AMD Q and A - Posted

Q: ?????????AMD????????????? ???AMD?????????????
Jason Davis (A): anything

Q: What ever happened with theAMD/Intel duel?
test (A): I don't know

Moderator: Tim Chen testing Comment

Q: this is a question from tim ti
Tim (A): this is tim chen's reply

Q: Does AMD have more of these chats outside of this website?

Q: ? What challenges can I expect to face when I deploy blades into my environment

Q: Is this working? test from jiro
tim (A): yes it is

Q: tim testing
Heather @ Savvis (A): Tim: When you send a question, and you want to pass it to a category or speaker, click the button that says "Send to Speaker" and select a radio button option below. You do not have to answer in the box in "Moderator". Once you pass the question on, by pressing "Update Status", it can be answered by the "Admin". The "Admin" can then post the question and its answer.

Q: test
Paul Birney (A): test test

Q: Can the thin-client blade approach really handle advanced apps like 10G Ethernet?

Q: Are you planning a 8 Ways platform to compete against IBM x460.

Moderator: Want to learn how AMD lower your TCO in the enterprise? Click: www.amd.com/enterprise.

Moderator: AMD is the founding sponsor of The Green Grid, an association of information technology professionals seeking to lower the overall consumption of power in datacenters around the globe To Learn More: www.thegreengrid.org

Q: which root causes are impacting your success and Intel's revenue decline this quarter? Do you agree with Andy Bryant when he says that Intel maintained its maket share compared to AMD in the first quarter?
Sally Stevens (A): OEM customers and end users realize the benefits of AMD's Direct Connect architecture. We cannot comment on Q1 market share until it is officially available.

Q: Is the HP BladeSystem going to be able to expand if I need it to?
Renee Bradshaw (A): The HP BladeSystem has several power, interconnect, processor, memory, and storage options that allow your system to expand as you grow.

Q: Is the AMD/HP relationship a long term one or is this something that will fade away as AMD gets bigger and bigger?
Sally Stevens (A): The AMD/HP partnership is strong -- HP has the broadest portfolio of Operton platforms!

Q: What benefits do blades offer with regards to virtualization
Aaron Albaugh (A): Blades have all of the performance of rackmount servers with additional features that ease management. Blades have the advanced iLO standard along with the network and fibre channel connectivity for your solution. If you are deploying a SAN as part of your virtualization solution, you should do a price comparison between the FC adapters for blades and the PCI-E adapters for rackmount servers.

Q: Your line up on this event is pretty amazing. Congratulations on getting all that high level support. But now what's next? Is there another of these "online events" coming up? What will the topic be?
Bruce Shaw (A): We don't disclose future event topics. But stay tuned, we will have another one in the not too distant future. With so much going on in the industry there is always lots to talk about.

Q: Aren't Microsoft and Intel joined at the hip? How does this AMD partnership/endorsment work then?
Bruce Shaw (A): We have a great relationship with Microsoft. We find it works very well and have done a ton of collaborative work together (most recently as the development hardware for their 64 bit development). Clearly the industry leaders recognize that there is more than one processor manufactuing option and that competition is GREAT for innovation. I think the Ballmer video says it all.

Q: Can I get a whitepaper or some more info on HP BladeSystem?
Renee Bradshaw (A): The best place to get additional information on HP BladeSystem is to go to our www.hp.com website. Here is a more direct URL: http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/cache/80316-0-0-0-121.aspx

Moderator: The chat session ends in 5 minutes.

Q: I know AMD processors are better for servers, but how about video games? Has their video card performance been tested compared to an Intel chip?
Bruce Shaw (A): Yes. The Athlon FX processor line has a reputation of being the strongest performance gaming chip on the market. The Direct Access to to memory and I/O has a huge boost in performance. I would recommend searching online at any of the gaming review sites. I think you'll find this to be the consistent consenus.

Q: How much benefit will our medium size business see through AMD's power and cooling management developments?
Sally Stevens (A): Independent of company size, IT budgets are being squeezed and power/cooling savings are important. As well, many medium businesses are at remote sites with limitations on power and cooling capabilities

Q:  What are some of the IT management benefits of using the HP BladeSystem
Paul Birney (A): With blades we have seen the number of resources (servers, switches, and storage) managed per administrator increase from an average of 15:1 for traditional rack-mount environments to more than 30:1 in blade environments. Please see www.hp.com/go/bladesystem for more TCO benefits of HP BladeSystem.

