Intel has started sampling next-gen Intel Xeon D processors for space and power-constrained environments, promising for home labs?

Posted by Paul Braren on Apr 7 2021 in

You may remember me recently writing about how I'm less than-thrilled that no worthy successor to the announced-in-2015 Xeon D-1500 has arrived yet, it's been a 6 year wait. The misses for me include 2018's Xeon D-2100 that was just too power hungry even at idle, 2019's Xeon D-1600 that was just a very minor speed bump, and even 2021's AMD EPYC (Zen 3 Milan) 7000 Series CPUs that are also probably a bit too power hungry overall. Admittedly I've not had my hands on AMD EPYC for first-hand testing. None of them seem to be cut out for the sort of 24 watts at idle that I've been spoiled by for these past 6 years of always-on VMware vSphere. Even with 10G networking attached and M.2 NVMe SSD, my Xeon D-1541 8 core system's power draw is around 40 watts at idle.

While I'm relieved that Wiredzone and I managed to be able to help get full VMware ESXi support for the popular Xeon D SuperServer Bundle extended through to 2021's vSphere 7.0 Update 2, I'd certainly like to have something newer in my home lab at this point. Many folks interested in going past 128GB of RAM in at least one of their home lab's vSphere cluster nodes.

Why Not Desktop CPUs?

Why am I not mentioning Intel Core i5/i7/i9 or Intel Xeon W consumer/desktop CPUs, nor the AMD Ryzen 5000 Series? It's simply because for me, I want 10G onboard and full VMware ESXi support including inclusion on the VMware Compatibility Guide. The attributes have been essential for my home lab, with several networking and GPU tickets opened with VMware that I couldn't have accomplished with an unsupported platform, done under my licensed VMware vSphere Essentials license.

Data Center CPUs

Intel-3rd-Gen-Xeon-Scalable-1-cropped — Click/tap twice to have a very close look.

Yesterday, Intel made a big splash with their announcement of the 3rd Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processor (code-named “Ice Lake”), touting up to 80 cores and 4TB of RAM in a single-socket!

Intel Launches Its Most Advanced Performance Data Center Platform
Intel Showcases New 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable – the Only Data Center Processors with Built-In AI; Delivering on Average 46% Increased Performance
Apr 06 2021 at Intel Newsroom

While this is very exciting news for my day job, I can't wait to hear more about the Next Generation suited for the home lab. What is emerging is that lower-energy-use CPUs are focused on edge deployments, and it's not much of a stretch to consider your home to be an edge deployment. The challenge will be whether vendors choose to go with some very quiet and/or fanless designs that would really help with the significant-other-acceptance-factor.

This isn't a Intel Product Announcement for 3rd Gen Xeon D

It's merely an announcement that samples are being provided.

Here's the Intel announcement that features some mentions of a new Xeon D, I've includes those mentions in the excerpts below. Note the very specific use-cases mentioned, which concern me as far as how likely any OEMs are to be making anything other than loud 1U compact chassis.

new-intel-processors-accelerate-5g-network-transformation

New Intel Processors Accelerate 5G Network Transformation
Apr 06 2021 at Intel Newsroom

What’s New: Intel today launched its newest 3rd Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processor (code-named “Ice Lake”), including new network-optimized “N-SKUs” along with verified solution blueprints that accelerate time to market. New “N-SKUs” deliver an average 62% more performance1 on a range of broadly deployed 5G and network workloads over the prior generation. Intel also announced it has started sampling next-generation Intel® Xeon® D processors designed for space and power-constrained environments at the edge.
...
About Next Generation Intel Xeon D Processors: Code-named “Ice Lake-D,” these processors are designed to support denser, size-constrained and ruggedized designs at the edge. Intel is now sampling these processors and working with customers and partners including Cisco for networking products, Supermicro for FlexRAN-based vRAN solutions and Rakuten Mobile for next-generation RAN products to serve higher capacity needs.
...

Closing Thoughts

It's early yet. It's important to notice that this press release below from Intel doesn't mention any dates. You should also consider the December 2020 news, Intel to Outsource 'Atom & Xeon Based SoCs' to TSMC. Remember, Intel called the initial Xeon D-1500 a SoC too.

I'll be continuing to monitor CPU releases throughout 2021 and beyond. For me, it's personal, I would really like to kick the tires on some fresh gear soon. After some first-hand experience with new platforms, I'll of course let you know works out best for my needs. Based on the popularity of the quiet, powerful, versatile, and affordable Bundles, I suspect my needs for a quiet and efficient always-on home lab isn't exactly unique in the world of hungry-for-innovation home lab virtualization enthusiasts.

Dell Technologies Powers AI and Edge Computing with Next Generation PowerEdge Servers
New Dell EMC PowerEdge portfolio delivers optimized systems for businesses' demanding workloads and accelerates the path to autonomous computing
Mar 17 2021 at PRNewswire

Energy-efficient cooling, designed with sustainability in mind
Energy-efficient products are important to the environment and to our customers and our commitment to sustainability is embedded into everything we do. With a uniquely designed chassis, the new servers feature ducted fans and adaptive cooling for more efficient power consumption that improves energy efficiency by up to 60% over previous generation.1 Coupled with multi-vector cooling, PowerEdge automatically directs airflow to the hottest part of the server for optimized cooling. Direct Liquid Cooling, available on select servers, features a proprietary leak-sensing technology to find and resolve issues faster.

Intel Launches Its Most Advanced Performance Data Center Platform
Intel Showcases New 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable – the Only Data Center Processors with Built-In AI; Delivering on Average 46% Increased Performance
Apr 06 2021 at Intel Newsroom

SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 6, 2021 – Intel today launched its most advanced, highest performance data center platform optimized to power the industry’s broadest range of workloads — from the cloud to the network to the intelligent edge. New 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors (code-named “Ice Lake”) are the foundation of Intel’s data center platform, enabling customers to capitalize on some of the most significant business opportunities today by leveraging the power of AI.

TinkerTry Reader IceLakeD commented:

About Next Generation Intel Xeon D Processors: Code-named “Ice Lake-D,” these processors are designed to support denser, size-constrained and ruggedized designs at the edge. Intel is now sampling these processors and working with customers and partners including Cisco for networking products, Supermicro for FlexRAN-based vRAN solutions and Rakuten Mobile for next-generation RAN products to serve higher capacity needs.

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