Google Cloud Next 2024: New Instance Types and Accelerators Hit the Platform
This week in Las Vegas, Google Cloud is hosting its annual conference, Google Cloud Next. As part of this event, the company has announced a slew of new instance types and accelerators that will soon be available on the Google Cloud Platform.
Nvidia’s Blackwell Platform: A Brief Overview
In recent weeks, Nvidia announced its Blackwell platform, which promises to revolutionize AI and HPC workloads. However, don’t expect Google to offer these machines anytime soon. The high-performance Nvidia HGX B200 for AI and HPC workloads and GB200 NBL72 for large language model (LLM) training will arrive in early 2025.
One interesting aspect of Google’s announcement is that the GB200 servers will be liquid-cooled. This may seem like a premature announcement, given that Nvidia has yet to make its Blackwell chips publicly available until the last quarter of this year. However, it’s clear that both companies are working together to bring cutting-edge technology to the market.
New A3 Instances: Powering LLMs and Confidential Computing
For developers who need more power to train LLMs today, Google has announced two new A3 instances:
- A3 Mega: This instance features industry-standard H100 GPUs but combines them with a new networking system that can deliver up to twice the bandwidth per GPU.
- A3 Confidential: This instance enables customers to "better protect the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive data and AI workloads during training and inferencing." Once enabled, confidential computing will encrypt data transfers between Intel’s CPU and the Nvidia H100 GPU via protected PCIe.
No code changes are required for this feature, making it easier for developers to get started with their projects. Google has long offered confidential computing services that encrypt data in use; here, once enabled, confidential computing will extend encryption to cover data transfers between hardware components.
Cloud TPU v5p Processors: The Most Powerful Homegrown AI Accelerators Yet
In addition to new instances and accelerators from Nvidia, Google is also launching its Cloud TPU v5p processors into general availability. These chips feature a 2x improvement in floating-point operations per second and a 3x improvement in memory bandwidth speed.
AI-Optimized Storage Options: Hyperdisk ML
All of those fast chips need an underlying architecture that can keep up with them. So, in addition to the new chips, Google has also announced new AI-optimized storage options. Hyperdisk ML, which is now in preview, is the company’s next-gen block storage service that can improve model load times by up to 3.7x.
Traditional Instances: C4 and N4
Google Cloud is also launching a number of more traditional instances, powered by Intel’s fourth- and fifth-generation Xeon processors. The new general-purpose C4 and N4 instances will feature the fifth-generation Emerald Rapids Xeons, with the C4 focused on performance and the N4 on price.
- C4: Now in private preview, these instances are designed for high-performance workloads.
- N4: Generally available today, these machines offer a balance between price and performance.
Additional Instances: C3 Bare-Metal Machines, X4 Memory-Optimized Instances, and Z3 Storage-Optimized VMs
Other new instances announced by Google include:
- C3 Bare-Metal Machines: Designed for high-performance workloads that require direct access to hardware.
- X4 Memory-Optimized Instances: Optimized for memory-intensive workloads.
- Z3 Storage-Optimized VMs: Ideal for storage-heavy workloads.
Conclusion
Google Cloud’s announcements at Google Cloud Next 2024 demonstrate the company’s continued commitment to innovation and its desire to help developers, businesses, and organizations harness the power of AI, machine learning, and cloud computing. With new instance types, accelerators, and storage options available, users can expect improved performance, scalability, and flexibility on the Google Cloud Platform.
By staying ahead of the curve in terms of technology and innovation, Google is poised to continue its dominance in the cloud computing market and support the growth of businesses and organizations worldwide.
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