The Future of Data Processing: An Inside Look at the 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors

Sponsored by Intel.

In announcing the 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors, Intel® noted that it was one of the most important product launches in the company’s history. When you look at the technical details of the new processors you can see why – with the new 4th Gen Intel Xeon processors microarchitecture the multiple hardware-based accelerators, the built-in security features, the power-saving features and the raw speed that they undoubtedly deliver. And incidentally, the total cost of ownership is between 52% and 66% lower compared to prior generations.

Table of Contents:

• What are 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors?
• In-Depth Look at Key Features and Accelerators
• • Complex In-Memory Analytics
  • Data Streaming Accelerator
  • Database Backup Compression with Intel QAT
  • Network Acceleration
• Security Features of 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors
• Applications for 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors
• Benefits of 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors
• Conclusion

What are 4th Gen Intel^® Xeon^® Scalable Processors?

The 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors are a powerful upgrade of the current Intel Xeon family. On January 10^th Intel® launched the new processors, known as 4th Gen Intel Xeon processors (scalable processors), 4th Gen Intel Xeon processors HBM (high-bandwidth memory CPU), and the Intel® Data Center GPU Max Series, code-named Ponte Vecchio. They deliver a substantial upgrade in data center performance, efficiency and security. They embody new capabilities for the cloud, the network and edge computing, and they are suited to the world of AI and the realm of supercomputing.

In 4th Gen Intel Xeon processors HBM, the HBM stands for High-Bandwidth Memory. In practice it means that large amounts of data can be stored close to a processing unit (CPU or GPU) giving low latency access to data. With a clock speed of up to 3.9GHz, the processors support up to 56 cores and 12 memory channels and, because of its 10nm wafer technology it is not an energy hog.

As you might expect it supports DDR5 memory (the latest generation of memory technology) and PCI-Express 5.0 (the latest version of the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express standard high-speed bus technology). They also feature new security features, such as hardware-based protection against side-channel attacks and the integration of Intel's SGX technology, which allows developers to create secure enclaves – isolated areas of execution within an application where sensitive data and code can be stored and executed.

The Intel® Data Center GPU (DC GPU) Max Series is a line of GPUs, focused on delivering high performance and scalability for artificial intelligence (AI) and high level graphics workloads, and, such as machine learning, video rendering, and scientific simulations. The GPUs in this series feature a large number of cores, advanced memory technology, and hardware acceleration.

The Max Series is aimed at customers who require high-performance graphics and AI capabilities in the data center, and who are looking for a cost-effective alternative to traditional GPU solutions. The exact specifications and capabilities of the Intel® DC GPU Max Series vary depending on the specific model, but the series is designed to deliver a high level of performance and scalability for demanding data center workloads.

The 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors come equipped with a suite of software tools including the Data analytics Accelerator (DAX), the High Performance Computing Cluster Manager (HPCM), and the Storage Resource Management Suite (SRMS), all of which enable effective resource management.

In-Depth Look at Key Features and Accelerators

Data strategy is essential for businesses to achieve operational efficiency and improved performance. By utilizing key features and accelerators of the 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors, companies can help maximize the potential of their data.

Complex in-memory Analytics (Intel® IAA):

The Processor embodies the Intel® IAA, a hardware-based accelerator built to boost the performance of in-memory analytics workloads. The accelerator offloads compute-intensive workloads from the CPU to specialized hardware, enabling faster processing of large datasets and enhancing the performance of in-memory analytics Applications. It can deliver improved query performance, lower latency, and reduced CPU utilization. It is thus ideally suited for businesses that rely on data-intensive analytics and decision-making processes.

Data Streaming Accelerator (Intel® DSA):

Data Streaming applications are increasingly common nowadays and often mission critical. To satisfy such workloads, the 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processor includes the Intel® DSA. This is another hardware-based accelerator designed for data streaming. It offloads compute-intensive workloads from the CPU to specialized hardware, which enables faster processing of large amounts of incoming data in real-time. The Accelerator can provide improved performance, lower latency, and reduced CPU utilization, making it an effective solution for businesses that require real-time data processing and analysis. Use cases include internet-of-things (IoT) applications, telecommunication networks, and financial services. It is suited also to high-volume data streams.

Compressed database Backups with Intel^® Quick Assis Technology (QAT):

Encryption and compression have become crucial for large or mission critical database management system. The Intel® QAT, a feature of the 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processor, that provides hardware acceleration for precisely these functions. The QAT offloads these workloads from the CPU enabling very fast processing of data–the throughput can increase by a factor of up to 10x when compared with software only solutions. This is a result of the QAT being integrated on the 4^th gen Xeon CPUs, as before this was a separate adapter.
By using QAT, businesses can handle large amounts of data more swiftly and more effectively.

