Intel thinks servers will require greater Optane DIMM memory capacity to enable them to run more virtual machines. And it expects systems with this capacity to enter the market from July onwards.

Jason Waxman, the general manager of Intel’s Cloud Platforms Group, presenting yesterday at the Open Compute Project Summit, said the company sees a requirement for 4-socket servers with up 112 cores – 28 per socket (processor) – and 48 DIMMs – 12 per processor.

The DIMMs would support Apache Pass Optane with up to 12TB of Optane capacity. Apache Pass is Intel’s codename for Optane DC Persistent Memory.

Currently Intel has announced 2-socket Cascade Lake designs with up to 48 cores and 6TB of Optane capacity.

Intel expects 4-socket Optane DIMM-capable systems to appear from July onwards from suppliers such as Dell EMC, HPE, Hyve, Lenovo, Inspur, Supermicro and Quanta.

Inspur showcases Crane Mountain

Chinese server supplier Inspur is teaming up with Intel to contribute “Crane Mountain” to the OCP community. It is an NF8260M5 4-socket 2U server, validated for Cascade Lake and Optane DC persistent memory. A single NF8260M5 2U can support up to 18 TB of memory.

Inspur NF8260M5 4-socket Optane DIMM-capable server

Inspur says a 4-socket server provides up to double digit TCO savings in cloud workload, compared with two 2-socket systems.