FUT89013

SUSE® Linux EntrepriseServer for ARM Trends and Roadmap

Jay Kruemcke

Product Manager

jayk@suse.com

@mr_sles

ARM Overview

ARM is a Reduced Instruction Set (RISC) processor family

British company, ARM Holdings, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group, develops the

architecture and core that implement the instruction set and licenses it to other

companies, who use it to design their own products

With over 50 billion ARM processors produced as of 2014, ARM is the most

widely used instruction set architecture in terms of quantity produced

95% of all Smartphones run on ARM processors

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ARM compared to X86 architecture

Simpler architecture that provides for:

• Lower power consumption

• Lower cost

• System on a Chip (SoC) design with peripherals included on the chip simplifies implementation

Configurable design

• Licensees have flexibility to design ARM based products that are tailored to specific workloads

• Different manufacturers design and integrated peripherals vary greatly

- RAM controllers, on-board peripherals (USB, Ethernet, PCIe, SATA), hardware-acceleration modules

(Cryptography processors, random-number generators, Digital Signal Processors), DMA controllers and core

and socket interconnects

Wide variation in capabilities

• Two to 100 cores per socket

• More than 1300 licensees producing unique ARM server implementations3

ARM evolution to 64 bit

All cores from ARM Holdings support a 32-bit address space.

The ARMv8-A also known as "AArch64" architecture,

announced in October 2011 adds support for a 64-bit address

space and 64-bit arithmetic

ARM processors are widely used in cell phones and

embedded applications, but the 64-bit ARMv8 architecture

allows ARM to target the server market

32 bit ARM processors continue to evolve for embedded and IOT

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ARM actual progress and future direction

http://www.nextplatform.com/2015/10/06/why-are-we-still-waiting-for-arm-servers/

4.1 Billion ARM chips shipped in 1Q16

ARM future: Beyond Smart Phones

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ARM vs Xeon processor performance

http://www.nextplatform.com/2016/04/28/arm-server-chips-xeon-class-matter/

Single Thread Performance

Cavium ThunderX vs Intel E5 2690v3

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http://www.nextplatform.com/2016/06/03/next-generation-thunderx2-arm-targets-skylake-xeons/

ARM addressable market for server and networking

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Source: ARM_Strategic_Report_2015_v2

2015

2020

$1,950M

$7,200M

$150M

$5,000M

ARM Servers ARM Networking

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for ARMprovides customers with an enterprise-grade Linux distribution optimized

for 64-bit ARM servers to deliver outstanding performance, reliability and scalability for data intensive, mission-critical workloads.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for ARM enables solution developers to:

• Accelerate innovation and improve deployment times for a broad choice of open source and partner solutions.

• Provide a rock solid mission-critical foundation for emerging 64-bit ARM servers while exploiting unique ARM capabilities for storage, networking and high performance computing

• Deliver a high-performance platform to meet increasing business demands with improved application performance, scalability for growth and instant access to data.

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Accelerate innovation and improve deployment times

Accelerate innovation and improve deployment times for a broad choice of open source and partner solutions

•Quickly and easily deploy new functionality without changing the core OS. Update the components without changing the base, so you can balance the flexibility of the modules with the stability of your infrastructure, using the new modular design of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12.

• Freedom of choice: Build the solution that meets your needs from a vast ecosystem of certified hardware and software partner solutions

• Improve the agility of your IT infrastructure with the latest container innovations. Using the SUSE Docker solution, your teams can easily and securely collaborate for creating Docker apps, integrate container applications with cloud or quickly deploy Docker using a minimized host OS.

•Optimize lifecycle management and save time with a comprehensive set of installation, configuration, deployment and administration tools powered by Zypper.

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Provide a rock solid mission-critical foundation

Provide a rock solid mission-critical foundation for emerging 64-bit ARM servers while exploiting unique ARM capabilities for storage, networking and high performance computing

•Maximize service availability by reducing both planned and unplanned downtime using cutting edge Live Patching technology, developed at SUSE Labs, keeping your systems secure and available.

• Increase virtualization and reduce data foot print using a broad set of virtualization technologies to meet your specific business needs. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server provides built-in support for Kernel Virtual Machine (KVM), Containers including Docker for application automation is provided as a technical preview.

•Maximize security using highest level of security for a commercial OS designed for Common Criteria EAL4+ certification, FIPS 140-2 certification from NIST & CSEC for cryptographic standards

• Reduce downtime with rapid recovery from system update errors using full system rollback

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Deliver a high-performance platform to meet increasing business

demands

Deliver a high-performance platform to meet increasing business demands with improved application performance and instant access to data

• Instant access to data by maximizing ARM server performance with support for hundreds of cores

• Improve application and platform performance by reducing latency through wire-speed messaging to fast I/O storage systems

• Exploit ARM System-On-a-Chip specific features such as ARM OpenSSL acceleration as well as optimization for storage, networking and compute workloads

•NUMA support allows workloads to exploit the large numbers of cores available on the ARM AArch64 platform

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SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 for ARM

SLES for ARM provides an

enterprise-grade Linux

distribution optimized for 64-bit

ARM AArch64 systems that

deliver outstanding performance,

reliability and scalability for

mission critical workloads.

