Google Cloud unveils new AMD-powered virtual machines

Google Cloud has expanded its virtual machine offerings with the introduction of C4D and H4D instances powered by AMD's 5th Gen EPYC processors, aimed at providing enhanced performance for a variety of cloud workloads.

The launch of these new virtual machines marks a significant utilisation of AMD's 5th Gen EPYC processors, which have recently been adopted by major hyperscale cloud providers such as OCI. These processors are notable for their ability to deliver high performance and energy efficiency, whether for cloud applications or on-premises solutions.

The C4D virtual machines are tailored for general-purpose workloads and AI inference, promising significant improvements over previous generations. According to AMD, advancements in "Zen 5" architecture have enabled these instances to achieve up to 80% higher throughput per vCPU, which could substantially benefit enterprises in terms of efficiency and speed. Meanwhile, the H4D instances are designed specifically for high-performance computing (HPC) workloads, featuring AMD EPYC CPUs with Cloud RDMA to manage efficient scaling across tens of thousands of cores.

Dan McNamara, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Server Business at AMD, commented on the launch, "Since our launch, 5th Gen AMD EPYC solutions have been widely adopted across our OEM partners, enterprise customers, and now we're excited to bring it to the cloud. Our deep technology partnership with Google Cloud enabled them to rapidly adopt the latest AMD EPYC processors to deliver consistent high performance and cost-efficient instances for their most demanding customers."

Mark Lohmeyer, Vice President and General Manager of Compute and Machine Learning Infrastructure at Google Cloud, also spoke on the collaboration, stating, "Google Cloud is committed to delivering high-performance, secure, and scalable compute solutions to our customers. With the introduction of C4D and H4D instances powered by AMD EPYC processors, businesses can benefit from cutting-edge performance and efficiency, tailored to their cloud-native and enterprise applications."

Currently, both the C4D and H4D virtual machines are in preview, with a broader availability anticipated later in the year spanning multiple global regions.