Network Acceleration

The network acceleration features of the 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processor, like the Intel AVX for vRAN and Intel vRAN Boost, are designed to offload network processing from the CPU to specialized hardware, enabling faster processing of data in transit. These features can provide improved performance, lower latency, and reduced CPU utilization, making the Processor attractive to businesses that rely on high-speed networks, for applications such as network security, distributed database, content delivery, and virtualization. Using these features businesses can handle large amounts of network data at greater speed and more efficiently.

Security Features of 4th Gen Intel^® Xeon^® Scalable Processors

You might say that the 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors are security-minded. They offer a number of advanced features to help protect sensitive information. The processors are equipped with hardware-based encryption technology, that will help ensure that only authorized users can access data–even when the system is powered off.
The increased secured is achieved by The Intel Trust Domain Extensions (TDX), architectural elements that isolate data and code in use at the virtual machine level.
TDX leverages the Software Guard Extensions (SGX) technology, which protects data in execution environments.

They offer robust protection against malware, making it difficult for malicious software to gain any toe-hold in the system.

Secure boot technology is also included, which helps ensure that only trusted software is running on the system and prevents unauthorized changes from being made to the operating system or other critical components. With the built-in virtualization capabilities, multiple applications and services can run more securely in separate partitions within a single physical server, enhancing security through isolation.

The processors also support industry-standard authentication protocols, such as TLS/SSL and IPSec, providing an extra layer of defense against external threats and secure communication between endpoints.

The 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors offer powerful processing capabilities combined with advanced security features, making them an excellent choice for businesses looking for reliable performance and more comprehensive protection of their data.

Applications for 4th Gen Intel^® Xeon^® Scalable Processors

The 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors are suitable for a variety of applications that demand high performance and scalability. We have touched on some of these already.

Because of the networking acceleration and their raw power in processing data, the Processors are particularly suited to virtualization in all its forms whether that involves server consolidation, disaster recovery, running virtualized test and development environments, application migration, cloud computing in general or remote access to resources and applications.

The Processors are optimized for cloud computing, making them an excellent choice for businesses leveraging cloud services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure. With their high processing power, they can run cloud-based applications reliably at high speed, while the high throughput rates make them ideal for big data analytics projects that are often run in the cloud.

As already indicated, the 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors are well suited for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications. They handle complex computations effortlessly and at scale. The prevalence of such AI and ML applications is driven by the need for insights into customer behavior, market trends, product usage patterns, and more. Almost every area of the corporate decision-making process can now be addressed in this way. Additionally, and for the same technology reasons, these processors provide excellent support for high-performance computing (HPC) workloads, like simulations and scientific research projects, which require substantial computing resources.

Benefits of 4th Gen Intel^® Xeon^® Scalable Processors

The 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors are an attractive choice for businesses seeking to enhance their data processing capabilities. They can execute complex tasks very rapidly, making them ideal for organizations requiring rapid and reliable data processing. They embody advanced energy management technologies, complementing excellent performance with reduced energy consumption.

They are an ideal solution for C-level executives and business strategists who are looking to maximize efficiency without sacrificing performance or incurring extra costs. With scalable core counts and memory bandwidth, businesses can expand their operations as needed without having to invest in new hardware or software. The processors are equipped with AVX-512 instructions parallel processing instructions, allowing them to process complex workloads at extreme speed. This makes them ideal for data-intensive applications such as Machine Learning Applications and the full gamut of AI algorithms.

For data architects these processors offer efficient storage systems with low latency access times across multiple nodes on a single platform. So businesses can store large datasets less expensively than with traditional storage solutions. Naturally, the 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors support a wide range of operating systems, including Linux distributions like Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Ubuntu Server Edition, providing IT departments with flexibility when deploying new applications or services on existing infrastructure investments.

Overall, the 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors provide impressive performance and scalability for businesses, making them an excellent choice for data-intensive applications. The accelerators are the key features of this processor, now embedded into the processor, as before these types of accelerators had to be purchased as extra discrete hardware components for optimal performance.

Summary

In conclusion, the 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors offer businesses a robust and dependable platform upon which to build their data strategies. These processors are equipped to handle complex tasks quickly and securely, making them an ideal choice for companies seeking performance, scalability, security, and affordability.

The advanced accelerators, AI capabilities, and secure memory encryption make the 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processor a wise investment for any organization looking to optimize their data strategy. The processors deliver an average 2.9 times better performance per watt efficiency for specific workloads, thanks to the various built-in accelerators. Up to 70-watt power savings per CPU can be achieved utilizing an optimized power mode with only a minimal impact on performance for selected workloads. Remarkably, businesses can expect a total cost of ownership that is 52% to 66% lower compared to prior generations.

Any business, that is currently considering server investments would be wise to take a look at how Intel® has evolved its processor family.