Intel has officially launched its paid CPU platform where system administrators will pay to activate certain accelerators.
Intel's new On Demand Software-Defined Silicon (SDSi) service is expected to reduce the amount of hardware the company ships while allowing customers to virtually upgrade their machines.
The show will likely use the company's fourth-generation Xeon Scalable Sapphire Rapids processors which, after several delays, will finally launch in early 2023.
intel on demand
Intel says the program will allow companies to reduce their investment in chips that provide performance they wouldn't normally need, and will have Intel enable certain features as needed, on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Tom's Hardware (opens in a new tab) reports that Intel wants to create extensions Software Guard, Dynamic Load Balancer (DLB), Intel Data Streaming Accelerator (DSA), Intel In-Memory Analytics Accelerator (IAA), Intel In-Memory Analytics Accelerator and Intel QuickAssist Technology (QAT), all available on demand through this program.
Since there hasn't been any official announcement about it, the pricing for Intel On Demand hasn't been announced yet. Instead, the company updated its Intel On Demand - opens in a new tab page where it lists Lenovo as the provider for its consumption and activation models, while companies like HPE and Supermicro focus on just one type of model.
According to The Register (opens in a new tab), the activation model uses a one-time fee to unlock additional features, while the consumption model promises to "dynamically align" infrastructure and demand.
All in an effort to boost revenue as the company plans a turbulent few years of cuts ahead, starting with a €3bn spending cut in 2023.