If your designing your own private cloud or you are looking for a public cloud provider, one important consideration is cloud hardware. New advances in integrated circuit (chip technology) are quickly making traditional cloud hardware obsolete. Servers built on microprocessors, such as Intel's famous line of processors, are becoming a thing of the past. Replacing these microprocessors in cloud servers are graphic processing units (GPUs). Nvidia, which has its roots in graphic processor design, is quickly taking data center market share away from Intel. As the Market Realist points out in a telling graph, cloud builders are choosing Nvidia's data center products hands down over Intel.
As a specific telling example, Nvidia recently won over Walmart with its data center products. Walmart will use Nvidia's products in a GPU farm configuration to support its business operations. Amazon has also reported to have adopted GPU based technology for use in its data centers.
The switch in technology from microprocessor-based clouds to GPU-based clouds and even neural clouds, underscores just how tricky it can be to build and maintain a private cloud. Companies that have invested heavily in cloud microprocessor technology, now must switch over to GPU technology to remain competitive. This not only means changes in hardware, but also software. Even more importantly it means changes in the staff at the leading cloud providers. Professionals with artificial intelligence, neural network expertise and graphic processing experience are high demand items at cloud provider companies right now.
The change in cloud technology is not expected to be the last. But the switch to GPU and neural cloud technology is expected to continue. This all spells good news for companies that have a multiple cloud technology and are not locked into a specific cloud vendor. On the other hand, for companies that have locked themselves into cloud vendors that have not switched over yet, problems may be on the horizon. Technology changes at cloud companies, especially small ones, can spell trouble. If a technology change is not done right, melt downs can occur and data can be lost. Maybe even worse than that, small cloud vendors can simply go bankrupt because they lose market share too quickly.
Cloud Learning Links
Telsa Data Center GPUs for Servers, Nvidia
Data Center: NVIDIA's Key Growth Driver in 2018, Market Realist, Paige Tanner
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