r4600 Tenant CPU Assignment

cafnetmatt​   Interesting question,  I did a little digging on this.   formatting via AI 

CPU Allocation Options on the r4600

The available CPU allocation options of 4, 8, or 12 cores are not arbitrary. They are deliberately designed based on the architectural and licensing framework of the Atom processor platform utilized in the r4600. Upon further review, it appears these increments are part of a strategic design to enable future upgrades if needed. This approach reflects considerations for scalability and operational flexibility under the manufacturer’s Pay-as-you-Grow (PAYG) licensing model.

Implications for Allocating Cores

Given the limitations of the r4600, these allocation options mean that you may need to make decisions based on your production workload requirements. This typically leaves you with two practical choices:

1. Leaving 4 Cores Unused:
   • Assign 4 CPUs to each tenant, leaving 4 cores unallocated. While this may seem inefficient, it can make sense if both tenants have lightweight workloads.
2. Asymmetric Allocation:
   • Assign 8 CPUs to one tenant and 4 CPUs to the other, allowing you to optimize the performance of the more resource-intensive workload. This configuration takes advantage of all available cores without leaving resources idle.

Alternatively, as you mentioned, purchasing the additional cores to expand beyond the default 12 cores would allow for a more balanced allocation. Specifically, upgrading to the r4800 model would unlock a total of 16 cores to optimize tenant configurations further.

Documentation Insights for CPU Expansion

The PAYG approach for rSeries appliances simplifies upgrades while future-proofing performance. As documented in the r4000 series  technical manual: rSeries Multitenancy

“Since all r4000 models are running on the same hardware appliance, you can easily upgrade from the r4600 to the r4800 to unlock more performance via a simple license change. This is all part of the Pay-as-you-Grow or PAYG strategy for the rSeries appliances. There are 2 PAYG tiers within the r4000 series appliances.”

This licensing model makes it easy to scale resources when production demands increase, ensuring you’re not permanently constrained by the default allocation tiers of 4, 8, or 12 CPUs.