Where do 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors become enablers for some of 2023’s prominent cloud computing trends? Let’s look inside IBM Cloud.
Today, in collaboration with Intel®, IBM brings the long-anticipated 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors (previously codenamed Sapphire Rapids) onto IBM Cloud Infrastructure. Intel’s latest chip design is aimed at making vital use of core CPU resources with integrated accelerators and rooted protections to help speed up safeguarded data for fast networking and boosted analytics. It’s the type of performance needed for today’s most challenging workloads that can’t be achieved by simply adding more cores.
4th Gen Intel® Xeon® microarchitecture is now available on IBM Cloud Bare Metal Servers. We’ll continue to expand its footprint throughout multiple IBM Cloud platforms into 2024 because right now, compute must deliver more than ever before. Faster data processing is continuously in high demand, the relentless growth of modern problems requiring powerful solutions continues to outstrip what’s under the hood of most operations, and protecting your most valuable asset— your data—surpasses everything. Here’s a rundown of where I see 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors making an impact for cloud computing trends inside IBM.
Security upgrades up and down the stack
Companies are striving to achieve aggressive cloud security targets that often require collaboration up and down the stack as more stringent regulations come into play. Organizations will need to measure their cybersecurity clearly and accurately to manage compliance. Intel® Crypto Acceleration—a security feature of 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® technology—is designed to perform multiple crypto operations in each CPU clock cycle with impressive performance for advanced workloads that use public key cryptography, symmetric encryption, and hashing.
It’s just one of the newer security-related performance features IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC plans to introduce in an upcoming beta program for 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors this Q3-2023. We’ll also be onboarding Intel® Trusted Domain Extensions (Intel TDX) and Intel® Software Guard Extensions (Intel SGX) onto IBM Cloud VPC in the coming year as two core building blocks for confidential computing. Together, they’re designed by Intel® to bring simpler, automated data protection for virtualized systems with as few as one click during instance configuration.
Standardized AI and ML
We’ve seen a lot of innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) so far, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon. It’s been a bit demystified since businesses can leverage the hardware needed to power it all as-a-service rather than building and maintaining their own infrastructure. Intel designed 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors for enhanced training and inference, in addition to high offload scheduling and queue management to help reduce bottlenecks. IBM Cloud Bare Metal Servers with 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® will quickly expand into all major IBM Cloud multi-zone regions this winter, helping to bring more scalable AI and ML solutions to our customers’ existing infrastructure.
“Dizzion is a fully managed desktop as a service company that increases productivity of remote workers with our digital workspace solutions, managed compliance and security offerings, and ongoing support—making secure, work-from-anywhere, easy. We’re pleased to see the 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors come to IBM Cloud Bare Metal Servers. This technology significantly advances compute density, hardware-accelerated network and data encryption, enabling us to power our next generation of performant, secured and compliant-focused digital workspaces.” – Rob Green, President & CTO, Dizzion.
Automated HPC for the hybrid extension
High-performance computing (HPC) is a fast-growing necessity across nearly every industry in cloud computing. However, entry points into certain HPC technologies can be pricey. Solutions like IBM Spectrum Scale, IBM Spectrum LSF and IBM Spectrum Symphony are already delivering supercomputing-grade power for on-demand hybrid cloud ecosystems. They come out-of-the-box with compute instances, workload schedulers, storage management and high-speed data transfers, helping to level the operating-expense playing field for enterprises and start-ups alike. This year, Spectrum solutions on IBM Cloud will bring 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors onto their platforms to help reach peak performance benefits.
IBM and Intel’s collaboration on 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors across IBM Cloud Infrastructure is designed to deliver what is truly crucial to businesses in today’s climate. The definition of cloud performance and security has certainly shifted, and we’re pleased to be one of the first cloud providers to put the newest capabilities of Intel® Xeon® microarchitecture advancements into our customers’ hands.
Statements regarding IBM’s future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice and represent goals and objectives only.
Getting started
IBM Cloud Bare Metal Servers with 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors are now available in Dallas, TX, and are being made available in IBM Cloud data centers across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific multi-zone regions.
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC featuring 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors will open as a beta program for select customers this summer. Learn more about gaining private access and how you can help shape the future of IBM Cloud and Intel® technology here.