Intel Introduces Xeon D-2100 Socs With Up To 18 Cores

Intel has announced a new line of Xeon D-socs for servers based on the Skylake-SP architecture. The top model is the Xeon D-2191, which has 18 cores and can work on 36 threads.

Intel comes with fourteen socs in three different series within the Xeon D-2100 series. There is a series for server and cloud applications, a series for storage applications and a series with Intel QuickAssist Technology, for hardware encryption acceleration. The new socs succeed the Xeon D-1500 models, of which the top models were equipped with 16 cores. The new models support up to 512GB four-channel DDR4 memory and use a mesh network for communication between the cores.

According to Intel, the new Xeon D-socs are particularly suitable for advanced network equipment and providers of, for example, VPNs and encryption services, or content delivery networks. Intel also praises the socs for use in places where space is limited, such as in enterprise san and nas devices. The Xeon D-socs are not separate processors, but BGA packages that are integrated by manufacturers on motherboards or in equipment.

Intel says the new processors are protected against the Specter and Meltdown vulnerabilities through software updates. No changes have been made to the hardware against the vulnerabilities. The speed claims that Intel makes about the socs in its slides do not take into account the performance loss that the patches against the vulnerabilities can cause.