Has anyone started using Intel's latest Scalable Performance and Advanced Performance processors, particularly the Granite Rapids line, in their servers? I'm keen to know if there have been any issues running Debian, Proxmox, or RHEL with these CPUs. We have 20 of these new processors on the way for our lease in December, and I'm hoping for a smooth experience rather than dealing with server headaches during the holiday season.
2 Answers
What version of RHEL are you using? If it's RHEL 9 or 10 with the latest updates, you should be in good shape. Don't forget to check the Certification status in the Customer Portal—it might take some time to show for versions like 9.7 or 10.1. If you’re still on RHEL 8, I'd suggest being cautious since that version is in maintenance mode. For peace of mind, consider opening a support case with Red Hat to confirm the minimum RHEL version that supports your new CPUs, especially if you specify the server model like Dell or Supermicro.
Just a heads up, people don't commonly refer to these new processors with those marketing terms—most stick to the model numbers or the Intel codename, Granite Rapids. It's a bit surprising you went with Intel rather than AMD EPYC for your virtualization hosts, but I guess price played a big role.
Exactly! I referred to the Intel branding mainly due to their recent shift away from the 'Gold/Silver' labels. We're actually going with Intel 6530P and 6952P processors. We chose Intel because of our existing setups. VM migration is way easier when sticking with the same architecture, and while Intel's price was quite competitive, AMD’s pricing was noticeably higher for a similar core count.
We’re mainly using Proxmox 8 and moving towards 9, along with RHEL 8.x and 9.x. Nothing too fancy over here. Our vendor supports preloads for Rocky/RHEL 8.x, 9.x, and even Ubuntu 22.04, so that gives me some confidence that things will work out.