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Guru3D Rig of the Month - December 2019
Microsoft to use AMD Epyc processors for its Azure cloud platform
AMD has a big smile on its face today. Microsoft just announced that it will use AMD's Epyc server processors for its Azure cloud service, and that is big news alright.
Microsoft Azure has deployed AMD EPYC processors in its datacenters in advance of preview for its latest L-Series of Virtual Machines (VM) for storage optimized workloads. The Lv2 VM family will take advantage of the high-core count and connectivity support of the AMD EPYC processor.
"We are extremely excited to be partnering with Microsoft Azure to bring the power of AMD EPYC processors into their datacenter," said Scott Aylor, corporate vice president and general manager of Enterprise Solutions. "There is tremendous opportunity for users to tap into the capabilities we can deliver across storage and other workloads through the combination of AMD EPYC processors on Azure. We look forward to the continued close collaboration with Microsoft Azure on future instances throughout 2018."
Corey Sanders, director of compute, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Corp, said, "We're welcoming AMD's new EPYC processor to Microsoft Azure with the next generation of our L-Series Virtual Machines. The new Lv2-Series are High I/O, dense storage offerings which make EPYC perfect for Azure customers' demanding workloads. We've enjoyed a deep collaboration with AMD on our next generation open source cloud hardware design called Microsoft's Project Olympus. We think Project Olympus will be the basis for future innovation between Microsoft and AMD, and we look forward to adding more instance types in the future benefiting from the core density, memory bandwidth and I/O capabilities of AMD EPYC processors."
The Lv2-Series instances run on the AMD EPYC 7551 processor, featuring a base core frequency of 2.2 GHz and a maximum single-core turbo frequency of 3.0 GHz. With support for 128 lanes of PCIe connections per processor, AMD provides over 33 percent more connectivity than available two-socket solutions to address an unprecedented number of NVMe drives directly.
The Lv2 VMs will be available starting at eight and ranging to 64 vCPU sizes, with the largest size featuring direct access to 4TB of memory. These sizes will support Azure premium storage disks by default and will also support accelerated networking capabilities for the highest throughput of any cloud. With the unique capabilities enabled by AMD EPYC processors and Microsoft Azure, Lv2 is a perfect fit for storage-intensive workloads.
The Lv2-Series instances are based on Microsoft's Project Olympus design, first introduced just over a year ago as Microsoft's next generation hyperscale cloud hardware design. This groundbreaking design serves as a new model for open source hardware development with the Open Compute Project community.
Microsoft to offer fonts through Microsoft Store - 11/23/2017 08:43 AM
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Microsoft Releases Standards for Secure Windows 10 Devices - 11/07/2017 08:27 AM
Microsoft released a set of standard that will apply a safe and secure Windows 10 system. For example, the Redmond company sets requirements for a particular processor and a trusted platform module....
Microsoft ends its free Windows 10 upgrades December 31st - 11/06/2017 08:48 AM
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Microsoft releases cumulative updates for Windows 10 ahead of regular Patch Tuesday - 11/06/2017 08:48 AM
Microsoft has released cumulative updates for Windows outside its regular Patch Tuesday updates cycle. The company today released updates for Windows 10 Creators Update (build 1703), Windows 10 Nove...
Awkward: Edge fails during demo at Microsoft Ignite conference - 11/02/2017 08:25 AM
A bit of an awkward yet funny moment for Microsoft, at the Microsoft Ignite conference they where presenting Azure infrastructure and cloud platforms with Microsoft Edge. Edge however fails, so ho...
warezme
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Posts: 190
Joined: 2007-05-26
#5498246 Posted on: 12/05/2017 06:27 PM
Somebody gettin a nice Christmas bonus.
Somebody gettin a nice Christmas bonus.
RooiKreef
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Senior Member
Posts: 384
Joined: 2016-06-08
#5498268 Posted on: 12/05/2017 07:35 PM
Great news! This might just be the kind of injection AMD need to get them into a profitable company again.
