Data Encryption and Compression with Improved CPU Performance: It's Possible with Intel QuickAssist

As the volume and complexity of data continue to grow exponentially across various industries, so does the strain on CPUs and networks. Intel has not only recognized the challenge but is now answering the call with a novel approach to hardware-based encryption and compression: Intel QuickAssist.

What is Intel QuickAssist?

Intel QuickAssist Technology (Intel QAT) is Intel's proprietary hardware-based data encryption and compression technology that offers multiple benefits, including:

• Lowered CPU core usage, resulting in improved system performance
• Improved performance with encryption, compression, and decompression tasks
• Lowered Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) through better CPU performance per watt

The Growing Data Challenge

Organizations of all sizes are using, storing, and moving more data than ever, and they're not just doing it in-house. They're storing it in the cloud, sending it across public and private networks, and collecting and sending it to Edge devices.

Compute resources are being challenged to keep up with next-gen applications like AI while encrypting and securing data at unprecedented levels. As a result, it is no longer acceptable to experience a degradation in performance solely due to data compression, decompression, or encryption.

Intel QuickAssist Technology (Intel QAT): Advanced Data Compression and Encryption Without Sacrificing Performance

Intel QuickAssist Technology, or Intel QAT, is a proprietary technology that enables the CPU to operate unimpeded while handling data compression, decompression, and encryption. It offloads compute-intensive operations to a separate chipset integrated into the CPU, an Intel Accelerator engine. Offered on 4th Gen Intel Xeon processors and 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors with E-cores, Intel QAT frees the CPU to handle other operations with maximal performance.

Intel QuickAssist - Performance and Cost Benefits

Intel® QAT delivers multiple performance and cost benefits:

Improved CPU Performance and Efficiency: Intel QAT eliminates the need for CPU cores to perform compression and decompression, and because it's part of the Intel Xeon chipset, it supports more encryption clients. As a result, tests have shown up to 1.64x higher perf/W on SQL Server 22 with 5th Gen Intel Xeon Platinum 8592+ using integrated Intel QAT vs. 4th Gen AMD EPYC 9554 using default compression.

Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Intel QuickAssist reduces the number of cores required to perform a given operation, resulting in lower power consumption and higher overall performance per watt.

Data Compression and Decompression: Intel QAT improves efficiency in handling large data sets, optimizing storage and network bandwidth utilization.

Cryptographic Processing: Intel QuickAssist enhances data security through accelerated symmetric and asymmetric encryption and decryption processes, critical for secure data transmission and storage.

Intel QuickAssist- Use Case Scenarios

Intel® QAT caters to diverse applications and industries, including:

Cloud Service Providers

Today's Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) are challenged to leverage their existing resources while providing additional value to their customers. Intel QuickAssist enhances the efficiency and scalability of cloud infrastructure by supporting high-performance content delivery networks (CDNs), load balancers, and encryption services. It enables CSPs to handle increased client loads efficiently while mitigating security threats like DDoS attacks.

Enterprise Solutions:

IT leaders in larger organizations are increasingly being challenged to serve more applications and content. Intel QAT improves performance and reduces costs in enterprise environments, supporting applications such as hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) and web servers because Intel QuickAssist on Intel Xeon Scalable processors can accomplish more computing tasks on fewer cores.

In one example, by optimizing its Enterprise Linux platform for QAT, Red Hat saw a 9x to 137x improvement in data compression versus software-based compression.

Storage Systems:

As organizations and their customers generate more data, the challenge has become storing and securing it. Intel QAT optimizes TCO and power consumption in storage architectures by accelerating data compression and decompression tasks. This capability is crucial for effectively managing data lakes, backup systems, and distributed storage environments.

For example, Microsoft observed performance gains even while Microsoft SQL Server 2022 workloads ran at the time, and Meta experienced significant increases in performance per watt and throughput.

Networking:

The safety and privacy of network traffic have never been more critical. Therefore, more and more organizations are using virtual private networks (VPNs) to transmit and secure their data. At the same time, content delivery networks like streaming services are leveraging compression and decompression to send more video, music, and other content.

Intel QAT Accelerates encryption and decryption tasks in network environments, benefiting VPNs, load balancers, and content delivery networks. Intel® QAT helps meet stringent SLAs while managing power consumption efficiently, which is essential for 5G networks and other high-demand networking scenarios.

Where to Begin with Intel QuickAssist

To begin leveraging Intel QAT in your organization, the first step is identifying your specific workload demands related to compression, encryption, and other cryptographic operations.

Next, with the assistance of an Intel premier integration partner, select and build the appropriate Intel QuickAssist-enabled hardware that will match the needs of your workloads and ensure your success.

Accelerate Your Intel QAT Implementation with UNICOM Engineering

UNICOM Engineering's decades-long partnership with Intel provides unmatched expertise in leveraging best-in-class technologies. We handle everything from design services through manufacturing, enabling faster time-to-market. Our expandable capacity also ensures production scalability.

Schedule a consultation today to dive into the possibilities of Intel QAT and harness the capabilities of the latest Intel technology.

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