Narrow down by specifying conditions
現在1890件がヒットしています。check
In recent years, the field of data science using big data has developed rapidly, and with the spread of 5G, the amount of data tends to increase and diversify. In addition, applications and joint development using the cloud are increasing, and there is a pressing need to strengthen data security. In order to process bloated data at high speed, it is necessary to expand the computational resources, power consumption, and installation space that are the resources of the data center. If you try to support advanced security functions, you will also need resources accordingly. However, data center resources are reaching the limits of expansion.
The DPU (Data Processing Unit), a technology that has the potential to solve these issues and accelerate the deployment of 5G, will play a very important role in fields such as data centers and enterprises in the future. In this article, I will explain what a DPU is and what benefits it has.
What is DPU, which appeared next to CPU/GPU?
Before the rise of GPUs, CPUs were responsible for the original application operations, as well as parallel computation processing, network processing between servers, remote storage access, and so on. It was only a few years ago that GPUs appeared and could be entrusted with parallel computing, and then DPUs appeared.
A DPU (Data Processing Unit) is a device that offloads the communication function that was traditionally handled by the host CPU. As a concept close to the DPU, NICs (Network Interface Cards) already existed to offload network processing. However, the host CPU had to execute the instructions for offloading, so it could not be released completely. By installing an ARM CPU and peripheral devices on the ConnectX series NIC made by NVIDIA Networking (formerly Mellanox), the DPU can control the offload functions of the existing NIC and realize further additional functions. This allows the host CPU to concentrate on application processing.
Whereabouts of CPU resources that are overused in data center networks
Server resources are consumed on servers in data centers for two main purposes. The first is the resources required for processing various applications, which is essentially the user area used for "what the user wants to achieve" on the server. Another area that cannot be ignored is "resources for infrastructure" such as network/storage processing, which is often used by server administrators. With the recent increase in data capacity and communication bandwidth, the ratio of "resources for infrastructure" is increasing rapidly. Furthermore, in order to realize zero trust security, which is one of the trends, even security functions are being required to be realized on the server, and server resources for the user area are increasingly under pressure. .
As the quality and number of applications increases, users will want to expand the user area accordingly. On the other hand, administrators will also need to expand resources as part of improving SLAs (service level agreements), and as a result, the shortage of CPU resources will become more serious.
Utilization of DPU makes it possible to separate the user area and the administrator area, which were competing with each other within limited server resources, and move administrator resources onto the DPU. Add parallel processing to the GPU, and CPU resources can be fully devoted to user applications.
What exactly can you do with DPU?
We will introduce applications in which DPUs play an active role, mainly from three perspectives.
Network
By adding a DPU at the entrance of the system, it will play the role of a new accelerator in front of the CPU and GPU. This minimizes CPU processing in packet IO and achieves even faster processing.
storage
The use of remote storage spreads to support large volumes, but access to it required processing on the host OS. By utilizing a function called SNAP on the DPU side, storage in a remote environment can be handled as if it were local storage, supporting high-speed data transfer.
Security
By offloading the security functions onto the DPU, it becomes possible to perform security processing while being completely physically separated and protected from the server's CPU, memory, and higher-level applications.
Areas expected to be utilized
Download the DPU In-depth Guide
"NVIDIA DPU" is an acceleration card equipped with an ARM CPU and peripheral devices on the ConnectX series NIC introduced above.
In the conventional system, the CPU was in charge of many processes such as network, storage, security, management, etc., and there was a possibility that the CPU would be overloaded. However, by replacing these with a DPU (Data Processing Unit), the host CPU can concentrate on application processing.
"DPU Thorough Use Guide" explains what a DPU is and what specific applications it can be used for.
Please click the button below and fill in the simple form to download it.
Validator (BlueField-2) available for free rental
How was the introduction of the DPU? We are proposing NVIDIA's BlueField-2 as the latest product equipped with a DPU. First of all, we are currently offering free rentals for customers who want to insert it into their own server and verify its operation.
If you have a request, please click the button below and go to the "Consultation/request content" column.
・Request for free rental of verification device (BlueField-2)
・Purpose of verification and usage of DPU
をご記載ください。弊社NVIDIA製品窓口より連絡させていただきます。
Related article