Q: Bruce, in the celebrity death match, what if the guys at Intel had a trident?
Bruce Shaw (A): Brick Tamland would throw a net. He’s on the AMD team!

Q: will HP support dynamic mode with PowerNow similar to what HP has with Power Regulator with Intel?
Renee Bradshaw (A): I'm sorry, but at this time we can't respond to questions regarding our future server blade feature set.

Q: Who do I communicate with concerning the utilization of Flywheel Energy Storage Systems with Integrated UPS to reduce energy consumption? These systems can save thousands of dollars annually just in electric utility costs over traditional UPS systems.
Jeff Otchis (A): TheGreenGrid.org

Q: Even though it's been greatly reduced by your hardware, is the waste heat generated by your server products being recaptured or reused in any way? Is this a strategy you and your partners are exploring at all?
Bruce Shaw (A): Part of the idea behind the Green Grid Initiative is for end-users and providers of all datacenter equipment to have an open forum to discuss ideas and solutions like this one. There are companies out there looking at some very innovative uses for the heat by-product of datacenters. I strongly recommend that you take a look at joining this open, non-profit online community and discussing these types of issues and solutions. TheGreenGrid.org

Q:  Is HP Bladesytem designed for specific industries or verticals?
Renee Bradshaw (A): We see HP BladeSystem Server Blades in a wide variety of industries and verticals. Customers who specifically want to improve datacenter efficiencies in power, space, and application usage are interested in server blades, typically. Customers interested in virtualization also gravitate towards HP BladeSystem.

Q:  Do Blades servers provide performance equivalent to traditional rackmount servers?
Paul Birney (A): Given the similarity of architecture, blade servers offer similar performance to traditional rackmount servers. Please see the ProLiant benchmark website at www.hp.com/products/servers/benchmarks.

Q: Is AMD committed to investing in non-profits that need a datacenter and are environmentally friendly?
Bruce Shaw (A): AMD is very committed to the issues that affect the community and our end-users. We are actively involved in great initiatives like 50x15 (Which aims to get 50% of the world – especially the developing nations online by 2015). We are also one of the founders of the newly announced Green Grid Initiative TheGreenGrid.org. We are also an active supporter of the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) and it’s fight to help people survive cancer. In fact previous events like this one have actually raised awareness and funding for the LAF. If you have a particular cause in mind for a datacenter please feel free to sign up for TheGreenGrid.org and include your cause in the discussions. It will be a great way to raise awareness and support.

Moderator: The chat session ends in 15 minutes. Keep your questions coming.

Q: What kind of growth do you see in blades versus other servers over the next few years?

Moderator: Want to hear the latest on the industry from Steve Ballmer, Hector Ruiz, & Mark Hurd? Go to: www.amd.com/enterpriseevent

Q:  How would AMD’s Direct Connect Architecture provide advantages in the blade architecture
Sally Stevens (A): AMD's Direct Connect Architecture enables performance-per-watt advantages that are critical in high density blade environments. With the integrated memory controller, power is included in the processor power budget vs 22 to about 48 watts required by external controllers such as Intel architecture. As well, with Advanced Process Technology the Silicon-on-Insulator - fast transitors with lower power leakage helping to reduce wasted power and heat. With AMD's dual core, you get increased performance without increased power -- critical for blade environments and their target applications. Lastly, adding in AMD's PowerNow! capabilities, you can dynamically reduce power based on workload.

Q: I assume the BladeSystem is really for big IT departments, right?
Paul Birney (A): No, breakeven cost of ownership can be realized in environments with as little as 2-3 server blades.

Moderator: Want to learn how AMD lower your TCO in the enterprise? Click: www.amd.com/enterprise.

