25cb 8 DDR channels per socket <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\">\u25cb DDR4 with ECC 170.7GB\/s @ 2667MHz<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Integrated I\/O<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\">\u25cb 128 Lanes PCIe Gen3 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/products\/rackmount-servers-intel-amd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"152\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2789 size-full\" style=\"margin-top: 27px; width:500px; height:152px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/amd-epyc-servers-cta.jpg\" alt=\"AMD EPYC Servers\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For many years, AMD has been dormant; its most recent generation of processors (Opteron) launching over five years ago. In the intervening years, the competition has steadily moved forward, removing the AMD Opteron processor from consideration for new server deployments. With the launch of the EPYC processor series, this has all changed. Not only does&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2787,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[103,102,1],"tags":[178,149,179,39,148,61,48,40],"class_list":["post-2774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-press-releases","category-rackmount-servers","tag-amd","tag-cpu","tag-epyc","tag-intel","tag-launch","tag-rackmount","tag-server","tag-xeon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2774"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4349,"href":"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774\/revisions\/4349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pogolinux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}