Tilera unveils 64bit cloud processor
June 24, 2011
Tilera Corp. has released the TILE-Gx 3000 processor family that is specifically designed for designed for cloud computing applications.
Co-developed with some Internet brands, Tilera said the processors target scale out datacenters running throughput-oriented applications such as web applications, database applications like NoSQL and in-memory databases, data mining applications such as Hadoop and video transcoding…
According to Tilera, the processor family delivers a ten-fold performance-per-watt advantage over Intel’s SandyBridge processor family with its lower system power consumption and footprint offer and provides an estimated 50 percent reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO).
Tilera director of server solutions Ihab Bishara said it took the company and its Internet partners two years to design the processor. "The TILE-Gx 3000 series has features like 64bit processing, virtualization support and high processor frequency, which were specifically implemented for our web customers," said Bishara.
"The era of 20-30 percent incremental gains is over. The Gx-3000 series provides the order of magnitude improvements the industry is looking for," Bishara added.
The TILEGx-3000 series includes three processors to address different market segments. These are the Gx3036 with core count of 36, 12MB cache, with dual channels, 1×8 port and 1×4 port PCIe 2.0 controllers, 2x1GB and 2x10GB Ethernet ports and 20W power; the Gx3064 with core count of 64, 20MB cache, Quad channels, 2×8 port and 1×4 port PCIe 2.0 controllers, 2x1GB and 2x10GB Ethernet ports and 35W power; and Gx3100 with core count of 100, 32MB cache, Quad channels, 2×8 port and 1×4 port PCIe 2.0 controllers, 2x1GB and 2x10GB Ethernet ports and 48W power.
The TILE-Gx 3000 series was developed using the 40nm TSMC fabrication process. Each core features a three-issue, 64bit ALU with an advanced virtual memory system.
Each core includes 32 kilobytes (kB) of L1 I-cache, 32kB of L1 D-cache and 256kB L2 cache, with up to 32 megabytes L3 coherent cache across the device. Tilera said processor utilization is optimized using advanced memory stripping that utilizes up to four integrated 72bit DDR3 memory controllers that support up to one terabyte (TB) total capacity.
The TILE-Gx 3000 series integrates smart NIC hardware for preprocessing, load balancing, and buffer management of incoming traffic.
Tilera said the TILE-Gx 3000 family was designed to handle all of the most common 64bit cloud applications. Its architecture is supported with Linux 2.6.36. Its other features include CentOS compatible with support for 2,000+ standard RPM packages;standard tool chain including Gcc, G++ , Gdb, Gprof, OProfile, perf event, Mudflap, Eclipse; full support of standard languages including ANSI C/C++, Java, PHP, Perl, Python; advanced programming frameworks including Erlang, TBB, open MP; and standard management protocols including IPMI 2.0, SNMP, Syslog, Telnet, SSH, TFTP, FTP, SCP
The first of the TILE-Gx family of processors, the 36-cores device, will start sampling in July, with the 64 and 100-core devices set for release early next year.