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SUSE ARM Partners

https://www.suse.com/partners/arm 13

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for ARMKey events

• October 2011 – ARM Ltd. releases the ARM V8-A (AArch64) 64 bit processor design

• September 2012 - OpenSUSE 12.2 with 32 bit ARM support

• April 2013 – OpenSUSE 12.3 with experimental ARM 64 support

• July 2015 – SUSE ARM partner program announced

• January 2016 – SLE 12 SP1 ARM Kernel branch

• May 2016 – SLES 12 SP2 Beta program for ARM

• October 2016 – SLES 12 for ARM announced

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SUSE Linux Enterprise SP2 Overview

• What?

- Upstream kernel version: 4.4 (kernel chosen specifically for ARM support)

- Over 3000 packages (additional features, bug fixes, security updates)

• Supported architectures:

- POWER (little endian only)

- Intel/AMD64-bit (x86_64)

- IBM System z and Linux One (zSystem)

- ARM 64 bit (AArch64)

• When?

- First Customer Shipment: November SUSECON 2016

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SUSE Linux Enterprise for ARM overview

• Included

- Upstream kernel version: 4.4 (kernel chosen specifically for ARM support)

- Over 3000 packages (additional features, bug fixes, security updates)

- KVM with libvirt

- GCC

- Toolchain, HPC modules

• Supported SoC vendors and chips:

- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) – Opteron A1100

- Applied Micro – X-Gene 1, X-Gene 2

- Cavium - ThunderX

- NXP/Freescale - LS208xA

- Xilinx - UltraScale+ MPSoc

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SUSE Linux Enterprise for ARM overview

• Not supported

- Xen

- KVM other than QEMU / libvirt

• Not included

- Containers Module

- Advanced Systems Management Module

- Legacy Module

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SLES 12 for ARM pricing considerations

Wide variation in capabilities

• Two to 96 cores per socket

• Dozens of licensees producing unique ARM server implementations

• Licensees have flexibility to design ARM based products that are tailored to specific workloads

Diversity of targeted workloads

• High density, high core count HPC workloads

• Low density, medium core count workloads: NFV, storage servers

• Low density, low core count embedded / industrial automation such as ATM and CNC controllers

Difficult to find a single model that covers everything

Unpublished Work of SUSE. All Rights Reserved 18

Solution: Use two different pricing models

SLES for ARM pricing approach:1-2 Socket pricing for IHV/ISV, Core group for Appliance

Use different pricing methodologies for the IHV/ISV and the Appliance price lists

• IHV/ISV price list - 1-2 Socket identical to SLES pricing for X86

- Limited to 144 cores per socket pair

• Appliance price list - Core group pricing

- Count number of cores, divide by four, multiply by price

Rationale

• Provides traditional 1-2 Socket SKU for traditional IHV/OEM channel

• Core group based pricing better fit for new industrial and embedded markets

Advantages

• Traditional IHV/ISVs will see familiar 1-2 Socket pricing

• Accommodates industrial & embedded markets19

1-2 Socket for ISV/IHV pricelist, Core group for Appliance

20Unpublished Work of SUSE. All Rights Reserved

SLES for ARM – Price per server – 1-2 Socket for ISV/IHV, Core group for Appliance

Product

MARVELL

MPS

4 cores

1 socket

AMD

A1100

8 cores

1 socket

Applied Micro

X-Gene 3

64 cores

1 socket

Cavium

ThunderX

96 cores

2 sockets

X64

reference price

1-2 sockets

OEM/IHV Price list

SLES for ARM Unlimited VM

Standard

1-2 Socket

(ISV/IHV Price)

$1,598 $1,598 $1,598 $1,598 $1,598

SLES for ARM 1-2 VM

Standard

1-2 Socket

(ISV/IHV Price)

$799 $799 $799 $799 $799

Appliance Price list

SLES for ARM Unlimited VM

L3-Standard

(Appliance Price)$66 $132 $1,056 $1,584 $1,598

SLES for ARM

1-2 VM

L3-Standard

(Appliance Price)

$33 $66 $528 $696 $799

But wait, there’s more…

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Introducing

SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 for the Raspberry Pi

What?

• SLES 12 distribution for the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B

• Packaged as an image ready to copy to an SD Card

• Includes compilers, development tools and source

• Comes with a free one year self service subscription

• Enabled for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI, Ethernet, and GPIO

• Download from https://www.suse.com/download-linux

• Q&A support on https://forums.suse.com/forum.php

Why

• To have a lot of fun!

• Leverages the work done on SLES for ARM

• Provides an easy to consume way to introduce SLES to potential new clients

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$35 computer with 64 bit ARM processor

What’s next for SLES for ARM?

• SLES 12 SP3 in planning

• SLES 13 discussions underway

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