In the present day, the Open Flash Platform (OFP) initiative was launched with inaugural members Hammerspace, the Linux neighborhood, Los Alamos Nationwide Laboratory, ScaleFlux, SK Hynix, and Xsight Programs. OCP intends to deal with necessities from the following wave of knowledge storage for AI.
“The convergence of knowledge creation related to rising AI purposes coupled with limitations round energy availability, scorching information facilities, and information middle house constraints means we have to take a blank-slate method to constructing AI information infrastructure,” OFP mentioned in its announcement.
A decade in the past, NVMe unleashed flash because the efficiency tier by disintermediating legacy storage busses and controllers. Now, OFP unlocks flash because the capability tier by disintermediating storage servers and proprietary software program stacks. OFP leverages open requirements and open supply—particularly parallel NFS and normal Linux—to put flash immediately on the storage community. Open, standards-based options inevitably prevail. By delivering an order of magnitude better capability density, substantial energy financial savings and far decrease TCO, OFP accelerates that inevitability.
Present options are inherently tied to a storage server mannequin that calls for extreme assets to drive efficiency and functionality. Designs from all present all-flash distributors should not optimized to facilitate one of the best in flash density, and tie options to the working lifetime of a processor (sometimes 5 years) vs. the working lifetime of flash (sometimes eight years). These storage servers additionally introduce proprietary information buildings that fragment information environments by introducing new silos, leading to a proliferation of knowledge copies, and including licensing prices to each node.
OFP advocates an open, standards-based method which incorporates a number of parts:
- Flash gadgets – conceived round, however not restricted to, QLC flash for its density. Flash sourcing needs to be versatile to allow prospects to buy NAND from numerous fabs, probably by controller companions or direct module design, avoiding single-vendor lock-in.
- IPUs/DPUs – have matured to a degree that they’ll exchange far more useful resource intensive processors for serving information. Each decrease value and decrease energy necessities imply a way more environment friendly element for information companies.
- OFP cartridge – a cartridge incorporates the entire important {hardware} to retailer and serve information in a type issue that’s optimized for low energy consumption and flash density.
- OFP trays – An OFP tray matches quite a few OFP cartridges and provides energy distribution and fitment for numerous information middle rack designs.
- Linux Working System – OFP makes use of normal Linux working inventory NFS to produce information companies from every cartridge.
“Our objectives should not modest and there’s a lot of labor in retailer, however by leveraging open designs and trade normal parts as a neighborhood, this initiative will lead to huge enhancements in information storage effectivity,” OFP mentioned.
“Energy effectivity isn’t non-compulsory; it’s the one strategy to scale AI. Interval. The Open Flash Platform removes the shackles of legacy storage, making it doable to retailer exabytes utilizing lower than 50 kilowatts, vs yesterday’s megawatts. That’s not incremental, it’s radical,” mentioned Hao Zhong, CEO & Co-Founding father of ScaleFlux.
“Agility is every little thing for AI — and solely open, standards-based storage retains you free to adapt quick, management prices, and decrease energy use,” mentioned Gary Grider, Director of HPC, Los Alamos Nationwide Lab.
“Flash would be the subsequent driving drive for the AI period. To unleash its full potential, storage methods should evolve. We consider that open and standards-based architectures like OFP can maximize the total potential of flash-based storage methods by considerably bettering energy effectivity and eradicating obstacles to scale,” mentioned Hoshik Kim, SVP, Head of Reminiscence Programs Analysis at SK hynix.
“Open, standards-based options inevitably prevail. By delivering 10x better capability density and a 50 % decrease TCO, OFP accelerates that inevitability,” mentioned David Flynn, Founder and CEO, Hammerspace.
