Virtualisation

NVIDIA launches data centre visualisation processor

NVIDIA has announced NVIDIA OVX servers featuring the new NVIDIA L40S GPU, a powerful, universal data centre processor designed to accelerate the most compute-intensive, complex applications, including AI training and inference, 3D design and visualisation, video processing and industrial digitalisation with the NVIDIA Omniverse platform. The new GPU powers accelerated computing workloads for generative AI, which is transforming workflows and services across industries, including text, image and video generation, chatbots, game development, product design and healthcare. Powerful performance for AI and graphicsNVIDIA OVX systems will enable up to eight NVIDIA L40S GPUs per server, each equipped with 48GB of memory. Based on the NVIDIA Ada Lovelace GPU architecture, the L40S includes fourth-generation Tensor Cores and an FP8 Transformer Engine, delivering over 1.45 petaflops of tensor processing power. For complex AI workloads with billions of parameters and multiple data modalities, such as text and video, L40S enables up to 1.2x more generative AI inference performance and up to 1.7x training performance compared with the NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPU. To power high-fidelity professional visualisation workflows like real-time rendering, product design and 3D content creation, the NVIDIA L40S GPU includes 142 third-generation RT Cores that deliver 212 teraflops of ray-tracing performance. This enables creative professionals to create immersive visual experiences and photorealistic content. For computationally demanding workflows, such as engineering and scientific simulations, the NVIDIA L40S includes 18,176 CUDA cores, delivering nearly five times the single-precision floating-point (FP32) performance of the NVIDIA A100 GPU to accelerate complex calculations and data-intensive analyses. Early adoptionAmong the first cloud service providers to offer L40S instances is CoreWeave, which specialises in large-scale, GPU-accelerated workloads. Software to boost AIEnterprises deploying L40S GPUs can benefit from NVIDIA AI Enterprise software. The software provides production-ready enterprise support and security for over 100 frameworks, pretrained models, toolkits and software, including NVIDIA Modulus for simulations, NVIDIA RAPIDS for data science and NVIDIA Triton Inference Server for production AI. Omniverse expandsThe next generation of NVIDIA OVX systems powering Omniverse Cloud will feature L40S GPUs to deliver the AI and graphics performance needed to supercharge generative AI pipelines and Omniverse workloads. AvailabilityThe NVIDIA L40S will be available starting this fall. Global system builders, including ASUS, Dell Technologies, GIGABYTE, HPE, Lenovo, QCT and Supermicro, will soon offer OVX systems that include the NVIDIA L40S GPUs. These servers will help professionals worldwide advance AI and bring generative AI applications like intelligent chatbots, search and summarisation tools to users across industries. Click here for latest data centre news.

SentinelOne bolsters India’s cyber defences

SentinelOne has announced the launch of a virtual data centre in Mumbai that will enable the growing number of Indian companies which rely on SentinelOne to shield their business from cyber attacks in a simple, compliant way.  “Cyber criminals are moving faster than ever, and companies must move with even greater speed to thwart their actions,” says Diwa Dayal, Managing Director, India and SAARC, SentinelOne. “At SentinelOne, we understand the stringent reporting requirements that Indian organisations must meet. And with the launch of our local data centre, we are uniquely positioned to help them do it.”Cyber attacks are on the rise. And no industry is immune. But some are more vulnerable than others. With SentinelOne, banking, financial services, healthcare, government and other organisations that are sensitive to data residency and privacy needs can leverage AI-powered protection to keep their assets secure.The company’s Singularity platform is a unified solution that combines endpoint protection, cloud security, identity threat detection and response and data ingestion with analytics in a single console. Using a native backend and the industry’s most performant security data lake, the solution offers complete data localisation and sovereignty with an India-based AWS Point-of-Presence (PoP). It is also the first open XDR solution in India that delivers complete data localisation and sovereignty. Hosted by its strategic partner, AWS, the Mumbai cloud data centre will provide direct, high-performance access to the Singularity platform, while allowing organisations to store their logs within Indian borders.“At SentinelOne, our mission is to defeat every attack, every second, of every day,” says Diwa. “And our new data centre is a testament to our commitment to India and to keeping its infrastructure and citizens safe as the threat landscape evolves.” Click here for more news on data centres.

