- AWS introduces R8i servers tuned for memory-heavy enterprise cloud workloads
- Intel’s customized Xeon chips goal databases and large cloud knowledge duties
- Reminiscence bandwidth defines AWS’s new Intel-powered servers for demanding functions
Intel has acquired some constructive information after Amazon Net Providers (AWS) confirmed it’s rolling out new digital server choices constructed on customized variations of Intel’s Xeon 6 processors.
These new choices, referred to as R8i and R8i-flex, will give AWS clients further selections when renting computing energy by the cloud.
For Intel, this marks a uncommon win at a time when rivals resembling AMD and ARM-based processors have been capturing extra of the market.
What R8i and R8i-flex truly carry
The R8i household spans a variety, scaling from simply two to 384 vCPUs, matching the potential of dual-socket servers powered by Intel’s 96-core Xeon 6 chips, since AWS defines a vCPU as one thread of a core.
Whereas AWS has not disclosed additional particulars of what makes these customized Xeons distinct, the deal with reminiscence bandwidth seems to be the defining issue for these deployments.
AWS is advertising and marketing the brand new cases for memory-heavy use instances, together with SQL and NoSQL databases, in-memory caches resembling Memcached and Redis, SAP HANA deployments, and knowledge frameworks like Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark.
Clients are additionally given the choice to regulate how bandwidth is distributed between community capabilities and Amazon’s elastic block retailer connections, which AWS suggests could present measurable database efficiency enhancements.
This positioning displays how cloud internet hosting and cloud storage more and more rely upon optimized {hardware} to deal with large-scale workloads, significantly these tied to analytics and enterprise useful resource planning.
Hyperscale suppliers resembling Oracle have beforehand promoted distinctive Xeon configurations with further cores or barely quicker clock speeds, whereas AWS itself has highlighted earlier rounds of tailor-made Intel processors.
The arrival of those new Xeons, due to this fact, matches into a longtime sample, but nonetheless reveals that Intel stays related to large-scale suppliers.
The reminiscence bandwidth enhancements, whereas not an entire architectural overhaul, are sufficient for AWS to publicly promote the chips as aggressive inside its portfolio.
For Intel, this order indicators continued reliance from an important buyer at a time when various architectures resembling AMD’s Epyc and ARM-based designs are gaining floor.
For AWS, it broadens the vary of efficiency choices out there to purchasers whose workloads demand excessive reminiscence throughput and steady efficiency throughout massive clusters.
In an period the place AI instruments and knowledge processing form demand, Intel just isn’t shedding out fully; it nonetheless holds a spot within the core of cloud infrastructure.
