In this research note, Camberley Bates shares insights from the AI Data Infrastructure Field Day event, highlighting significant takeaways that can transform our approach to managing AI data infrastructure. The discussion focused on innovative solutions and strategies that are shaping the future of AI deployments, stressing the importance of adapting to rapidly evolving technological landscapes. These events serve as a crucial platform for IT professionals to gain knowledge on optimizing infrastructure to effectively support AI functions and applications. This note was written for The Futurum Group following AI Data Infrastructure Field Day 1.
Data Infrastructure Is A Lot More Than Storage
The rise of AI and the importance of data to modern businesses has driven us too recognize that data matters, not storage. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast focuses on AI data infrastructure and features Camberley Bates, Andy Banta, David Klee, and host Stephen Foskett, all of whom will be attending our AI Data Infrastructure Field Day this week. We’ve known for decades that storage solutions must provide the right access method for applications, not just performance, capacity, and reliability. Today’s enterprise storage solutions have specialized data services and interfaces to enable AI workloads, even as capacity has been driven beyond what we’ve seen in the past. Power and cooling is another critical element, since AI systems are optimized to make the most of expensive GPUs and accelerators. AI also requires extensive preparation and organization of data as well as traceability and records of metadata for compliance and reproducibility. Another question is interfaces, with modern storage turning to object stores or even vector database interfaces rather than traditional block and file. AI is driving a profound transformation of storage and data.
Cloud Field Day – Infrastructure Matters on the Road
During Cloud Field Day 19, Infrastructure Matters hosts Steven Dickens and Camberley Bates, alongside industry experts Stephen Foskett and Keith Townsend, explored the use case for presenters NeuroBlade, SoftIron, and Platform9. Each contributes a unique on-premises and cloud solutions aimed at optimizing infrastructure performance and management. The discussions, rooted in technical expertise, provide a comprehensive look into the role of these companies’ technologies in shaping the future of IT infrastructure. Listen to the entire webcast from The Futurum Group for more!
Dell – Streamlining Cloud – On and Off Premises
Camberley Bates’ LinkedIn Pulse article examines Dell’s latest solutions—APEX Storage for Public Cloud and APEX Cloud Platform—introduced at DTW 2023 and further elaborated during Tech Field Day. These offerings aim to enhance cloud management both on and off-premises, with the SDS-based APEX Storage designed for scalability in AWS, Azure, and eventually GCP, complemented by the APEX Navigator for comprehensive management. The article also highlights APEX Cloud Platforms’ on-premises integrations for OpenShift, AzureStack HCI, and VMware Tanzu that simplify deployment and lifecycle management.
SoftIron – A HyperCloud That Is Not Your Typical HCI
Camberley Bates describes SoftIron’s distinctive approach within the Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure market, highlighting its appeal to sectors with zero-trust and high-security requirements. SoftIron stands out by manufacturing its own hardware for compute, network, and storage in the US and Australia, with a software foundation geared towards high-security standards. Their systems can scale significantly beyond the usual limitations of HCI, supporting large clusters with high performance, even in HPC or image processing contexts. The article notes SoftIron’s unique architecture, including a stateless device setup and control plane integration in top of rack networking nodes, and mentions the intention to further investigate their data management and system interface.
Platform Engineering & FinOps Converge
Platform9 stands at the forefront of innovative Kubernetes management, blending platform engineering expertise with FinOps principles to tackle over-provisioning and optimize resource allocation. Their Managed Kubernetes service revolutionizes deployment and operational management, enhancing both operational efficiency and financial optimization for enterprises. With the introduction of Elastic Machine Pool—targeting AWS EKS clusters—Platform9 commitments to substantial cost savings and improved compute utilization, evidencing a future where technical prowess meets financial prudence in cloud infrastructure management. Read more in this analyst note from The Futurum Group by Steven Dickens and Camberley Bates.
Introduction to NeuroBlade
At Cloud Field Day 19, NeuroBlade introduced their innovative SPU solution, which joins the ranks of xPUs designed to boost data processing beyond traditional CPU or GPU capabilities. Their SPU, a PCIe bus-inserted hardware accelerator, is integrated through the DAXL API and SDK, showing promise in Presto, with plans to expand to Spark and Clickhouse, touting substantial performance claims of a 30x improvement. NeuroBlade’s pitch is particularly compelling in the big data era, where their technology could drastically cut the number of servers needed for large workloads, signaling a potentially transformative impact on cost, space, and power efficiency in data analytics. Read more in this LinkedIn Pulse article by Camberley Bates of The Futurum Group.