Supermicro MicroCloud uses AMD Ryzen for server usage

Supermicro has introduced a new server that gives IT and data centre owners a high-performance and scalable solution to meet the needs for E-commerce, cloud gaming, code development, content creation, and virtual private servers. The new systems are designed to use AMD Ryzen 7000 Series processors optimised for server usage, based on the latest Zen 4 core architecture, which has a maximum boost speed of up to 5.7GHz, including PCIe 5.0 support, DDR5-5200MHz, and up to 16 cores or 32 threads per CPU. The Supermicro MicroCloud is designed to use the latest system technology for a wide range of applications, including web hosting, cloud gaming, and virtual desktop applications. “We are expanding our application optimised server product lines to include the latest AMD Ryzen 7000 Series processors,” says Michael McNerney, VP of Marketing and Security, Supermicro. “These new servers from Supermicro will give IT administrators a compact and high-performance option in order to offer more services with lower latencies to their internal or external customers. By working closely with AMD to optimise the Ryzen 7000 Series firmware for server usage, we can bring a range of solutions with new technologies with PCIe 5.0, DDR5 memory, and high clock rates to market faster, which will allow organisations to reduce costs and offer advanced solutions to their clients.” The Supermicro Microcloud new blade offering, AS-3015MR-H8TNR server, contains a single optimised AMD Ryzen 7000 Series processor, up to 128GB of DDR5 memory, and a TDP of up to 170W. The 3U enclosure contains eight blades, with each blade containing up to two front-accessible NVMe U.2, SAS, or SATA3 drives. It shares cooling and redundant power supplies across the eight blades for a more efficient and uninterrupted operation. IT departments can quickly set up dedicated hosting, a multi-instance environment for workloads such as web hosting, cloud gaming, and remote and virtual desktops, through easy accessibility of the physical nodes and the rear I/O with a flexible remote management interface, including dedicated IPMI port for the eight nodes. “AMD works closely with Supermicro to bring innovative products to market that enable customers to reduce costs while increasing performance for a wide range of workloads. The Supermicro MicroCloud offers customers a compact, low latency solution that can meet the demands of many data centre operators seeking a successful digital transformation,” says John Morris, Corporate Vice President, Enterprise and HPC Business Group, AMD. “The AMD Ryzen 7000 Series processors set a new standard for performance in a compact form factor for cloud and dedicated hosting environments.”

Spirent brings the network edge into view with its new solution

Spirent Communications has announced the availability of its new over-the-air (OTA) performance-monitoring solution, designed to bring the network edge into the complete end-to-end test and monitoring landscape. The Spirent Mobile Test Platform (MTP) is a small form factor solution, that provides edge service monitoring and remote management. Supporting this handheld device and four SIMs in one functional box, the platform features a patent-pending management technology that enables unprecedented remote monitoring of the customer experience, whatever the chosen location. It also provides operators with central control of test devices at the edge, including software updates and device hardware reboots. “The ability to effectively test and monitor network performance end-to-end must fully embrace the edge,” says Spirent’s Charles Thompson, VP of Product Management. “Assurance solutions need to keep up with increasingly stringent thresholds to ensure performance and quality of experience at the edge during pre-deployment, verification, and ongoing service management. This is why we have developed the MTP.” The MTP enables systematic performance monitoring and ad hoc testing from the edge of the network that can be consumed and integrated for deeper network analytics at a larger scale and provide unrivalled network visibility and analysis. By combining the existing fixed and mobile network assurance solutions with the OTA capability of MTP, customers can now deploy and assure new 5G services to detect and isolate faults in the network.

Pulsant pioneers platformEDGE to deliver edge computing for all

Pulsant has launched platformEDGE — a next-generation platform that will enable regional businesses across the UK to harness the opportunity of digital transformation. platformEDGE is a UK-wide integrated infrastructure that enables scalable, high-performance, low-latency edge application delivery. By placing intense compute power as close to the end device as possible, edge computing enables businesses to exploit data-dense opportunities, such as video analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR) gaming, autonomous vehicles, and remote monitoring. The platform has three components: A regional data centre network, offering the capacity to co-locate in any of Pulsant’s 12 secure data centre locations, connected by 100Gbps Zayo fibre with latency of 10ms or less. Low latency connectivity with flexible options designed to maximise edge performance with Megaport’s SDN (Software Defined Network) platform. A distributed compute and storage platform for edge workloads and hyperscale cloud integrations. These three elements help simplify the journey to the edge for regional businesses, accelerating time to value and ensuring they are well positioned for future growth opportunities. Edge computing is also critical to ensure smart cities remain economically viable as populations and data continue to grow exponentially. Rob Coupland, CEO, Pulsant comments, “Our heritage is built on championing regional business. platformEDGE is the next stage in this evolution, delivering the technological foundation for these businesses to digitally transform. We have invested hundreds of millions in this technology to collapse the digital divide and accelerate innovation throughout the UK.” Simon Michie, CTO, Pulsant adds, “There are just over half a million software developers in the UK. platformEDGE will dissolve the infrastructure constraints they face and unleash regional innovation for local businesses, governments, service providers, and suppliers, in a way that can’t be achieved today.”