Great news! This might just be the kind of injection AMD need to get them into a profitable company again.
kruno
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Joined: 2017-09-25
Senior Member
Posts: 258
Joined: 2017-09-25
#5498270 Posted on: 12/05/2017 07:40 PM
Well 32C/64T processor with 128 PCIE lanes , like AMD targeted cloud providers
Well 32C/64T processor with 128 PCIE lanes , like AMD targeted cloud providers
chispy
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Posts: 8758
Joined: 2006-10-29
#5498285 Posted on: 12/05/2017 08:23 PM
This is really great news to hear of Epyc proportions
This is really great news to hear of Epyc proportions
nz3777
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Senior Member
Posts: 2382
Joined: 2014-01-21
#5498291 Posted on: 12/05/2017 08:49 PM
Congrats Amd!!! They are making all the right moves honestly I am very happy for them. Being a power-user I will not lie I do like both companys Intel and Amd but as of late Intel has gotten lazy and very greedy, I hope this serves them as a good wake-up call.
Congrats Amd!!! They are making all the right moves honestly I am very happy for them. Being a power-user I will not lie I do like both companys Intel and Amd but as of late Intel has gotten lazy and very greedy, I hope this serves them as a good wake-up call.
sykozis
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Senior Member
Posts: 21139
Joined: 2008-07-14
#5498351 Posted on: 12/06/2017 01:50 AM
Not really surprised considering the pricing and features of Epyc compared to Intel's offerings.
Not really surprised considering the pricing and features of Epyc compared to Intel's offerings.
sverek
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Senior Member
Posts: 5506
Joined: 2011-01-02
#5498354 Posted on: 12/06/2017 02:02 AM
Once Zen proofs itself as stable platform, more companies start to consider AMD as an option.
I have no doubt most infrastructure people look up for Zen and want to build servers with it,
however if something happens they will be responsible for switching to AMD.
If Intel server dies, well another dead machine, couldn't be helped.
If AMD server dies, management start to point fingers at people who switched from Intel to AMD.
Same with software and OS support.
AMD is on right track, hopefully we see more trust towards AMD.
Once Zen proofs itself as stable platform, more companies start to consider AMD as an option.
I have no doubt most infrastructure people look up for Zen and want to build servers with it,
however if something happens they will be responsible for switching to AMD.
If Intel server dies, well another dead machine, couldn't be helped.
If AMD server dies, management start to point fingers at people who switched from Intel to AMD.
Same with software and OS support.
AMD is on right track, hopefully we see more trust towards AMD.
drac
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Joined: 2003-10-27
Senior Member
Posts: 1752
Joined: 2003-10-27
#5498377 Posted on: 12/06/2017 05:27 AM
Good news, go AMD!
Push Intel some more.
Good news, go AMD!
Push Intel some more.
ladcrooks
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Posts: 369
Joined: 2016-12-29
Senior Member
Posts: 369
Joined: 2016-12-29
#5498498 Posted on: 12/06/2017 05:24 PM
Amd - I salute you!
Amd - I salute you!
waltc3
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Posts: 1022
Joined: 2014-07-22
#5498501 Posted on: 12/06/2017 05:35 PM
Once Zen proofs itself as stable platform, more companies start to consider AMD as an option.
I have no doubt most infrastructure people look up for Zen and want to build servers with it,
however if something happens they will be responsible for switching to AMD.
If Intel server dies, well another dead machine, couldn't be helped.
If AMD server dies, management start to point fingers at people who switched from Intel to AMD.
Same with software and OS support.
AMD is on right track, hopefully we see more trust towards AMD.
That might have been true 15 years ago, but today any IT person who isn't conversant with AMD isn't earning his pay... Think about cpu verification. It's brutal. Any cpu that passes those tests is going to be "stable"... All retail/server cpus go through exhaustive tests @ their rated MHz speeds before they ever hit the shrink wrap. At home I've been using AMD exclusively since 1999--never had a single problem with "stability"--never saw a single reason to go back to Intel in all of that time. What I discovered after deciding to ignore the naysayers back then was that all the noise about AMD "instability" and Incompatibility was just that--noise, most of it produced by Intel employees online at the time. Even as far back as 1999, when I got off of Intel and onto Athlon, my incidents of driver problems and overall stability was exactly the same as it had been with my Intel boards and Pentiums--before that 8086/88, 286, 386, and 486's. AMD is as solid as Intel, imo, if not moreso. Got a Ryzen 1600 coming in this week--which I'm sort of looking forward to--setting it up with an MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC and 16GB (2x8) of Patriot Viper Elite 3200 DDR4!
