Diversifying AI Infrastructure: Microsoft Introduces New VMs, Providing Enterprises with Increased Efficiency and Scalability Options
At Microsoft Ignite, AMD and Microsoft highlighted the capabilities of AMD products, such as the upcoming AMD Instinct™ MI300X accelerator, AMD EPYC™ CPUs, and AMD Ryzen™ CPUs with AI engines. These technologies empower advancements in cloud computing, generative AI, Confidential Computing, and enhance the intelligence of personal computers
“AMD is fostering AI everywhere – from the cloud, to the enterprise and end point devices – all powered by our CPUs, GPUs, accelerators and AI engines,” said Vamsi Boppana, Senior Vice President, AI, AMD.”
“AMD is fostering AI everywhere – from the cloud, to the enterprise and end point devices – all powered by our CPUs, GPUs, accelerators and AI engines,”
Vamsi Boppana, Senior Vice President, AI, AMD.
Powering New AI Capabilities in Azure AMD Instinct MI300X
Microsoft’s new Azure ND MI300x v5 Virtual Machine (VM) series optimized for AI workloads features the AMD Instinct MI300X, making Azure the first cloud to use the new accelerator. The new VMs are part of Microsoft’s diverse infrastructure supporting AI innovation for enterprises everywhere giving customers more choice in efficiency and scalability.
Advancing Cloud Computing with AMD EPYC Processors
4th Gen AMD EPYC processors are also now being used to run a new generation of general purpose, memory-intensive and compute-optimized VMs. These new VMs from Microsoft continue to showcase the growth and demand of AMD EPYC processors in the cloud and will provide better price options, up to 20% better performance for general purpose and memory-intensive VMs, and up to 2x the CPU performance for compute-optimized VMs versus the previous generation of AMD EPYC-powered VMs. The new VM series will be made available in public preview in the first quarter of 2024.
At Ignite, AMD is also highlighting the Azure NGads V620 series of VMs, now in general availability. It is a new addition to the Azure N-series family of GPU-accelerated VMs for visualization. These VMs are powered by multiple AMD technologies – AMD Radeon™ PRO V620 GPUs and 3rd Gen AMD EPYC CPUs. The NGads V620 series is intended for workloads that require relatively more GPU resources per VM, to support more demanding workloads or more users per VM. The V620 delivers a great experience for multiple classes of GPU workloads, including gaming, VDI and rendering. NG series users get an optimized driver through the new AMD Software: Cloud Edition.
AI for PCs
AMD also showcased the ongoing momentum of Ryzen AI, the first dedicated AI accelerator available on an x86 processor. With over 50 systems available now with Ryzen 7000 Series processors with Ryzen AI built in, there are millions of AMD AI PCs available in market. AMD and Microsoft have already jointly enabled Windows Studio Effects on Ryzen AI PCs, and AMD continues to work with software developers, to bring expanding AI workloads and generative AI experiences to consumers.