Acronis launches partner portal to empower service providers

Acronis has introduced a new partner portal that delivers greater support and enhanced marketing and sales capabilities to the service providers, distributors, and resellers in the #CyberFit Partner Program. The new portal was developed to enhance partner enablement, providing easy access to the content, tools, and training that will help them build a successful cyber protection business. Given the dramatic growth of the Acronis cloud ecosystem – which has doubled since 2018, including a 30% increase in partners last year – the company wanted to revitalise its partner portal with a familiar, easy-to-use interface while providing new capabilities that help partners maximise the potential and profitability of their cyber protection portfolio. “Acronis knows that our success is tied directly to the success of our partners, which is why we do all we can to accelerate their business growth. We recently introduced our flagship Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud with a no-charge licencing model to allow for incremental margins, as well as enhanced incentives for our newly announced #CyberFit Partner Program,” says Jan-Jaap “JJ” Jager, Chief Revenue Officer, Acronis. “With our new partner portal, we’re making it even easier to leverage those initiatives, putting the knowledge, tools, and support needed to deliver comprehensive cyber protection at our partners’ fingertips.” Available in six languages and accessible through the existing partner portal URL, the new portal puts even more power in the hands of Acronis’ service provider, reseller, and distribution partners. Among the featured enhancements are: Easier navigation with a central dashboard that provides a partner an account overview at a glance with customisable widgets that show support cases, MDF, deal registration, renewal opportunities, and more. Partner programme benefits and requirements are immediately accessible, as are special promotional offers. With an interface that mirrors the existing Acronis Management Console, access can be set based on roles and responsibilities. Enhanced marketing and sales support, including built-in marketing automation tools that streamline the ability to promote and sell, share email blasts, and offer renewals pipeline management for resellers. Partners also gain access to Acronis’ NFR Program as well.Ready-made and DIY marketing content that can be executed directly from the portal, including campaigns-in-a-box, email nurture flows, social media content, email blasts, customisable web banners and landing pages, and more provide partners with flexible, self-service marketing opportunities.  Increased support visibility for both technical and sales ticketswith a new Support section that streamlines case submission and provides easily tracked support tickets. Managing sales and renewals opportunities is also made easier.Specialized training from the Acronis #CyberFit Academy – including product training, technical certifications, etc. – can also be accessed directly through the new partner portal. Partners who have participated in testing the new portal agree that the new capabilities will benefit their go-to-market efforts and help them streamline their sales and marketing initiatives. “Acronis has created a seamless and exceptional user interface with its new Partner Portal. From product management to technical support, we feel more connected than ever to Acronis’ team of advisors and continue to learn how to improve our own sales experience on the new platform,” comments Evangelos Tselios, Cloud Product Manager at interworks.cloud. “This outstanding development is well-organized and filled with useful content and information, truly honoring one of Acronis’ true core values of transparency. This new portal is a great example of how Acronis values its partners.”

Engineering Grade AR by XYZ Reality deployed by PM group

PM Group is deploying the latest Augmented Reality (AR) technology on the design and construction of one of Europe’s largest, hyperscale data centres in Denmark. PM Group is using the world’s first engineering grade AR product, HoloSite, from London-based company, XYZ Reality. The new technology is helping to achieve significant time and labour savings during construction. Retrospectively identifying out of tolerance construction can lead to project delays and escalating costs, and this is particularly evident in phases involving complex mechanical and electrical (M&E) engineering works. HoloSite custom-integrates engineering grade AR into a safety-compliant, hard hat and visor. The technology enables users to view full, BIM models on site, in real time and within construction tolerances. For the first time, construction teams are able to proactively prevent and identify early-stage construction inaccuracies. Diarmuid O’Sullivan, Construction Director, PM Group, says: “We’ve been using HoloSite since the beginning of the Danish project, and it is unlocking significant productivity advancements on-site. It has allowed us to move away from a reactive approach to tackling errors, to a more proactive way of working, solving problems before they actualise as a cost. It is great to work with innovators like XYZ Reality who really understand our needs. This technology is ground breaking and adds significantly to the AR and other digital technology we are using on our projects across the world.” “HoloSite is facilitating a high level of build accuracy which is removing the need for constant laser surveying. It is also helping us to track and trend issues and make adjustments to keep the project on schedule,” says Coral Butler, BIM Manager, PM Group. “Health and safety is always our key focus. HoloSite is enabling us to live stream the site, either on walk downs or for factory witness tests, reducing the number of people needed on site – which is particularly beneficial in light of the Covid crisis,” Coral concludes. David Mitchell, CEO and founder of XYZ Reality, comments: “Augmented Reality challenges many long-standing construction practices and shifts the industry to a more forward-thinking, proactive approach to building. “Having worked as a Digital Construction Manager on some of Europe’s largest construction projects, I have witnessed first-hand how damaging it could be to take a reactive approach to tackling construction errors, but the technology wasn’t available to do it differently - I knew there had to be a better way. “My goal was to develop technology that supports a proactive way of working, and this is what we’ve been able to achieve with HoloSite - a product that enables construction teams to build it right first time.” PM Group plans to deploy additional HoloSite units on site in Denmark as the build advances into more complex M&E construction phases. The company is also looking to use the technology on other construction projects in 2021.