[BLOG] Taking The Guesswork Out of AI Model Training Infrastructure

Learn how NetApp and NVIDIA are teaming up to help you accelerate AI development.

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NetApp and NVIDIA are making it easier for their clients to create a development environment for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Deep Learning (DL). The two partners have deployed a powerful turnkey solution called ONTAP AI that combines NVIDIA processing with high-performance storage from NetApp. 

The result is a revolution in AI and DL development able to power the next generation of cutting-edge tech, from autonomous cars and aircraft to life-saving medical breakthroughs. 

As AI development becomes increasingly common, more businesses are looking to add it to their portfolio of products and services. Fortune Business Insights predicts that the global AI market will reach more than $1.39 trillion by 2029. 

In an interview with Katie Bavoso of The Channel Company, Matt Hull, NVIDIA VP of Global AI Data Center Solutions Sales, says NVIDIA is working hard to empower that movement. “Our goal … is to make AI democratized. We want to bring it to everyone—to make it available and make it ubiquitous. “

At the heart of NetApp and NVIDIA’s solution is a converged infrastructure stack that incorporates NVIDIA DGX A100, the world’s first 5-petaflop AI system, and NetApp’s A800 Cloud-integrated storage controllers. 

The on-prem component of ONTAP AI is based on DGX BasePOD, which combines the DGX A100 with NVIDIA Mellanox high-performance Ethernet switches and A-Series cloud-connected all-flash storage developed by NetApp. The resulting turnkey system can deploy with one of several preconfigured solutions built on validated reference architecture sized for common use cases. 

Many business leaders are excited to enter AI development. But they may be feeling some trepidation, too—it’s an expensive business. Infrastructure and human resources costs combined with long development cycles can leave enterprises with huge Capex outlays and nothing to show for it. 

IT leaders want a system that makes it simple to build infrastructure for their data scientists. They also want a development cycle that moves from concept to product as quickly as possible. 

NVIDIA and NetApp are meeting these customer needs. ONTAP AI promises to help users streamline data flow and speed up analytics, training, and inference. 

The AI race is well underway. And the results promise to be nothing short of amazing.