Intel's Mount Morgan IPU: A Beast of a Cloud Infrastructure Processor

Intel unveiled its next-generation Infrastructure Processing Unit (IPU), Mount Morgan, a significant upgrade over its predecessor, Mount Evans. Boasting 24 Arm Neoverse N2 cores, improved accelerators, and increased bandwidth, Mount Morgan handles a wider range of cloud infrastructure services, from VM provisioning and metrics collection to networking functions. Key improvements include enhanced compute power, faster memory bandwidth (LPDDR5-6400), an upgraded Lookaside Crypto and Compression Engine (LCE) with asymmetric crypto support, and a doubled Ethernet throughput of 400 Gbps. Its flexible architecture allows it to operate in multiple modes, including as a standalone server or in conjunction with up to four host servers. Mount Morgan represents a major step forward in Intel's cloud hardware acceleration strategy, aiming to compete in a rapidly evolving market.