IBM has launched the next generation of its IBM Power central processing unit (CPU) family: IBM Power10.
Designed to meet the needs of enterprise hybrid cloud computing, the IBM Power10 processor uses a design focused on energy efficiency and performance in a 7nm form factor with an expected improvement of up to three-times greater processor energy efficiency, workload capacity, and container density than the IBM Power9 processor.
Systems taking advantage of IBM POWER10 are expected to be available in the second half of 2021.
Some of the new processor innovations include:
* IBM’s First Commercialised 7nm Processor that is expected to deliver up to a three-times improvement in capacity and processor energy efficiency within the same power envelope as IBM Power9, allowing for greater performance.
* Support for Multi-Petabyte Memory Clusters with a breakthrough new technology called Memory Inception, designed to improve cloud capacity and economics for memory-intensive workloads from ISVs like SAP, the SAS Institute, and others as well as large-model AI inference.
* New Hardware-Enabled Security Capabilities including transparent memory encryption designed to support end-to-end security. The IBM Power10 processor is engineered to achieve significantly faster encryption performance with quadruple the number of AES encryption engines per core compared to IBM Power9 for today’s most demanding standards and anticipated future cryptographic standards like quantum-safe cryptography and fully homomorphic encryption. It also brings new enhancements to container security.
* New Processor Core Architectures in the IBM Power10 processor with an embedded Matrix Math Accelerator which is extrapolated to provide 10-times, 15-times and 20-times faster AI inference for FP32, BFloat16 and INT8 calculations per socket respectively than the IBM Power9 processor to infuse AI into business applications and drive greater insights.
“Enterprise-grade hybrid clouds require a robust on-premises and off-site architecture inclusive of hardware and co-optimized software,” says Stephen Leonard, GM of IBM Cognitive Systems. “With IBM Power10 we’ve designed the premier processor for enterprise hybrid cloud, delivering the performance and security that clients expect from IBM.
“With our stated goal of making Red Hat OpenShift the default choice for hybrid cloud, IBM Power10 brings hardware-based capacity and security enhancements for containers to the IT infrastructure level.”