Intel has introduced its new Intel Xeon D-2100 processor, a system-on-chip (SoC) processor architected to address the needs of edge applications and other data centre or network applications constrained by space and power.
“To seize 5G and new cloud and network opportunities, service providers need to optimise their data centre and edge infrastructures to meet the growing demands of bandwidth-hungry end users and their smart and connected devices,” says Sandra Rivera, senior vice-president and GM of the network platforms group at Intel.
“The Intel Xeon D-2100 processor allows service providers and enterprises to deliver the maximum amount of compute intelligence at the edge or web tier while expending the least power.”
Intel Xeon D-2100 processors will enable greater performance and hardware-enhanced security to the network edge in support of the growing number of workloads that demand more compute, analytics and data protection closer to endpoint devices. For example, the new processors will help communications service providers (CoSPs) offer multi-access edge computing (MEC), which allows software applications to tap into local content and realtime information about local-access network conditions, reducing mobile core network of network congestion. This can enable uses cases ranging from 5G-connected cars, smart stadiums, and retail and medical solutions.
The new processors will also enable CoSPs to deliver higher-capacity workload-optimised networking services with enhanced performance at lower power in virtual customer premise equipment (vCPE) such as VPNs and encryption services.
The Intel Xeon D-2100 processors include up to 18 Skylake-server generation Intel Xeon processor cores and integrated Intel QuickAssist Technology with up to 100Gbps of built-in cryptography, decryption and encryption acceleration. In addition to those data protection enhancements, this product will be supported by system software updates to protect customers from the Spectre and Meltdown security exploits.
The Intel Xeon D-2100 processor also is well-suited for other power- and space-constrained use cases, including:
* Storage: The Intel Xeon D-2100 processor is an option for density-optimized, lightweight hyperscale cloud workloads such as dynamic web serving, memory caching, dedicated hosting and warm storage.
* Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): The processors can bring higher performance to content delivery at the network edge, which is critical to keep latency low for streaming media to viewers and those working in media fields with massive files.
* Enterprise networks: The processor family also targets entry enterprise SAN and NAS storage, midrange routers, network appliances, security appliances, wireless base stations and embedded midrange IoT usages, among others.