Supermicro has introduced a new AI-focused storage solution, integrating multiple Nvidia BlueField-3 Data Processing Units (DPUs) alongside an all-flash storage array. This system is purpose-built to meet the rigorous demands of AI-driven workloads, providing enhanced processing power and faster data throughput.
Advanced DPU-Powered Architecture for AI Workloads
The newly launched Just a Bunch of Flash (JBOF) system from Supermicro is housed in a compact 2U rack unit, capable of supporting up to four BlueField-3 DPUs. These DPUs offer robust support for high-speed networking interfaces, including 400Gb Ethernet and InfiniBand, making the system well-suited for high-throughput storage applications.
Optimized Storage and Networking with Arm-Based Processing
This innovative JBOF configuration replaces conventional CPUs and memory systems with BlueField-3 DPUs, which run storage applications directly on their built-in 16-core Arm processors. These DPUs provide significant performance improvements by accelerating data traffic, enabled through technologies like RoCE (RDMA over Converged Ethernet) and Nvidia’s GPU Direct Storage. Additionally, the system supports GPU-initiated storage, enhancing its ability to handle intensive AI tasks.
Dual-Port Design for Maximum Availability and Scalability
The Supermicro JBOF features a dual-port architecture that supports active-active clustering, allowing for enhanced resilience and uptime in storage applications. The system can be configured with up to 36 SSDs, achieving a raw storage capacity of 1.105 petabytes with 30.71TB drives. Designed to support both scale-up applications and scale-out configurations like object storage and parallel file systems, this storage solution is versatile and scalable.
Charles Liang, Supermicro’s President and CEO, highlighted the balanced design of the network and storage I/O in this system, emphasizing its capacity to handle the full 400 Gb/s throughput of the BlueField-3 units and to deliver over 250 GB/s bandwidth from Gen 5 SSDs.
Expanding an Ecosystem for AI-Driven Storage Solutions
Through its collaboration with Nvidia, Supermicro is actively building an ecosystem to support JBOF technology. Partners such as data platform Hammerspace and object storage provider Cloudian are developing software optimized to run on the BlueField-3 DPU, enabling new storage infrastructure solutions tailored to AI workloads.
Supermicro’s latest storage system offers a powerful, high-throughput option for enterprises looking to scale AI applications and manage demanding data processing tasks efficiently.
