Intel Xeon powers over 95% of servers running the world’s business computing workloads and cloud-based services. This guide provides IT professionals an in-depth look at the capabilities and evolution of Intel’s market-leading server processors.
An Overview of Intel Xeon Processors
Since their introduction in 1998, Xeon processors have become the trusted computing foundation for data centers housing mission-critical enterprise apps and massive cloud infrastructure.
Xeon chips deliver:
Optimized Performance – Fast single-threaded speed to maximize transactional throughput combined with high core counts/cache for parallel analytics and AI
Industrial-Grade Reliability – ECC memory, resilient fabrics and hardened materials prevent downtime that costs businesses $300K per hour
Leading Security – Innovations like Intel SGX isolate sensitive data from malware and insider attacks – crucial for clouds
Easy Scalability – Platform supports multiple sockets with fast UPI interconnects to simplify capacity expansion
Management Capabilities – Intel vPro plus standards like Redfish monitor 500+ server health parameters in real-time
Let’s explore the generations of microarchitecture advances allowing Xeon to cement its dominance through two decades of technology transitions.
The Evolution of Xeon Microarchitectures
While the first 1998 Pentium II Xeon introduced key data center class features like ECC memory, simultaneous multithreading (SMT) in 2002 enabled a single Xeon processor to execute multiple threads in parallel.
The Dual-Core NetBurst Xeons of 2006 doubled computational capacity over previous single-core designs. Intel then integrated the memory controller and added advanced vector processing with 2009’s Nehalem architecture:
Nehalem Microarchitecture
- Integrated MC – Reduced memory latency
- Turbo Boost – Dynamically increased clock speed
- AES-NI – Accelerated encryption/decryption
Building on Nehalem’s progress, Sandy Bridge in 2014 optimized data flow with AVX extensions plus enterprise-grade RAS:
Sandy Bridge Microarchitecture
- AVX – 256-bit vectors boosted math processing
- Run Sure Technology – Maintained upset/fault resilience
- Node controller – Enabled socket communication
2017 then introduced the Xeon Scalable platform aligning model tiers to customer requirements:
Xeon Scalable Platform
- Bronze – Cost-optimized high density single-socket
- Silver – Well-balanced mainstream dual-socket
- Gold – Advanced virtualization/analytics capabilities
- Platinum – Maximizes in-memory database performance
Let’s now contrast the specs and intended uses of these Xeon Scalable processors in greater detail.
Breaking Down Intel Xeon Scalable Offerings
The Xeon Scalable family supports a wide spectrum of enterprise workloads. Deciding which balance of cores, memory, I/O and features best align to your apps is key. I’ll compare the tiers head-to-head:
|| Bronze | Silver | Gold | Platinum
|-|——-|——-|——|———|
| Target Apps | Web serving, file/print | Virtualization, computing | Mission-critical OLTP, DBMS | Analytics, in-memory
| Cores/Threads | 6/12 | 12/24 | Up to 28/56 | Up to 28/56
| Max Memory | 1 TB | 2 TB | 2 TB | 2 TB
|PCIe Lanes | 28 | 36 | 48 | 48
| RAS Features | Basic ECC | Enhanced RAS, resiliency | Full RAS, memory sparing | Accelerator support
| Price | $500 | $1200 | $2400 | $8700
With computing requirements exploding, many next-generation workloads require pooling Xeon with specialized processors like GPUs and FPGAs:
Xeon Complements AI and Analytics Accelerators
While Xeon provides versatile general-purpose processing, its platform shines brightest when integrating accelerators like GPUs and FPGAs:
- Deep Learning – Xeon + GPUs handle training’s parallel matrix math and inference‘s responsive latency constraints better together
- Real-time Analytics – FPGAs filter and preprocess data before Xeon computes complex logic
- HPC – Xeon manages workflows and messaging while GPUs simulate models and process streams faster
Intel Tuning Enhancements like Cache Allocation Technology also tailor Xeon to accelerate databases:
Cache Allocation Tech
- CAT – Dynamically partitions cache to match DB hot datasets
- Code/Data Prioritization – Allocates cache to favor latency-sensitive apps
Similarly, Intel Speed Select configures high priority cores to handle transactions without interference from background tasks.
Now let’s explore how enhanced security prevents Xeon servers from attacks plaguing the digital economy.
Hardened Security for the Cloud Era
With exponential data growth housed on vulnerable servers, Xeon secures clouds and enterprises via:
Intel SGX – Trusted execution isolates sensitive apps, data and code running on Xeon from root kit malware or the OS itself
OS Guard – Blacklists known malware attack patterns from altering critical system files
Hardware-Enhanced Key Protection – Encrypts keys in on-die AES engine so decrypted info never hits main memory
TME, BIOS Guard – Prevents malicious code injection into platform firmware and below OS level
These Xeon-level protections join standard Intel vPro tools allowing IT to remotely heal, monitor and patch distributed servers.
Up next, we’ll contrast how Xeon and AMD platforms differ for scale-up server infrastructure.
Xeon vs EPYC – Platform Comparison
Let‘s compare Xeon and AMD EPYC‘s infrastructure capabilities crucial for server installations:
|| Intel Xeon | AMD EPYC
|-|———-|———-
| Processor Scalability | 4 and 8 socket capable | Max of 2 sockets currently
| Max Memory | Up to 3 TB per processor | 2 TB per EPYC chip
| RAS Features | Run Sure, MCA recovery | Core-level redundancy
|I/O | Up to 80 lanes PCIe 4.0 | 128 lanes PCIe 4.0
| Security | Full stack Intel vPro, TXT, SGX | SEV-ES, memory encryption
So while AMD wins on PCIe connectivity and cores per processor, Xeon opens more room to scale vertically across sockets and memory capacity.
Xeon also ships validated for existing server software stacks where EPYC is still maturing its ecosystem support.
Intelligent Performance Features
In addition to security and scalability advantages, Xeon powers ahead with exclusive performance enhancements:
Speed Select – Assigns processor cores as either high throughput or low latency so mixed workloads don’t contend
Intel Deep Learning Boost – Adds bfloat16 support ideal for deep learning training and inference
Intel Crypto Acceleration – Special instructions speed bulk encryption using AES-NI, SHA-NI engines
What Does the Future Hold?
The forthcoming Sapphire Rapids Xeons will integrate accelerators and advanced buffer storage class memory more tightly. Support for DDR5 boosts capacity and speed for memory-intensive apps as well.
10nm manufacturing ramps performance per watt. And increased integration lowers TCO for cloud service providers and enterprises.
Stay tuned for more coverage as next-gen Intel Xeon processors push data center capabilities further.