Q: What type of storage solutions are available?
Aaron Albaugh (A): HP Opteron blades offer internal and external storage solutions. Internal storage is supported via the Smart Array 6i. With two Ultra 320 drives, you can get to 720G of internal storage with RAID 0 and 360G with RAID 1 mirrored support. HP Opteron blades provide three methods to connect to external storage. The 10/100/1000 NICs can connect to your NAS. There is an optional network mezzanine card with multi-function NICs that support iSCSI connectivity. There are also Qlogic and Emulex fibre channel adapters that can be purchase to connect to your SAN.

Q: Are there any security issues with blades vs. x86?
Renee Bradshaw (A): HP BladeSystem server blades contain many of the same security features as do our tower and rack-based servers. A fundamental design principle of HP is to have commonality of features across our platforms. For example, Integrated Lights Out Remote management secure password functionality is consistent across all of our servers, server blade or rack-based or tower.

Q: Is there a roadmap for blade servers beyond where it is now? If so, where can I find it?
Jeff Otchis (A): Yes. Please contact your local HP sales representative.

Q: So dish with us if you can... are any of those massively multiplayer online games running on your hardware?
Jeff Otchis (A): Let's just say that many of the online rooms out there have AMD/HP signs hanging over the door.

Q: Are there any hot-swapping issues that can affect BladeSystem performance?
Paul Birney (A): No

Q: Can you please explain AMD's new moble chip? Hom much faster is it over Intel's
Bruce Shaw (A): Actual performance statistics vary by application, but because of the AMD64 Architecture found in our other products it generally out-performs the legacy front-side bus architecture handily. You can look up individual benchmarks on www.amd.com Also there are great independent review sites like Tom’s Hardware that do these type of “shoot-outs” ad publish the results

Q: What does the HP version of blades have that others don’t?
Paul Birney (A): There are many advantages to HP BladeSystem including breadth of portfolio, hardware/software/management commonality between our blades and rack-mounted servers (no new tools to learn), and the power headroom to support you today and the future.

Q:  What kind of cooling and power management advantages will I experience?
Jeff Otchis (A): Using HP technology, HP ProLiant and BladeSystem servers can be managed in the same environment, using the same management tools. Recently, HP has introduced new hardware and software solutions aimed at giving customers more control over their power and cooling infrastructure and more information on these products can be access at www.hp.com/go/infrastructure.

Moderator: Want to hear the latest on the industry from Steve Ballmer, Hector Ruiz, & Mark Hurd? Go to: www.amd.com/enterpriseevent

Q: In the interest of efficiency, has there been any discussion of integrating water-cooling into non-blade servers?
Jeff Otchis (A): Yes. In February, HP announced the Modular Cooling System to support all blade and non-blade servers deployed in rack-mount environments. This technology will enable deployment of up to 30 kW in a standard 42U rack cabinet, which is more than enough to support a rack of blades or 1U servers.

Q: Celebrity death match....who would win? The AMD or Intel chip? :)
Steven McDowell (A): AMD by a mile and even Mills Lane would be cheering the victory!

Q: Do you have any customer testimonials available from smaller businesses?
Renee Bradshaw (A): The best place to search for up-to-the minute customer testimonials is: www.hp.com/go/success

Q:  Can the Hp Bladesytem run the same applications as the rackmount servers?
Jeff Otchis (A): Yes.

Q: How is this trend affecting server consolidation?
Aaron Albaugh (A): Server virtualization with applications such as VMware are really driving server consolidation efforts. Many HP customers are targeting blades such as the BL25p and BL45p for these deployments. These blades offer the ease of deployment and management along with the power of Opteron as well as high speed network and SAN connectivity.

Q:  I saw the online event and Potter mentioned AMD’s PowerNow technology…can you further explain how it works.
Bruce Shaw (A): PowerNow is a dynamic technology that constantly monitors the workload on the system and lowers the PState of the processor when it is not being tasked. In simpler terms rather than having the processor continue to consume 95 Watts when it’s not being asked to do anything it dynamically lowers the power consumption up to 75%. This can really add up to savings over a datacenter. The system the can switch back to full power instantaneously as the demands require it. Very neat stuff!

Q: What role does the AMD Opteron play in the BladeSystem?
Jeff Otchis (A): AMD Opteron technology is featured prominently in the HP BladeSystem portfolio as one of the three CPU architectures.

