Supermicro Unleashes Servers With AMD Instinct™ MI300A APUs

AMD is pushing the boundaries of technology with the AMD Instinct™ MI300A APU. Supermicro is at the forefront of leveraging this power for enterprise and data center solutions and is bringing this groundbreaking tech to the market.

Daniel Lin, project and product manager for Supermicro, joined CRNtv’s Jon Alba to discuss what makes this APU one of a kind, and how Supermicro is leveraging the product for the market.

Jon Alba: Daniel, you're the expert. Can you explain to us what exactly is an APU, and what makes the AMD Instinct™ MI300A stand out?

Daniel Lin: So, APU stands for “Accelerated Processing Unit.” This is the first generation of its kind. With the smaller footprint of integration on CPU and GPU, plus the unified memory, you get to have 228 GPU cores, 24 GNW CPU cores, and 128 GB of HBM3 high-speed memories. And the fact of the 760-watt TDP, it doesn't just get performance. You're also getting power, efficiency, total cost ownership, and saving versus the traditional GPU and other competitors.

Jon Alba: We're talking about one chip integration of CPU and GPU technology here. How can that be beneficial for users?

Daniel Lin: So, compared to the traditional architecture of the communication, you will have to go from a CPU memory, and then connect GPU memory to GPU. The new architecture of APU comes with unified memory, that between CPU and GPU, boosts up the communication speed and reduces the latency. It's basically a door-to-door stop. So in addition, with the integration of CPU and GPU, plus the open source ROCm™, it simplifies the software optimization and avoids a complex data transfer. So with a smaller footprint design, higher efficiency, and coherent memory, we're seeing a positive and competitive benchmark result.

Jon Alba: Let's dive a little more into this here. Which systems is the AMD Instinct™ MI300A integrated into within the SuperMicro system, and are there any specs that you'd like to share with us?

Daniel Lin: Yes, definitely. With the collaboration with AMD, Supermicro is offering two versions of the AMD Instinct™ MI300A platform. We have the 2U liquid cool and 4U air cool. Each system carries four APUs and supports a maximum TDP of 760-watts. With the critical thermal condition rising in HPC data centers, our 2U liquid cool would be a perfect fit for performance efficiency, energy saving, as well as density, that can mount 21 systems per rack. If you're looking for an air-cooled solution, we have the 4U front factor, which provides extra storage and IO slots for expansion and configurations.

Jon Alba: I want to follow up on that real quick, Daniel. What are some of the advantages of super micro servers with the AMD Instinct™ MI300A solutions?

Daniel Lin: So we offer a selection of liquid cooling and air-cooled. This is in our building block DNA with a smaller design.

With a similar design to fit the market needs and trends, as Supermicro, we have a lot more to offer than just servers. We provide a total solution and rack level, plus our strong resource availability and serviceability, and more importantly, our proprietary design liquid cool. And that's a proven energy saving. So as a Supermicro, we are one of the industry leaders with cutting-edge thermal management.

Our AMD Instinct™ MI300A solution offers the balance for performance, efficiency, and reliability. Not to mention, the AMD Instinct™ MI300A APU is a game changer in HPC and AI workload. And Supermicro is the pioneer in delivering high-performance solutions while at the same time, maximizing efficiency and lowering operational costs. Either you're looking for the high-density liquid cooling or a versatile air-cooled solution. We have both.

For more information about the AMD Instinct™ MI300A, visit supermicro.com