Ignite 2024: Microsoft unveils its Azure Boost DPU and an in-house hardware security module

2024-11-19 · Publisher : Microsoft · Domain : Cloud & DevOps

At Ignite 2024, Microsoft presents Azure Boost DPU, its first data processing unit, and Azure Integrated HSM, a hardware security module. HBv5 HPC VMs and a liquid-cooling heat exchanger for AI are added.

### What changes On 19 November 2024, at Microsoft Ignite (Chicago), Microsoft presents several hardware advances for Azure. Azure Boost DPU is the first in-house data processing unit; Azure Integrated HSM is an in-house hardware security module that protects encryption and signing keys. Microsoft speaks of a "trifecta" of processors in Azure: CPU (Cobalt), AI accelerator (Maia) and DPU. ### Key facts - Azure Boost DPU, designed for scale-out workloads: storage, networking, acceleration. According to Data Center Knowledge, quoting Microsoft's figures, DPU-equipped servers would run storage workloads with three times less power and four times the performance of current servers. - Azure Integrated HSM: a security chip installed, according to Data Center Knowledge, in every new server starting in 2025. - A liquid-cooling heat exchanger unit for AI systems (including Maia and the latest GPUs), designed to be retrofitted in existing datacenters. - HBv5 VMs for high-performance computing, with AMD EPYC 9V64H processors with HBM memory: up to 8x the performance of cloud or bare-metal alternatives (vendor figure), in preview in 2025. ### Why it matters The movement is vertical integration: the hyperscaler hands networking, storage and security to in-house chips to free the main processors. For customers, the expected effect is better cost-performance and a stronger hardware root of trust, but without direct visibility into the machine. ### Takeaway Microsoft completes its trilogy of in-house silicon (CPU, AI accelerator, DPU) and adds a hardware security building block.

Tags : Azure, Puces, Hyperscaler, Sécurité, Conférence