Moderator: Want to learn how AMD lower your TCO in the enterprise? Click: www.amd.com/enterprise.

Q: Thanks for having women panelists here. The women tech community appreciates it!
Sally Stevens (A): Thanks -- I appreciate your comment!

Q: How is the move to dual-core/multi-core affecting the blade concept?
Renee Bradshaw (A): The move to dual-core/multi-core is enhancing the benefits that HP BladeSystem server blades can deliver to customers. Greater performance enhances the price/performance benefits of our server blades, at no additional thermal penalty!

Q: What are the biggest interconnect challenges with blade technology?
Aaron Albaugh (A): The largest challenge is forecasting future IO technologies and ensuring that the architecture will support these standards and provide the interconnect to hook into them. In order to mitigate this, HP participates in many of the governing bodies that drive these new technologies.

Q: I guess a "hotter" chip would be a good deal if you're working in Antartica, right? You could direct all that heat to other parts of your building. :) But in all seriousness, does the AMD chip really provide a much cooler alternative if compared to the competition?
Sally Stevens (A): AMD provides 55 watt, 68 watt and 95 watt processor solutions. Intel comparable to our 95 watt is 130 watt. If you think of a rack full of density optimized servers or blade server, there is a tremendous difference on the requirement power draws between the 2 offerings. As well, AMD has PowerNow! technology with Opt. Power Management which dynamically reduces power based on workload -- up to 75% savings in power per processor at CPU idle.

Q: Why aren't system builders, like HP, using the 64 bit version of Windows XP Professional on their system using the Athlon 64 chip?
Jeff Otchis (A): Right now, HP only uses AMD Opteron processors in its server and blade designs and as as result, we support 64-bit versions of Window 2003.

Q: What’s next after Opteron, and is that going to make my current BladeSystem obsolete?
Bruce Shaw (A): Opteron was designed to have a multi-generational life cycle. The ground-breaking introduction of Direct Connect Architect combined with AMD64 will continue to scale for years to come. In three years of Opteron we have not had a socket change. Our next generation out this summer will be the first time we have done that, and that socket will have a similarly impressive lifecycle. You can adopt with confidence for the future.

Moderator: Want to hear the latest on the industry from Steve Ballmer, Hector Ruiz, & Mark Hurd? Go to: www.amd.com/enterpriseevent

Q: How is this technology different than the rack-server environment?
Paul Birney (A): HP BladeSystem offers benefits such as space savings, reductions in cable complexity, operational cost savings, lower acquisition costs, improved system redundancy, and more efficient power usage.

Q: I've heard recently about a shift from AC to DC in datacenter power distribution, for various reasons including transmission loss reduction. Are AMD-powered servers capable of taking advantage of this strategy?
Jeff Otchis (A): Right now, the AC/DC question is for the server vendors, not processor vendors. Based upon the fact that the vast majority of corporate computer rooms and data centers are based upon AC technology, HP will continue to optiizing and innovating our systems based upon that technology. To increase the power distribution density, the industry is increasingly looking at 3 phase power and HP is working closely with our partners on 3 phase solutions.

Q: What are we talking about price-wise to switch to BladeSystem?
Paul Birney (A): In most cases HP BladeSystem offers both intital hardware acquistion costs savings as well as significant operational cost savings.

Q: I'm pretty impressed to see Mark Hurd and Steve Ballmer here supporting AMD. But how about the smaller folks? What kind of service comes with wanting to re-do my datacenter with AMD chips?
Bruce Shaw (A): AMD is a customer centric company that works with Partners and End Users of all sizes. Send us your contact information and we will be happy to have one of our folks reach out to you.

Q: So in your opinion it's not about speed anymore? It's about Power?
Jeff Otchis (A): Actually, in many ways, it is about transactions per watt and in this area, Opteron has some strong advantages for certain applications.

Q:  How does AMD’s virtualization technology work with software virtualization technology?
Sally Stevens (A): AMD's Direct Connect Architecture, Virtualization Extensions, and I/O Virtualization working in conjunction with SW virtualization provided by our partners provides increased performance with multi-core capabilities and fast memory access, as well as improved performance and security of virtualized devices. In other words, AMD's virtualization removes some of the pain points of SW virtualization such as memory handling, security and reliability, CPU overhead and virtualization of I/O devices.