Once Zen proofs itself as stable platform, more companies start to consider AMD as an option.
I have no doubt most infrastructure people look up for Zen and want to build servers with it,
however if something happens they will be responsible for switching to AMD.
If Intel server dies, well another dead machine, couldn't be helped.
If AMD server dies, management start to point fingers at people who switched from Intel to AMD.
Same with software and OS support.
AMD is on right track, hopefully we see more trust towards AMD.
That might have been true 15 years ago, but today any IT person who isn't conversant with AMD isn't earning his pay...
Think about cpu verification. It's brutal. Any cpu that passes those tests is going to be "stable"... All retail/server cpus go through exhaustive tests @ their rated MHz speeds before they ever hit the shrink wrap. At home I've been using AMD exclusively since 1999--never had a single problem with "stability"--never saw a single reason to go back to Intel in all of that time. What I discovered after deciding to ignore the naysayers back then was that all the noise about AMD "instability" and Incompatibility was just that--noise, most of it produced by Intel employees online at the time. Even as far back as 1999, when I got off of Intel and onto Athlon, my incidents of driver problems and overall stability was exactly the same as it had been with my Intel boards and Pentiums--before that 8086/88, 286, 386, and 486's. AMD is as solid as Intel, imo, if not moreso. Got a Ryzen 1600 coming in this week--which I'm sort of looking forward to--setting it up with an MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC and 16GB (2x8) of Patriot Viper Elite 3200 DDR4!
flashmozzg
Senior Member
Posts: 127
Joined: 2013-01-30
Senior Member
Posts: 127
Joined: 2013-01-30
#5498622 Posted on: 12/07/2017 01:38 AM
With AMD it's usually the other kinds of stability "concern" I heard. I.e. not the quality/software, but availability/support. It's really import for large service providers to be able to order exactly N servers/units of HW and being able to replace it at every moment. Basically the infrastructure. AMD wasn't the best on this part.
That might have been true 15 years ago, but today any IT person who isn't conversant with AMD isn't earning his pay... Think about cpu verification. It's brutal. Any cpu that passes those tests is going to be "stable"... All retail/server cpus go through exhaustive tests @ their rated MHz speeds before they ever hit the shrink wrap. At home I've been using AMD exclusively since 1999--never had a single problem with "stability"--never saw a single reason to go back to Intel in all of that time. What I discovered after deciding to ignore the naysayers back then was that all the noise about AMD "instability" and Incompatibility was just that--noise, most of it produced by Intel employees online at the time. Even as far back as 1999, when I got off of Intel and onto Athlon, my incidents of driver problems and overall stability was exactly the same as it had been with my Intel boards and Pentiums--before that 8086/88, 286, 386, and 486's. AMD is as solid as Intel, imo, if not moreso. Got a Ryzen 1600 coming in this week--which I'm sort of looking forward to--setting it up with an MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC and 16GB (2x8) of Patriot Viper Elite 3200 DDR4!
Think about cpu verification. It's brutal. Any cpu that passes those tests is going to be "stable"... All retail/server cpus go through exhaustive tests @ their rated MHz speeds before they ever hit the shrink wrap. At home I've been using AMD exclusively since 1999--never had a single problem with "stability"--never saw a single reason to go back to Intel in all of that time. What I discovered after deciding to ignore the naysayers back then was that all the noise about AMD "instability" and Incompatibility was just that--noise, most of it produced by Intel employees online at the time. Even as far back as 1999, when I got off of Intel and onto Athlon, my incidents of driver problems and overall stability was exactly the same as it had been with my Intel boards and Pentiums--before that 8086/88, 286, 386, and 486's. AMD is as solid as Intel, imo, if not moreso. Got a Ryzen 1600 coming in this week--which I'm sort of looking forward to--setting it up with an MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC and 16GB (2x8) of Patriot Viper Elite 3200 DDR4!With AMD it's usually the other kinds of stability "concern" I heard. I.e. not the quality/software, but availability/support. It's really import for large service providers to be able to order exactly N servers/units of HW and being able to replace it at every moment. Basically the infrastructure. AMD wasn't the best on this part.
kruno
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Joined: 2017-09-25
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Posts: 258
Joined: 2017-09-25
#5498669 Posted on: 12/07/2017 07:59 AM
That is not up to amd to solve,that is server manufacturer to deal and worry about that.Amd doesn't make servers but DELL,HP,Lenovo... does
With AMD it's usually the other kinds of stability "concern" I heard. I.e. not the quality/software, but availability/support. It's really import for large service providers to be able to order exactly N servers/units of HW and being able to replace it at every moment. Basically the infrastructure. AMD wasn't the best on this part.
