Compute Innovations Enabled by the Aws Nitro System Cmp309

Title

AWS re:Invent 2023 - Compute innovations enabled by the AWS Nitro System (CMP309)

Summary

  • AWS Nitro System is the foundational technology for modern EC2 instances, introduced in 2017 with work starting a decade prior.
  • Nitro System consists of a lightweight hypervisor and dedicated hardware for security, storage, and networking functionalities.
  • The motivation behind Nitro was to reduce hypervisor overhead, limit performance variation, and provide a foundation for all EC2 instances.
  • Nitro components include Nitro cards (networking, EBS, local storage), Nitro security chip (integrated into the motherboard for hardware resource protection), and Nitro hypervisor (thin, quiet, and aims for bare metal performance).
  • Benefits of Nitro include improved performance (more vCPUs, memory, and higher real-world workload performance), enhanced security (firmware protection, integrity monitoring), and accelerated innovation (rapid instance type development).
  • AWS has launched Gen 7 instances with Nitro, offering significant performance improvements and new features like DDR5 memory and higher networking/EBS bandwidth.
  • Graviton 3 and 4, Intel Sapphire Rapids, and AMD Genoa processors have been used in Gen 7 instances, with custom processors and discrete on-device accelerators for Intel instances.
  • Salesforce, a top AWS customer, has leveraged EC2 instances for their Einstein One platform and Hyperforce infrastructure, achieving significant performance gains and cost savings.

Insights

  • The AWS Nitro System has been a game-changer for EC2, allowing AWS to offer a wide variety of instance types and configurations, catering to diverse customer needs.
  • Nitro's design has enabled AWS to maintain a competitive edge by providing instances with higher performance and security compared to other cloud providers.
  • The introduction of Gen 7 instances showcases AWS's commitment to continuous innovation, with a focus on performance, security, and sustainability.
  • Salesforce's use case demonstrates the real-world impact of AWS Nitro System, highlighting the system's ability to handle enterprise-scale workloads efficiently.
  • The close collaboration between AWS and CPU manufacturers like Intel and AMD has resulted in custom processors and optimized instances that deliver better performance and cost-effectiveness for AWS customers.
  • The Nitro System's lightweight hypervisor has minimal impact on performance, as evidenced by Salesforce's benchmarking of bare metal versus virtualized instances.
  • AWS's rapid deployment of new instance types and processors underscores the company's ability to quickly adapt to technological advancements and customer demands.