A cloud-native processor (CNP) is a general purpose central processing unit (CPU) specifically designed to support the growing number of

cloud-native computing Cloud native computing is an approach in software development that utilizes cloud computing to "build and run scalable applications in modern, dynamic environments such as public, private, and hybrid clouds". These technologies such as containers, ...

applications Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a c ...

which do not require any on-site computing infrastructure, or software designed specifically to create, build and store information over the

cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...

. According to the

Cloud Native Computing Foundation The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) is a Linux Foundation project that was founded in 2015 to help advance container technology and align the tech industry around its evolution. It was announced alongside Kubernetes 1.0, an open sourc ...

, cloud native technologies enable organizations to build and run scalable applications in

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

, and

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

clouds.

Technology

Cloud-native processor allow for scalability, cost-effectiveness and better energy efficiencies than legacy processors.

Cloud-native versus other processors

The x86 family of instruction set architectures is the most widely used processor family in

personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tech ...

workstation A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term ''worksta ...

s, and

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...

s . The architecture was introduced by

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the devel ...

in 1978 and later extended by

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufact ...

in 2003; the two companies remain the industry's top two vendors of x86 processors . These processors are found in 16-, 32-, and 64-bit versions and use

simultaneous multithreading Simultaneous multithreading (SMT) is a technique for improving the overall efficiency of superscalar CPUs with hardware multithreading. SMT permits multiple independent threads of execution to better use the resources provided by modern process ...

where each core has two threads. These processors work well in enterprise environments where they are utilized by a single entity. In a cloud environment, where utilized by multiple users with different applications sharing the same core, they are not able to adjust to changing workloads, compromising performance. In comparison, cloud-native processors offer 80 and 128 cores and are single threaded, which allows for simultaneous connections in a cloud environment resulting in scalability. The processors are also smaller with more efficient power usage and can run both enterprise and cloud native applications, making them more cost effective than other alternatives. Cloud-native processors are a useful option for data centers, which are predicted to use 11 percent of the world's electricity by 2030.

Products

Ampere Computing Ampere Computing LLC is an American fabless semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California that develops cloud native server microprocessors (CNPs). Ampere also has offices in: Portland, Oregon; Taipei, Taiwan; Raleigh, North Carolina; ...

, founded in 2018, released a cloud-native processor in 2020. That processor, the Ampere Altra, and its successor, the Ampere Altra Max, are used by

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The wor ...

, Microsoft Azure,

Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the wo ...

, Alibaba, and

ByteDance ByteDance Ltd. () is a Chinese internet technology company headquartered in Beijing and incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Founded by Zhang Yiming, Liang Rubo and a team of others in 2012, ByteDance developed the video-sharing social network ...

. In 2021,

Alibaba Ali Baba is a character from the folk tale ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves''. Ali Baba or Alibaba may also refer to: Films * ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'' (1902 film), a French film directed by Ferdinand Zecca * ''Ali Baba'' (1940 film ...

released its Yitian 710 processor as a cloud-native processor. In 2022, Ampere announced a new custom-designed core and AMD and Intel announced they were working on their own cloud native designs.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) is an American multinational information technology company based in Spring, Texas, United States. HPE was founded on November 1, 2015, in Palo Alto, California, as part of the splitting of the ...

also announced a cloud native server based on Ampere's cloud-native processors.

References

{{Reflist Computer-related introductions in the 21st century Cloud infrastructure Instruction set architectures