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Cloud Providers Are Already Considering Intel Rivals After Meltdown, Spectre Chip Flaw Discoveries

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By REUTERS January 10, 2018
Some of Intel‘s data center customers, whose thousands of 
computers run cloud networks, are exploring using microchips 
from the market leader’s rivals to build new infrastructure 
after the discovery of security flaws affecting most chips.

Whether Intel sees a slew of defectors or is forced to offer 
discounts, the company could take a hit to one of its fastest 
growing business units. Intel chips back 98% of data center 
operations, according to industry consultancy IDC.

Security researchers last week disclosed flaws, dubbed Meltdown 
and Spectre, that could allow hackers to steal passwords or 
encryption keys on most types of computers, phones, and cloud-
based servers.

Microsoft (MSFT, -0.53%) said on Tuesday the patches necessary 
to secure the threats could have a significant performance 
impact on servers.

Intel (INTC, -2.59%) will help customers find the best approach 
in terms of security, performance and compatibility, it said in 
a statement on Tuesday. “For many customers, the performance 
element is foremost, and we are sharply focused on doing all we 
can to ensure that we meet their expectations.”

Alternatives include Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, +0.93%), which 
shares with Intel a chip architecture called x86, or chips based 
on technology from ARM Holdings or graphics processing chips, 
which were developed for different tasks than Intel and AMD’s 
central processing units, or CPUs.

For Gleb Budman’s company, San Mateo-based online storage firm 
Backblaze, building with ARM chips would not be difficult.

“If ARM provides enough computing power at lower cost or lower 
power than x86, it would be a strong incentive for us to 
switch,” said Budman. “If the fix for x86 results in a 
dramatically decreased level of performance, that might 
increasingly push in favor of switching to ARM.”

Infinitely Virtual, a Los Angeles-based cloud computing vendor, 
is counting on Intel to replace equipment or offer a rebate to 
make up for the loss in computing power, Chief Executive Adam 
Stern said in an interview.

“If Intel doesn’t step up and do something to make this right 
then we’re going to have to punish them in the marketplace by 
not purchasing their products,” said Stern, whose company relies 
exclusively on Intel processors.

Cloud providers said swapping out previously installed Intel 
chips for rivals’ would be too complex, but moving forward they 
could expand their networks using alternatives. Moving from 
Intel to AMD is easiest since AMD and Intel chips share a common 
core technology called the x86 instruction set, they said.

ARM-based chips lag the speed of Intel’s x86 based chips for 
tasks such as searches, and software would have to be rewritten.

Nvidia‘s (NVDA, +1.15%) so-called graphical processing units, or 
GPUs, are not a direct replacement for Intel’s CPUs, but they 
are taking over the CPU’s role for new types of work like image 
recognition and speech recognition.

Major technology companies had been experimenting with Intel 
alternatives even before the security flaws were revealed.

Last March, Microsoft committed to using ARM processors for its 
Azure cloud service, and in December, Microsoft Azure deployed 
Advanced Micro Devices processors in its data centers.

Alphabet‘s Google (GOOGL, -0.19%) said in 2016 that it was 
designing a server based on International Business Machines’s 
Power9 processor (IBM, +0.22%). And Amazon.com‘s Amazon Web 
Services (AMZN, +0.17%) chose AMD graphics processing units for 
a graphics design service announced in September.

Both Qualcomm (QCOM, +0.00%) and Cavium are developing ARM chips 
aimed at data centers. Cavium said it aimed to rival the 
performance of Intel chips for applications like databases and 
the content-delivery networks that help speed things like how 
fast online videos load.

Cavium is working with Microsoft and “several other cloud” 
vendors, said Gopal Hegde, vice president of the data center 
processor group. Cavium and ARM rival Qualcomm work together to 
reduce the amount of software that has to be rewritten for ARM 
chips.

Cloudflare, a San Francisco cloud network company, has been 
evaluating ARM chips. The new security patches have not slowed 
its performance, but it will use the security issues as an 
opportunity to re-evaluate its use of Intel products, said Chief 
Technology Officer John Graham Cumming.

http://fortune.com/2018/01/10/intel-chips-meltdown-spectre-
microsoft-amazon-google/

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Cloud Providers Are Already Considering Intel Rivals After Meltdown, Spectre Chip Flaw Discoveries "Anonymous Remailer (austria)" <mixmaster@remailer.privacy.at> - 2018-01-11 06:43 +0100

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