Adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is growing steadily as organizations look to leverage the technology to optimize operations, drive digital transformation and automate more business processes. In a recent PwC survey, 86 percent of companies said AI is becoming a mainstream technology.
Much of this growth is linked to advances in high-performance computing (HPC) systems.
AI technologies such as deep learning, machine learning and natural language processing all use special algorithms that help computers “teach” themselves to perform tasks by finding patterns within massive datasets. However, AI faced practical limits for decades because of data processing constraints. AI algorithms may need millions or billions of examples before they start working well, but standalone computers simply can’t meet the data analysis and calculation requirements for effective modeling.
Making HPC Accessible
HPC systems have removed those limitations. By aggregating the computing power of hundreds or thousands of processors, HPC systems deliver exponential increases in processing power that make AI increasingly accessible for organizations across all industries.
HPC has become more accessible in recent years. Although people often think of HPC in terms of monster supercomputers crunching data in search of cancer cures or the nature of black holes, almost any size organization can achieve HPC performance using off-the-shelf components and the latest system management tools.
HPC systems now support a wide range of workloads, including financial modeling, R&D and big data. Organizations are using HPC systems to replace aging proprietary platforms, reduce server sprawl and gain business benefits such as high availability and improved manageability.
However, building, operating and maintaining an in-house HPC environment can also introduce a variety of challenges, such as increased infrastructure costs and management complexities. Even with commodity components, HPC can become pricey due to real estate, power, cooling, networking and staffing costs.
Reducing Cost and Complexity
HPE, which has developed one of the world’s most advanced HPC portfolios, is eliminating many of those challenges by offering its HPC solutions as a service through its HPE GreenLake Cloud Services. Organizations can access fully managed, pre-bundled services based on HPE hardware, including its Apollo and Cray Exascale systems, along with all necessary software, storage and networking solutions. Customers can order small, medium or large configurations through a self-service portal with simple point-and-click functions to get started quickly.
According to an economic impact study by Forrester Consulting, accessing HPC through HPE GreenLake Cloud Services speeds deployment by up to 75 percent and reduces capital expenditures by up to 40 percent. The elastic, pay-per-use cloud experience also provides the scalability to add processing power and storage as necessary to handle changing requirements.
HPC advances have made it possible for more organizations to experience the business benefits of AI, but cost and complexity remain limiting factors. By offering its portfolio of advanced HPC platforms as a service, HPE is removing those limits and pushing AI further into mainstream usage. Contact PKA to learn more about putting HPC-powered AI to work in your organization.