In this Gestalt IT Tech Talk, Stephen Foskett interviews Steve McDowell, a principal analyst at NAND Research, about the concept of disaggregated architecture. They discuss the benefits of hiding complexity through disaggregation, the role of accelerators like GPUs and IO accelerators, and the potential of technologies like CXL (Compute Express Link) in enabling seamless expansion and interconnectivity of system components. They also touch upon examples of disaggregated systems and express excitement about the future possibilities of leveraging hardware resources in a more seamless and abstracted manner.

Edge infrastructure is susceptible to many of the same security risks as datacenter and cloud, but is often run in less protected environments. This episode of Utilizing Edge features Craig Nunes, Co-Founder and COO of Nebulon, talking to Brian Chambers and Stephen Foskett about the provision of reliable infrastructure services at the edge. Nebulon’s product presents storage to servers in a managed way, monitoring and protecting storage in real time. Edge servers must have a known-good system image to ensure that they are secure, yet this is difficult to achieve in remote devices.

In this Gestalt IT Tech Talk, Stephen Foskett and Ethan Banks delve into the intricacies of network automation and the evolving landscape of the unified infrastructure stack. They explore the challenges posed by vendor variations, data normalization, and the need for standardized approaches. The conversation also highlights the diminishing gap between networking and other IT domains, emphasizing the growing trend towards a unified stack. With a call for collaboration and true unification, the discussion offers valuable insights into the future of network automation and infrastructure management.

In this age of software, cloud, and platforms, custom hardware seems to be a lost art. In this episode of the On-Premise IT podcast, Joep Piscaer, Max Mortillaro, Steve McDowell, and Stephen Foskett consider whether hardware really matters anymore. Given that developers generally prioritize higher-level abstractions and platforms, they often ignoring the importance of hardware. But we can argue that optimizing hardware is crucial for efficiency, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness. The importance of hardware is dependent on the specific use case or context. And developers should be educated about the impact of their hardware choices. The possibility of regulations being introduced to enforce efficiency and optimize hardware usage should also be considered.

In this Gestalt IT Tech Talk, Stephen Foskett asks Lino Telera about cloud automation orchestration. Lino emphasizes the significance of automation in delivering applications and infrastructure efficiently, without the need for constant manual intervention. He highlights the importance of maintaining a healthy infrastructure and leveraging automation to accelerate time to market while governing application and infrastructure aspects. The discussion covers the distinction between scripting and automation, the complexity of automation processes, and the key tools such as Ansible, Chef, and Terraform.

Perhaps no company is more important to the datacenter than VMware, but how are the company’s technologies applied at the edge? This episode of Utilizing Edge features Saadat Malik, VP and GM of Edge Computing at VMware, discussing the evolution of VMware at the edge with Brian Chambers and Stephen Foskett. The discussion delves into the evolution of VMware’s presence at the edge, highlighting the differences between datacenter and edge environments in terms of people and technology. Malik emphasizes the importance of outcomes and product-focused mindsets in edge environments, as well as the constraints posed by limited physical resources. VMware’s technologies in connectivity, storage, security, and management are showcased as key enablers of successful edge computing. The episode also touches upon the growing significance of AI and machine learning at the edge and the need for standardized solutions to drive edge growth and transformation.

Training 3.0 benchmark results show performance gains of up to 1.54x compared to six months ago and 33-49x improvement over the first round, driving innovation and energy efficiency in the industry. Intel’s Habana Gaudi2 ML training engine competes with Nvidia’s offerings, boasting better performance than A100 and lower pricing than H100. Nvidia, on the other hand, unveils their NeMo model with half a trillion parameters and expands the MLPerf Training suite to include GPT-3 and a new Recommendation engine. Their collaboration with CoreWeave showcases the superior performance of the H100, providing a 3.6x speed increase for GPT-3 compared to Intel Xeon and Gaudi2. Nvidia is also developing foundation models for their DGX cloud, collaborating with major players in the industry, and Intel is widely rumored to be developing its own Gaudi2-as-a-Service offering. Then there’s the Tiny 1.1 inferencing benchmark, which saw over 150 results and performance improvements up to 1000x.

Advanced SSDs are key in edge environments, offering high performance, reliability, energy efficiency, and storage density. Solidigm’s D5-P5430 SSDs, built on reliable QLC flash, provide an efficient solution for maximizing capacity at the edge. These SSDs enable faster speeds, greater endurance, lower power consumption, and compact size, unlocking the full potential of edge computing.

Datacenter IT is used to having tight control over infrastructure and applications, but this is challenging to maintain at the edge. This episode of Utilizing Edge features Pierluca Chiodelli of Dell Technology discussing the modern edge application platform with Allyson Klein and Stephen Foskett. A typical edge environment features many different platforms, devices, and connections that must be deployed, managed, and controlled remotely. When looking at the modern edge, Chiodelli recognizes the different personas and needs and constructs a plan to achieve the required outcome at this location. Modern applications need specialized hardware and connectivity that must be supported, deployed, and managed.

Max Mortillaro highlights the multifaceted nature of sustainability within the framework of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG), in this Gestalt IT Tech Talk. Genuine sustainability efforts involve considering factors such as energy efficiency, renewable energy sourcing, minimizing waste, and extending the lifespan of technology through reusability and in-place upgrades. Differentiating between authentic sustainability and greenwashing requires a comprehensive evaluation of the entire product life cycle, including production, energy consumption, and waste production.