DDN A3I Platform With NVIDIA DGX-1 AI Supercomputers

DataDirect Networks, Inc. (DDN) is teaming with NVIDIA Corp. to transform data centers with storage and compute solutions that are integrated and optimized for AI and deep learning (DL) workloads.

DDN A3I DGX-1

Backed by AI expertise in both storage and computing, the A³I platform with NVIDIA DGX-1 AI supercomputers delivers a validated, pre-configured solution that enables high performance at scale, thus making it faster and easier for every enterprise to gain data-fueled insights through the power of AI and deep learning. The details of how ‘AI is Made Easy’ was shared by experts from the company and NVIDIA in a live virtual event hosted by the CUBE on October 4.

“AI and deep learning applications are creating some of the most challenging workloads in modern computing history, and are straining traditional compute, storage and network resources,” said Paul Bloch, president and co-founder, DDN. “DDN AI with NVIDIA DGX-1 is an integrated solution that provides unlimited three-dimensional scaling and improved performance as clusters grow, accelerating the end-to-end AI and DL workflow. DDN A³I with DGX-1 is driving faster iteration and, most importantly, speeding business innovation.”

The company’s A³I with NVIDIA DGX-1 provides a solution that delivers an end-to-end parallel architecture providing high throughput, lowest latency and maximum concurrency in data delivery to applications. Easy to deploy, manage, scale and support, the joint solution, available through AI-specialized resellers, delivers immediate workflow enablement and full saturation of GPU resources, all backed by pool of deep AI expertise.

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Solution advantages include:

Performance AI at scale: The firm’s solutions have scalability built-in, with systems delivering more than 200PB of capacity in a single namespace, and more than 1.4TB/s of performance. The performance parallel architecture delivers data to applications and ensures full GPU resource utilization-even for distributed applications running on multiple DGX-1 systems simultaneously. The firm’s intelligent client for DGX-1 containers also engages multiple high-speed data paths to inject the performance of NVMe into containerized applications.
AI expertise: With more than two decades of experience supporting data-intensive environments, DDN and NVIDIA have teams of engineers and technical experts to support customers with optimizing every phase of AI and DL projects: initial inception, solution architecture, systems deployment, customer support and future scaling.
AI solutions easy to deploy and support: The firm’s A³I with DGX-1 solutions enable simplified ongoing operations with an integrated and optimized environment for AI and DL workloads. The reseller partners offering these solutions are trusted advisors that bring together the combined AI and DL expertise of NVIDIA and the company to provide turnkey systems that are easily deployed, managed and scaled, along with single point of contact support to ensure user productivity and to give organizations peace of mind.

“NVIDIA DGX-1 is a full-stack AI solution for enterprise, purpose-built for the unique demands of AI and deep learning,” said Jim McHugh, VP and GM, NVIDIA. “DDN A³I with DGX-1 enables organizations to tap into the power of AI witha turnkey solution that saves time los on system design, integration, installation and troubleshooting, enabling effortless productivity for AI developers and researchers in every enterprise.“

Availability:
The company’ AI with NVIDIA DGX-1 solution is available for purchase through select US-based value-added resellers, including Meadowgate Technologies, Microway and Groupware Technology, as a validated, easy-to-deploy, turnkey offering. Authorized partners in other regions include GDEP Solutions, Xenon and E4 Computer Engineering.

Frederic Van Haren, senior analyst and practice lead, Evaluator Group, said: “AI and deep learning technologies are quickly becoming an integral part of modern enterprise infrastructures. With storage and compute solutions that support the high performance and large-scale requirements of these infrastructures, organizations are able to quickly and efficiently attain real business influence from their AI and deep learning projects.“

Steve Conway, senior research VP, Hyperion Research, said: “The powerful trend toward AI and other high-performance data analytics workloads is driving the need for storage and compute systems that deliver simplified scale and extremely fast data rates. DDN AI with NVIDIA DGX-1 is an impressive effort to meet the demanding workload requirements of data scientists across AI and deep learning environments.“

Kengo Kinoshita, Ph.D.Professor, laboratory of systems bioinformatics, applied information sciences, graduate school of information sciences, Tohoku University Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, said: “Technological innovations for managing AI and deep learning workloads are vital to our mission of establishing an advanced medical system to foster the reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake. As we work to restore the health and well-being of those in the affected areas, the progress of AI technology allows us to accelerate our data-intensive AI application workloads and drive our numerous, multi-faceted initiatives to attract top medical practitioners, promote industry-academic partnerships, and restore the medical system in Tohoku.“

Vinay Prabhu, senior director of engineering, Groupware Technology, said: “With more than twenty years of experience in delivering at-scale data solutions to many industries around the world, we are excited to see DDN collaborate with NVIDIA. DDN and NVIDIA are providing a highly efficient, resilient and well-integrated solution that will enable our customers to accelerate innovation within their AI-enabled data centers.“

Hunter Lochte, VP, Meadowgate Technologies, said: “We are excited to bring the deep technical AI expertise of NVIDIA and DDN to our government customers. With the integrated DDN and NVIDIA storage and compute solution, our clients gain a proven, secure, scalable and high-performance system that drives both efficiency and competitive advantage.“

Stephen Fried, president and chief AI officer, Microway, said: “Delivering bleeding-edge performance and scalability is crucial to a successful AI deployment. We’re pleased to collaborate with DDN reseller RAID, Inc. to offer the DDN A³I solution seamlessly integrated with NVIDIA DGX-1 to customers across academia, government, and the commercial sector. As an NVIDIA NPN Elite Deep Learning Partner and NVIDIA DGX-1 authorized reseller, our team’s technical & integration expertise, combined with the powerful new DDN and NVIDIA solution, helps customers realize unparalleled performance for AI.“

Additional resources:
A ³I with NVIDIA DGX-1 reference architecture
A³I with NVIDIA DGX-1 solution brief
DDN’s A³I solutions
NVIDIA DGX-1 Servers
Online Community Event

Read also:
ISC18: DDN Unveils A3I (Accelerated, Any-Scale AI) Solutions for AI and Deep Learning
Including scalable parallel file system appliances, AI200 and AI400 scale-out AFAs, and AI7990 hybrid flash and HDD platform
2018.07.05 | Press Release