Opteron A1100 is shipping

[Phynaz]

http://techreport.com/news/29602/say-hello-to-seattle-with-amd-opteron-a1100-arm-soc

I'll admit to being surprised this is actually a thing.

 

[cbn]

With ARM Server Base System Architecture I wonder when the day will come when we could buy a board (at a place like Newegg) and then install any Linux OS on it like we can with x86?

 

[ShintaiDK]

Better late than never I guess. I dont see it sell anything tho.

H2 2014 ended as Q1 2016.

 

[cbn]

I dont see it sell anything tho.

If it has 14 Native SATA 6 Gbps ports, then I would probably want to use it with unRAID if Lime Tech ends up supporting this.

 

[Burpo]

TechPowerUp "pulled' article..

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...-64-bit-arm-processor-for-the-datacenter.html

 

[Sweepr]

Better late than never I guess. I dont see it sell anything tho.

H2 2014 ended as Q1 2016.

And this year there's 16-core Broadwell-DE and Denverton.

 

[nvgpu]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7724/...arm-based-server-soc-64bit8core-opteron-a1100

January 28, 2014

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9956/the-silver-lining-of-the-late-amd-opteron-a1100-arrival

January 14, 2016

Another AMD engineering failure?

 

[raghu78]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7724/...arm-based-server-soc-64bit8core-opteron-a1100

January 28, 2014

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9956/the-silver-lining-of-the-late-amd-opteron-a1100-arrival

January 14, 2016

Another AMD engineering failure?

No. Its clearly a case of the software support not being available for features which are taken for granted in x86 servers. ARMv8-A is a newcomer and is just making baby strides in terms of ecosystem support. It will be 2017 when you really see ARMv8-A server products which are interesting. We will see ARMv8-A server chips manufactured at TSMC 16FF+ and Samsung 14LPP and those have a chance against 14nm Atom Xeons.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9956/the-silver-lining-of-the-late-amd-opteron-a1100-arrival/2

"Just look at the slide with software support and see the comment "supports ACPI and PCIe". That would look pretty odd on an announcement of an x86 server CPU but it is relatively new for a 64 bit ARM server environment. You might ask yourself how our Applied X-Gene server worked well with Ubuntu server nine months ago. The X-Gene server ran a specially adapted version of Ubuntu. That is fine as a temporary solution, but unless the modifications go "mainstream linux", each new version must be adapted again to make it work with your server. Costly and time consuming, so AMD went the other way, making sure that the necessary improvements were part of the official Linux kernel. "

"So how do we feel about the A1100? It is late, very late. The expected performance, power consumption are most likely not competitive with what Intel has available, let alone what Intel will launch in a few months. But at last, AMD has managed to launch a 64 bit ARM server which has the support of all major linux distributions and which can benefit from all progress that the linux community makes instead of relying on a special adapted distribution. The most important things like ACPI and support for PCI express seems to be working. AMD has paid a high "time to market" price for being an 64 bit ARM server pioneer. The A1100 time schedule suffered from the teething problems of the ARM server ecosystem."

AMD's real chances in the server market begin with Zen and only if its extremely competitive with Skylake Xeons which launch in H1 2017. If Zen succeeds AMD will survive and K12 is the first ARMv8-A architecture which has any chance of succeeding as it shares a lot of the design elements of Zen.

 

[VirtualLarry]

So the A1100 is like AMD's LLano, and K12 is like AMD's FM2 APUs?

 

[DrMrLordX]

Looks like you beat out Fjodor2001 by 1 minute posting this news. But there is another thread on the same thing . . .

So Seattle is real? Interesting, the A1100 was supposed to be out in June 2015 alongside Carrizo. Sad.

 

[Fjodor2001]

Reposting content from this thread since it was locked because it was created 1 minute (!) later than the one I'm now posting in:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/amd-lau...-data-centers/

AMD launching new 64-bit ARM chip for data centers

AMD is bolstering its chip portfolio with a new ARM processor designed for data center needs across developing server and embedded networking markets.

It's no secret that one of the world's best-known chipmakers is financially struggling. But AMD's plan to cut 18 global datacenters down to just two facilities represents the company's biggest challenge in its recent history. Here's why.

Previously code named "Seattle," the generically-named A1100 System-on-Chip (SoC) falls within the Opteron processor family dedicated to networking, servers and storage.
[...]
To meet high-speed network demand needs, AMD highlighted the implementation of up to eight ARM Cortex-A57 processors, dual 64-bit DDR3/DDR4 channels, dual 10Gb Ethernet network connectivity options and 14 SATA-3 ports, among other specs.

