Intel IFS Driver Prepares For Granite Rapids & Sierra Forest

One of the nifty new features with Intel Xeon Scalable "Sapphire Rapids" processors not talked about much is the In-Field Scan (IFS) functionality for allowing various tests to be carried out prior to deploy the new processors or over time in the data center for trying to spot any silicon-level issues. IFS aims to uncover any processor issues not caught by ECC, parity checks, RAS, or other safeguards when new CPUs reach the data center or as they age over time.

The Intel In-Field Scan driver has been stable in the Linux kernel for a while now and is in the process of being extended for next year's Sierra Forest and Granite Rapids server processors. A patch series sent out on Wednesday extends the IFS driver for supporting Granite Rapids and Sierra Forest. With these next-gen processors the IFS images containing the built-in tests are a slightly different format compared to Sapphire Rapids and Emerald Rapids. There are also new error codes and other considerations for the driver to make with these future processors.

Intel Talks Up 2024 Xeon Sierra Forest & Granite Rapids At Hot Chips

But long story short with this patch series now under review the Intel IFS driver is getting ready for Sierra Forest and Granite Rapids with the new testing capabilities for helping to weed out any faulty silicon.