Q: Regarding power savings, did AMD create a "cooler" chip with any environmental consideration in mind? Was this something that was a big selling point during it's R&D time?
Bruce Shaw (A): The primary direction to create a chip that consumed less power was a direct result of end-user feedback. From there it was include as a design point going forward

Q: Where can I get more info on HP's Bladesystem?
Paul Birney (A): Please see our website at www.hp.com/go/bladesystem

Q: Truth is, if I need to expand my datacenter and I am considering a solution that will lower my power and cooling costs as well as freeing up some real estate, why not Intel?
Steven McDowell (A): HP has taken the approach of reducing operating costs (including those associated with power and cooling) and AMD Opteron is one key piece of this equation. The current architectural efficiencies of the Opteron processors results in lower operating costs for many applications.

Q: Do you have any case studies that discuss power savings in depth? I'm looking for something along the lines of "I've switched to AMD and saved X amount of dollars. Thank you.
Bruce Shaw (A): You can find a whole bunch of them here: http://enterprise.amd.com/Multimedia/case_studies.aspx

Moderator: Want to learn how AMD lower your TCO in the enterprise? Click: www.amd.com/enterprise.

Q: Why does Power make such a big differnece in the datacenter?
Bruce Shaw (A): Power really is a big deal in the datacenter. First it is an expensive proposition all the way around. The cost of equipment to bring power into the racks, and the ancillary equipment needed to remove the heated air generated by the hardware is big business. Large datacenters today often consume the same amount of power as a small town (2500 people towns according to the EPA). In the last 10 years the average power per rack has gone from 2 kilowatts to 12 and in some cases event 25! Also, all of that heat generated can adversely affect performance.

Q: Is this going to help me with the cooling hassles I have now?
Jeff Otchis (A): In some cases, yes, although the industry trends around increased compute and storage density will continue to challenge companies like HP and our customers. As a result, we are looking at innovative ways to address this problem and earlier this year, we released the Modular Cooling System which is one attempt at helping customers optimize their data center space.

Q:  What are the advantages of blades
Renee Bradshaw (A): HP BladeSystem server blades have several advantages. 1. Managing costs and increasing efficiency: Reduce acquisition costs when compared to traditional servers. HP BladeSystem is a better design for density, power distribution, availability, and cooling. Dynamically adapt to changing business requirements by being able to install, provision, and re-purpose server blades quickly. 2. Optimized for Environments of all types: Consolidation - HP BladeSystem combines servers, storage, power, and interconnects into an advanced management framework, improving collaboration processes. SMP to Linux migration - Reduce the overall platform/system cost by up to 70%. Multi-tiered environments - This includes web and E-commerce, streaming media, mail and messaging, enterprise applications including ERP and CRM. 3. Virtualized and Automated Data Centers: HP BladeSystem environments provide virtual pools of capacity that can be dynamically reallocated and simply managed. Self-aware, policy driven environment eliminates manual processes, server blade automation leverages the integrated design and virtualized architecture to create a dynamic, scaleable utility of resources.

Q: Are you planning a 8 Ways platform to compete against IBM x460.
Jeff Otchis (A): At this point, HP has have no 8-way Opteron products available but we are always interested in customer input.

Q:  In my datacenter I don’t have a space limitation so what’s the advantages for using blades over rack-mounted servers
Paul Birney (A): In addition to space savings, HP BladeSystem offers additional benefits including reductions in cable complexity, operational cost savings, lower acquisition costs, improved system redundancy, and more efficient power usage.

Q: Where can I find customer success stories on HP’s BladeSystem?
Aaron Albaugh (A): hp.com/go/success once there, search on blades or bladesystem

Q: What is AMD doing with rrespect to ATCA? Are you going to enter the market with partners using your processors?
Sally Stevens (A): Working with our partners such as Sun, we have already jointly announced ATCA blades with AMD processor technologies

Q: Does AMD plan to get into networking?
Sally Stevens (A): AMD is already playing in the networking are with our embedded technologies.