AMD revealed the Opteron A1100 SoC has already gone through advanced development stages with select customers for several quarters.

Among some of the collaborations already underway include open software development involving Red Hat and SUSE and a partnership with storage and compute company Silver Lining Systems to integrate SLS fabric with the chip for handling workloads directed toward cloud and hyperscale data centers.

Nevertheless, the A1100 SoC is available in mass production quantities, starting today.

So AMD Seattle did not vanish after all. It was just a bit delayed.

 

[Dresdenboy]

Looks like you beat out Fjodor2001 by 1 minute posting this news. But there is another thread on the same thing . . .

So Seattle is real? Interesting, the A1100 was supposed to be out in June 2015 alongside Carrizo. Sad.

First signs of life found in October: http://dresdenboy.blogspot.de/2015/10/amds-arm-based-hierofalcon-soc-sighted.html

Running systems were demonstrated in November.

 

[monstercameron]

I'll try to pickup a huskyboard if its relatively cheap. This is a pure CPU though, does anyone know what are the display options or will it solely use a discrete card?

 

[mrmt]

No. Its clearly a case of the software support not being available for features which are taken for granted in x86 servers. ARMv8-A is a newcomer and is just making baby strides in terms of ecosystem support. It will be 2017 when you really see ARMv8-A server products which are interesting. We will see ARMv8-A server chips manufactured at TSMC 16FF+ and Samsung 14LPP and those have a chance against 14nm Atom Xeons.

Yeah, software support for a company that isn't being forthcoming about the ARM follow up. I can see queues of developers forming on my window.

 

[Fjodor2001]

The A1100 should be good e.g. for running LAMP on.

 

[Phynaz]

The A1100 should be good e.g. for running LAMP on.

But is it better than what's out there now? What does it provide that makes it worth the risk and investment for customers to switch?

 

[Essence_of_War]

But is it better than what's out there now? What does it provide that makes it worth the risk and investment for customers to switch?

It's being squeezed from above by Xeon-D and from below by Avoton, and the only feature it has "over" avoton is the 10Gbe. It's a great feature, I love seeing 10 Gbe, but how does this stack up in perf/watt? 8-core A1100 has TDP of 32W, 8-core avoton is either 12W or 20W, and 8-core Xeon-D is 35-45W.

 

[jhu]

But is it better than what's out there now? What does it provide that makes it worth the risk and investment for customers to switch?

If the big OEMs start selling them, then there's probably some business case for it.

 

[Fjodor2001]

But is it better than what's out there now? What does it provide that makes it worth the risk and investment for customers to switch?

We need to see some benchmarks and price details first. But I guess the intention is that it should be cheaper and have better perf/watt than the x86 competitors, all else equal.

 

[cbn]

It's being squeezed from above by Xeon-D and from below by Avoton, and the only feature it has "over" avoton is the 10Gbe.

It also has more SATA ports (14 vs. 6 on both Xeon-D/Avoton)

So that could be a cost saving feature. (It just depends on how much AMD charges for the A1100 SoC).

 

[cbn]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9956/the-silver-lining-of-the-late-amd-opteron-a1100-arrival

AMD told us that the initial price of the A1170 SoC will be $150

I wonder how AMD priced A1150 and A1120?

 

[itsmydamnation]

It also has more SATA ports (14 vs. 6 on both Xeon-D/Avoton)

So that could be a cost saving feature. (It just depends on how much AMD charges for the A1100 SoC).

Also it had a crypto/compress co processor, That is a massive advantage for a LAMP box or even application processing. i guessing the crypto engine is rated for 20gb ( that would make sense). SPYD/HTTP2.0/TLS(with AES/SHA/EC RSA/DH) are the standards dominating interhost communications and they are not "cheap".

 

[erunion]

This doesnt seem like a long development delay, it looks like they've brought Seattle back to life.

 

[Shivansps]

Nice chip for a file server as well, the lowly common people will be able to buy one?

 

[itsmydamnation]

This doesnt seem like a long development delay, it looks like they've brought Seattle back to life.

Who knows, Jim Kellar only viewed it as a stepping stone on AMD road to a Server ARM platform, im guessing AMD never expected A1100 to be a game changer.

As noted by Red Hat AMD 's massive advantage over the other ARM competitors is that it actually knows how to make server grade infrastructure, Seattle was just the starting point.

What will be interesting to see is Where K12 will fit vs X86 and how far along the server infrastructure road ARM competitors are when K12 finally releases.



edit: K10...derp