Ron Westfall considers HPE Aruba’s positioning itself to enhance private 5G network solutions, promising to bring high-speed, reliable connectivity to enterprise environments. Aruba’s networking expertise is set to empower businesses with improved performance, better control, and tailored implementations of 5G technology. The insights presented highlight Aruba’s readiness to meet the burgeoning demand for private 5G networks, cementing its role as a catalyst in the enterprise networking transformation. This analyst note from The Futurum Group looks forward to the announcements at HPE Discover.
Looking at the Rapidly Evolving Modern Cloud at Cloud Field Day 20
The modern cloud is evolving rapidly, encompassing AI, hybrid-cloud, and advanced IT infrastructure. Cloud Field Day 20 will feature presentations on private AI data centers, workload orchestration, unified platforms, AI integration, networking, and more. Presenters include Juniper Networks, Google Cloud, Morpheus Data, and Oxide Computer Company. Our next Cloud Field Day event will be broadcast live on the Tech Field Day website and LinkedIn Page as well as on Techstrong TV June 12th through 14th.
Juniper Choreographs AI-Native Networking Breakthroughs
Juniper Networks is steering the industry toward AI-native networking solutions, as discussed in a thorough this analyst note by Ron Westfall of The Futurum Group. At Mobility Field Day 11, the company showcased its vision for intelligent networking, integrating AI to enhance performance, simplify operations, and improve user experiences. These breakthroughs signal Juniper’s commitment to spearheading the AI-driven future of networking, cementing its role as an innovator in the space.
Application Modernization Requires Good Security Practices
As application development and modernization moves forward, security has never been more important. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast introduces AppDev Field Day with a discussion of the importance of DevSecOps featuring Paul Nashawaty, Mitch Ashley, Michael Levan, and Stephen Foskett.
Moving Beyond Platform Engineering and IT Operations at AppDev Field Day
Once you move beyond IT operations platform engineering and devops you reach the realm of application development. That’s the newest Tech Field Day topic and we’re excited to be kicking off our coverage of this space with AppDev Field Day on May 29th and 30th.
Platform Engineering Is the Revenge of IT Operations
The rise of platform engineering demonstrates how difficult it has been to balance DevOps between developers and operations. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features a discussion of platform engineering with Mitch Ashley and Mike Vizard of Techstrong Group and Stephen Foskett and Tom Hollingsworth of Gestalt IT.
Wi-Fi 7 Isn’t Enough For Future Wireless Needs
New technology standards can’t anticipate how users will consume content and applications and revisions to the standards will be adopted to meet their needs. In this episode, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Ron Westfall, Drew Lentz, and Rocky Gregory as they discuss where Wi-Fi 7 falls short.
Containerization is Required to Modernize Applications at the Edge
Modern applications are widely deployed in the cloud, but they’re coming at the edge as well. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Alastair Cooke and Paul Nashawaty from The Futurum Group, Erik Nordmark from ZEDEDA, and host Stephen Foskett discussing the intersection of application modernization and edge computing.
Cyber Resiliency is Just Data Protection
Cyber Resiliency is a term that encompasses much more than simply protecting data. This episode features Tom Hollingsworth joined by Krista Macomber and Max Mortillaro discussing the additional features in a cyber resiliency solution and the need to understand how data needs to be safeguarded from destruction or exploitation.
At AI Field Day, Qlik Shows AI-Based Analysis Added to Its Platform
At AI Field Day, Qlik unveiled a wizard-based AI feature that simplifies the process of leveraging on-premises data for insightful analytics, integrating smoothly with Qlik’s cloud services. This enhancement to their analytics platform aims to democratize AI’s benefits, making advanced data analysis accessible to a broader range of users with varying expertise. Qlik’s initiative reflects a commitment to user-friendly, AI-powered analytics, facilitating deeper insights while streamlining the experience for its customers. Read more in this analyst note for The Futurum Group by Alastair Cooke.
