Nvidia will acquire the object storage software company SwiftStack, the specific terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. This is the second recent acquisition period for the object store. Previously, Quantum announced the acquisition of objects stored ActivScale Western Digital product line.
If the acquisition of Quantum object storage business is well understood, but the AI chip giant Nvidia acquisition target storage which is to put out? However, Nvidia enterprise computing, head Manuvir Das made it clear that: "Nvidia did not want to become a storage company." Nvida not alone foreign sales of storage products, that have to do what this Nirvana?
It is reported, Nvidia plurality of internal data center technology used SwiftStack and Pingjiapogao thereof. SwiftStack co-founder Joe Arnold revealed, SwiftStack Nvidia has partnered with more than a year, mainly to resolve the realization of large-scale data challenges brought by AI.
Manuvir Das bluntly, Nvidia uses SwiftStack of 1 Space technology helps busy replaced GPU processing and stratification, Nvidia will continue to use SwiftStack technology internally, and will promote it to customers, but not to sell it.
The acquisition and integrated Nvidia information Manuvir Das published online big data revealed the following think this trend:
First, the object storage because of the rise of AI and become a vent, excellent object storage company will become a takeover target giants padded short board;
Two, Nvidia chip giant this AI incoming, indicating that the object storage infrastructure will become the AI field an important tool, but AI-end vertical solutions will become increasingly important;
Third, the object store app in the enterprise application acceleration, particularly in business to accelerate the adoption after the cloud, will be high frequency of use AI applications, data analysis scenarios will be the objects stored in the public cloud environments, while within the enterprise environment using objects storage to archive also trend;
1space data reflects the pain points of AI
SwiftStack company's product is called SwiftStack, this is a based on OpenStack Object Storage software, with Swift object storage and Cinder block storage, is compatible with AWS S3, and have developed a technique of moving data to the public cloud.
2019, SwiftStack 7 release, the new version provides a number PB-scale processing level, providing throughput speeds in excess of 100GB / sec, and were tested linear performance and capacity expansion, can handle thousands of requests staff to access data at the same time .
The key is that Nvidia acquisition SwiftStack 1space, it is a file connector, a cloud can native applications can access data locally through S3 or AWS Swift or the API objects, and to ensure continuity of data to the computing resource.
Swiftstack represents V7 AI for large-scale applications, and can support up to hundreds of PB of data GPU requirements. The software can use Nvidia DGX-1 system and NGC (Nvidia GPU cloud) Registry vessel GPU optimization software. It provides a parallel storage and throughput Nvidia GPU computing NGC.
Nvidia want our customers to use the storage space they already own: "We will deploy our AI stack and point it to their existing storage space, use the middle 1space ...... This can be better integrated."
Object storage or due to AI usher inflection point
Traditionally, we believe that the main object is stored biased in favor of backup, archiving and other scenes. In fact, in the public cloud environment, in addition to backup and archive, object storage using the scene very much, such as data analysis, AI applications, content distribution.
Future, or object storage will usher in a new turning point, it will be mainly cloudy and thorough application of AI driven. Because, on the one hand more and more companies face cloudy environment, enterprise data to make an object storage technology flow between local and public clouds, applications become a trend; on the other hand, with the like AI, data analysis business scenario increase their own local environment will change the application's object API supports fewer situation.
2019 IDC MarketScape Object Storage
The current global market, the main object storage vendors and products: IBM COS (IBM obtained through the acquisition of Cleversafe), Hitachi Vantara HCP, Scality Ring, NetApp StorageGRID, Dell EMC ECS, SwiftStack (already Nvidia acquired), Cloudian HyerStore, Red Hat Ceph, Huawei FusionStorage and so on. Domestic object storage vendor more famous XSKY, fir rock data, and Ali Tencent cloud service providers.
Like Nvidia's new incoming, although not directly as a sales object storage products, but it would certainly insist on going open, because SwiftStack related technology has been best practice in its own data center, which will open SwiftStack software reference architecture, First, help partners to build their own solutions, the other user has enough appeal.
There is no doubt, Nvidia will become the market showstopper, it reminds object storage vendors, not to relax the pace of AI application support.