Microsoft Updates Data Center chip architecture to enhance customization

"Tenkine Server channel June 17" Thousands of servers deployed in Microsoft's data center are hosting the growing http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/13729.html ">web services and cloud business. However, Microsoft has revealed that millions of devices in more than 100 data centers in more than 40 countries in the world have been operating inefficiently because the chips have not been upgraded. So Microsoft decided to upgrade the chip in the datacenter and replace the original Intel CPU processor architecture with a field programmable array or field programmable gate array FPGA.

As of now, the servers in Microsoft's data center are using the traditional Intel CPU, and this time the replacement of the FPGA architecture is because Microsoft can use its own software to specifically modify and serve itself. FPGA chip has the programmability of custom configuration, which is very helpful to continuously improve server cost and performance. It is reported that Microsoft is working with a company named Altera FPGA procurement matters.

The researchers and Microsoft's Bing team conducted pilot tests at Microsoft's 1600 data center servers running Xeon processors and Altera FPGA chips to see if FPGA-enhanced servers could deliver faster, better quality search results at lower cost. The results are ideal, so Microsoft plans to launch a FPGA-enhanced server to handle Bing search requests from early 2015.

It is reported that the real advantage of this chip architecture change will be reflected in the following aspects:

The FPGA is 40 times times faster than the CPU when it deals with the custom algorithm for Bing search.

The entire system will be twice times faster than Bing's existing system.

Microsoft can therefore reduce the number of servers currently in operation by half.