Silent Data Corruptions in Computing: Understand and Quantify

Ensuring the reliability of hardware components is essential, particularly in large-scale installations that demand computing capabilities (cloud data centers, supercomputers, edge systems). Silent data corruptions (SDCs) due to latent defects, manufacturing testing escapes, aging, marginal defects present significant challenges to system integrity and performance. Such silicon defects are often subtle and intermittent, manifesting under specific conditions, thus complicating detection and diagnosis. In this paper, the views of the CPU design powerhouses (Intel, AMD, Arm) that deliver most of the computing power of our days at scale, are summarized. These industry giants share their insights on the challenges posed by SDCs and discuss the strategies and technologies they employ to mitigate these issues.