Deciding When to Use Intel Xeon CPUs for AI Inference
At AI Field Day, Intel offered insights into strategic decision-making for AI inference, highlighting scenarios where Intel Xeon CPUs outshine traditional GPU solutions on both on-premises and cloud servers. By evaluating the specific requirements of AI inference workloads, Intel guides users to make informed choices that enhance value while optimizing their existing server infrastructure. This approach emphasizes efficiency and practicality in deploying AI capabilities, ensuring that organizations can navigate the complex landscape of hardware selection for their AI initiatives. Read more in this Futurum Research Analyst Note by Alastair Cooke.
Hammerspace Shows Storage Acceleration for AI Training
At AI Field Day, Hammerspace showcased its innovative storage acceleration solution, demonstrating how Hyperscale NAS can be leveraged to enhance the performance of current scale-out NAS systems, particularly in training large language models (LLM) efficiently. This storage boost not only improves speed but also optimizes resource allocation during the intensive LLM training process. Hammerspace’s advancement offers organizations the opportunity to amplify their AI training capabilities without the need to overhaul their existing storage infrastructure. Read more in this Futurum Research Analyst Note by Alastair Cooke.
VMware Private AI at AI Field Day
VMware’s presentation with Intel at AI Field Day centered on optimizing on-premises AI workloads, highlighting the capability of Intel Sapphire Rapids CPUs with Advanced Matrix Extensions (AMX) to efficiently perform large language model (LLM) AI inference, traditionally a task for GPUs. Demonstrating that AI can be resource-effective on CPUs, the discussion covered the technical prerequisites for harnessing AMX in vSphere environments and the ongoing integration of these accelerators into popular AI frameworks. With CPUs increasingly capable of handling AI tasks through built-in matrix math acceleration, VMware showcases a sustainable, cost-effective approach, potentially reshaping the hardware strategies for mixed workload servers. Read more in this analyst note for The Futurum Group by Alastair Cooke.
Gemma and Building Your Own LLM AI
At AI Field Day 4, Intel invited the Google Cloud AI team to showcase their Gemma large language model (LLM), revealing insights into the advanced infrastructure used for building such models on Google Cloud. The presentation underlined Gemma’s efficiency with fewer parameters for inference, highlighting Google Cloud’s strength in analytics and AI, particularly in managing differing resource needs between model training and application inference phases. Google Cloud’s integration of AI in products was illustrated with Google Duet, an AI-based assistant that aids in software development, exemplifying the potential future where AI handles more coding tasks, freeing up developers for high-level problem-solving and design. Read more in this analyst note for The Futurum Group by Alastair Cooke.
Defeating Data Gravity? – Hammerspace
According to Keith Townsend, Hammerspace presented a compelling argument for a shift in overcoming data gravity by moving data closer to accelerated computing resources at AI Field Day. Their solution, a parallel file system, acts as a bridge between dispersed data sources, offering a unified metadata view that streamlines data preparation for AI tasks. While Hammerspace’s technology appears to enhance user experience, it also requires strategic GPU placement and considerations around data governance and movement across geopolitical boundaries.
Insights From the AI Field Day: A Futurum Group Overview
In this LinkedIn Pulse article, Paul Nashawaty of The Futurum Group summarizes all of the AI Field Day presentations, highlighting VMware’s deep dive into Private AI in collaboration with industry giants like NVIDIA and IBM, and Intel’s focus on deploying AI inference models with Xeon CPUs across diverse environments. Next-generation AI-infused storage solutions from Solidigm and SuperMicro underscored the critical role of optimized storage in AI, while Vast Data focused on addressing the growing data demands of AI and HPC workloads. Google Cloud’s session on AI platforms and infrastructures showcased innovative approaches with Kubernetes at the core, paving the way for accessible and powerful AI development and deployment.
The Year of AI at AI Field Day 4
Everybody says that 2024 is the year of AI, but our industry has been building the foundation for years. From processors and accelerators to storage and data platforms, applications that leverage machine learning have special demands. That’s the focus of AI Field Day, which features an entire day sponsored by Intel, plus two more days filled with presentations by a diverse range of companies. The next AI Field Day event is February 21st through 23rd. The event will be broadcast live on LinkedIn and on the Tech Field Day website, starting at 8:00 a.m. Pacific time, Wednesday through Friday, with more presentations throughout the day from VMware by Broadcom, VAST Data, Hammerspace, Qlik, Solidigm, and a whole day of presentations presented by Intel with key partners and customers.
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.