That is not up to amd to solve,that is server manufacturer to deal and worry about that.Amd doesn't make servers but DELL,HP,Lenovo... does
sykozis
Senior Member
Posts: 21139
Joined: 2008-07-14
Senior Member
Posts: 21139
Joined: 2008-07-14
#5499759 Posted on: 12/10/2017 05:13 PM
Most of the past stability issues were the result of motherboard manufacturers cutting corners or using low quality components. Micro-Star International (now simply, MSI) was guilty of that in the past, as were Biostar and ECS. MSI put in a lot of effort to correct the issues though and so far, neither my Z170A Gaming Pro nor my B350 Tomahawk have shown any stability or reliability issues after the initial UEFI firmware.
That might have been true 15 years ago, but today any IT person who isn't conversant with AMD isn't earning his pay... Think about cpu verification. It's brutal. Any cpu that passes those tests is going to be "stable"... All retail/server cpus go through exhaustive tests @ their rated MHz speeds before they ever hit the shrink wrap. At home I've been using AMD exclusively since 1999--never had a single problem with "stability"--never saw a single reason to go back to Intel in all of that time. What I discovered after deciding to ignore the naysayers back then was that all the noise about AMD "instability" and Incompatibility was just that--noise, most of it produced by Intel employees online at the time. Even as far back as 1999, when I got off of Intel and onto Athlon, my incidents of driver problems and overall stability was exactly the same as it had been with my Intel boards and Pentiums--before that 8086/88, 286, 386, and 486's. AMD is as solid as Intel, imo, if not moreso. Got a Ryzen 1600 coming in this week--which I'm sort of looking forward to--setting it up with an MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC and 16GB (2x8) of Patriot Viper Elite 3200 DDR4!
Think about cpu verification. It's brutal. Any cpu that passes those tests is going to be "stable"... All retail/server cpus go through exhaustive tests @ their rated MHz speeds before they ever hit the shrink wrap. At home I've been using AMD exclusively since 1999--never had a single problem with "stability"--never saw a single reason to go back to Intel in all of that time. What I discovered after deciding to ignore the naysayers back then was that all the noise about AMD "instability" and Incompatibility was just that--noise, most of it produced by Intel employees online at the time. Even as far back as 1999, when I got off of Intel and onto Athlon, my incidents of driver problems and overall stability was exactly the same as it had been with my Intel boards and Pentiums--before that 8086/88, 286, 386, and 486's. AMD is as solid as Intel, imo, if not moreso. Got a Ryzen 1600 coming in this week--which I'm sort of looking forward to--setting it up with an MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC and 16GB (2x8) of Patriot Viper Elite 3200 DDR4!Most of the past stability issues were the result of motherboard manufacturers cutting corners or using low quality components. Micro-Star International (now simply, MSI) was guilty of that in the past, as were Biostar and ECS. MSI put in a lot of effort to correct the issues though and so far, neither my Z170A Gaming Pro nor my B350 Tomahawk have shown any stability or reliability issues after the initial UEFI firmware.
flashmozzg
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Posts: 127
Joined: 2013-01-30
#5503084 Posted on: 12/20/2017 07:17 PM
I'd say it's up to AMD to work with vendors and to ensure that all of its HW is readily available for those. They are not in the position to just hope that everything works out and do nothing. At the moment they need to push their product, instead of hoping that someone would be interested enough to do most of the work for them.
That is not up to amd to solve,that is server manufacturer to deal and worry about that.Amd doesn't make servers but DELL,HP,Lenovo... does
I'd say it's up to AMD to work with vendors and to ensure that all of its HW is readily available for those. They are not in the position to just hope that everything works out and do nothing. At the moment they need to push their product, instead of hoping that someone would be interested enough to do most of the work for them.
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Awesome!