Microsoft Unveils New Chips for Data Processing & Security
Microsoft unveiled its latest custom chips designed to enhance workloads on its Azure cloud platform and boost security at Microsoft Ignite 2024. The announcement includes a new hardware accelerator that efficiently manages data processing, networking, and storage-related tasks.
The Azure Boost DPU is Microsoft’s first data processing unit (DPU). It’s engineered for “data-centric workloads with high efficiency and low power,” the company stated. Future Azure servers equipped with this DPU are expected to run storage workloads at quadruple the performance of existing servers while using one-third of the power.
“Designed for scale-out, composable workloads on Azure, the Azure Boost DPU delivers efficiency across storage, networking, acceleration, and more for its cloud infrastructure,” Microsoft elaborated in a blog post shared with TechCrunch.
However, Microsoft’s benchmarks left some questions unanswered. Specific workloads where the Azure Boost DPU excels in power efficiency and the comparative performance metrics against existing hardware were not disclosed. Additionally, the timeline for Azure customers to experience these gains remains unclear.
The origins of the Azure Boost DPU trace back to Microsoft’s acquisition of Fungible, a DPU manufacturer, last December for an estimated $190 million. Founded by former Apple and Juniper Networks engineers, Fungible’s team joined Microsoft’s infrastructure engineering division after the acquisition.
DPUs are specialized hardware components designed to handle specific data processing tasks, including security and network routing for data traffic. They aim to reduce the burden on CPUs and other chips for core computing tasks, including AI workloads.
The DPU market has gained traction in recent years. Nvidia introduced its BlueField DPUs in 2019, AMD launched Pensando DPUs in 2022, AWS offers DPU-like functionality with its Nitro cards, and Google collaborates with Intel on similar chips.
The efficiency benefits of DPUs appeal to hyperscalers, who are expanding their cloud infrastructure to meet the growing demand for AI, resulting in increasingly larger and more power-intensive data centers. In 2022, Microsoft projected an additional $800 million in data center energy costs due to increased consumption.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang envisions CPUs, GPUs, and DPUs as the foundational components of data centers. According to him, CPUs will handle general processing, GPUs will support accelerated computing, and DPUs will manage data flow.
If interest in DPUs continues, the market for these chips could reach $5.5 billion by 2031.
Custom Security Chip
Microsoft also announced the Azure Integrated Hardware Security Module (HSM), a new in-house cloud security chip. The Azure Integrated HSM securely contains signing and encryption keys, enabling their storage without compromising performance or increasing latency, the company said.
Starting next year, the Azure Integrated HSM will be installed in every new server across Microsoft’s data centers to bolster protection for both confidential and general-purpose workloads.
This new security chip follows Microsoft’s consumer-focused Pluton chip, embedded in Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm processors. It also positions Microsoft against its cloud competitors: AWS’s Nitro performs certain security tasks, while Google has the Titan security chip in its Google Cloud servers.
While custom silicon can enhance security, it isn’t foolproof. In 2020, researchers discovered an “unfixable” flaw in Apple’s T2 security chip, exposing Macs to the very threats it was meant to prevent. Microsoft has not yet detailed the vulnerability testing for the Azure Integrated HSM but is expected to do so closer to the chip’s launch.
In response to prominent cyber attacks and critical government reports, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella emphasized that security is now the company’s top priority.
“In today’s rapidly changing threat landscape, influenced by global events and AI advancements, security must be top of mind,” Vasu Jakkal, Microsoft’s CVP of security, wrote in a post shared with TechCrunch. “New attack methods challenge our security posture, pushing us to reimagine how the global security community defends organizations.”
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