Q:  What’s the ideal size for a data center in order to receive the full benefits from HP Bladesystem?
Jeff Otchis (A): Actually, there is no "ideal" data center size for HP BladeSystem deployments. Based upon different requirements, customers have deployed a single BladeSystem chassis in a rack or multiple racks of blades in a data center; it all depends upon the requirements of the application.

Q: PLease tell me when youwill have dual core 64 turion? for laptops?..or is there an amd dual core laptop out there now?....thanks!!
Sally Stevens (A): June 6th at Computex is when AMD will be launching their dual core laptops.

Q: Why go with AMD in the BladeSystem, and not someone like Intel?
Sally Stevens (A): AMD Opteron has performance-per-watt benefits above what Intel has to offer. With the density of bladed architectures, thermal requirements are critical. Also, many of the target applications for blades require best-in-class performance which AMD has an advantage on.

Q: Doesn’t a blade approach add a whole new level of complexity to my IT department?
Aaron Albaugh (A): In many ways, the blades can help reduce complexity. HP BladeSystem has several features built into it that improve the ability to install, manage, and service the blades in your datacenter. These include reduced cabling, remote management via iLO, and RDP deployment tools to name a few.

Q: What is the difference between Xeon and AMD??
Bruce Shaw (A): The differences between Opteron and our Competitor Xeon are numerous. While both are x86 processors the basic architecture is completely different. The Intel chip relies on sending all communications with memory and I/O through a front-side bus or North Bridge Controller, whereas the AMD Opteron Processors uses Hyper-Transport links to directly connect the memory and I/O with the processor cores. This makes the Opteron faster and more efficient from a power consumption stand-point. The Opteron is just plain better!

Q: Am I going to pay for performance with higher energy costs?
Jeff Otchis (A): Actually, because of the efficiency of the architecture, in many cases, the performance gains of Opteron-based systems will be with a lower power draw.

Q: Doesn’t the BladeSystem actually use HP ProLiant server blades?
Renee Bradshaw (A): Yes, the HP BladeSystem does use the ProLiant Server Blades such as the BL20p, BL35p, BL25p, and BL45p.

Moderator: Want to learn how AMD lower your TCO in the enterprise? Click: www.amd.com/enterprise.

Q: I am trying to compare AMD Sempron with Cellerons and P4s Also is there a chart of the Current AMD processors and their conterparts at Intel. I am not looking for evals just classes
Bruce Shaw (A): http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_11599_11604,00.html You can find similar compares on www.amd.com by searching by processor name. Hope this helps.

Q: How does blade performance really compare to my x86 system, in hard numbers?
Aaron Albaugh (A): Blades vs. Rack Mount - the fundamental architecture between the blades and rack mount servers are nearly identical and will not show radically different performance. Opteron vs. x86 - in order to provide hard performance numbers, we would need to know more about what you are trying to run. We have seen outstanding performance from our Opteron blades.

Q: Are there any space issues I need to worry about?
Sally Stevens (A): This question is somewhat vague. In planning your data center, you need to understand your thermal and cooling limitations, and follow recommended best practices for data center planning to ensure the best utilization of your real estate. If you have space problems, you should consider density optimized or blade server technologies.

Q: What is the latest motherboard AMD have in-progress?
Bruce Shaw (A): At this time we are unable to share this portion of future roadmap.

Q: How hard is it to integrate a BladeSystem with the network I already have?
Renee Bradshaw (A): BladeSystem Servers support Mezzanine NICs based that are based upon industry-standard networking protocols.

Q: where is AMD IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A QUAD PROCESSING CHIP.
Bruce Shaw (A): The idea of multi-core chips has been designed into the fundamental scalability of AMD64 architecture since its initial design in 1999. It enabled us to move from single to dual-core very quickly, simply and efficiently in the same power envelope. This architecture will also make the transition to a quad core environment a natural progression. While we can’t disclose launch dates at this point, I can say that we are doing great in our development and on schedule for a 2007 introduction.

Moderator: Want to hear the latest on the industry from Steve Ballmer, Hector Ruiz, & Mark Hurd? Go to: www.amd.com/enterpriseevent