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AMD has deployed a team of folks to charm enterprise server users ahead of the debut of its Zen designed-from-scratch x86 processor microarchitecture and the message they're sending is that the new silicon represents a chance to supersize servers.
As explained to The Register by Vinay Sinha, AMD's senior director for enterprise in Asia Pacific and Japan, the company's plan is first and foremost to convince enterprise that Zen will be stonking x86 CPUs. Beyond that, the company will point out that its significantly-lower-than-Xeon prices mean a chance to supersize servers with other nice-to-haves, perhaps more RAM or some lovely AMD GPUs.
AMD's tried this play in the PC market, where its newly-hired enterprise sales folks have had some success in price-sensitive markets like government and education where buyers want maximum bang for buck and don't see challenger brands as a risk. Big PC-makers also enjoy the company's pricing, as it gives them different price points. Speaking to The Reg at the Canalys Channels Forum in Macau, Sinha takes great heart from the fact that the likes of HP Inc. now offer AMD-powered premium notebooks. HPE, he said, will offer enterprise servers based on Zen. He feels other top-tier manufacturers won't be shy about practicing Zen and the art of server design so they too can show Chipzilla it can't take their business for granted.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 28 2016, @11:00PM
How many of you really trust AMD chips now that they have an AMD-signed TrustZone kernel running on them potentially spying on everything you do, or at least allowing malicious software a chance to exploit the system at a higher than hypervisor/supervisor level of control?
AMD with FM2+ has gone to the same place Intel went with the Q45+ MEs: the land of untrustworthy computing. Every x86 processor (outside of AM3+/C32/G34, maybe?) produced in the last 4-7 years carries essentially a generally programmable clipper chip in it, capable of spying on your every electronic action.
Do you really want to give Intel, AMD, (pick your ARM device vendor that doesn't leave the bootloader/TrustZone exec enviro unsigned/disabled) the keys to your kingdom in a very real and potentially automated way?
Think carefully on your next CPU/motherboard purchase, because if you continue on the path society is going, only the Authoritarians are going to win, and they will make the SS, STASI, and other similiar groups look downright benign in comparison.