Equinix adds new chips, more Metal for edge applications like Solana blockchain
Equinix has announced the expansion of its bare-metal platform with several new features for cloud building and edge applications. Chief among them: more performance from new processors and more locations where the service is located.
The first of the updates introduce the upcoming availability (in early 2022) of the latest AMD Milan, Ampere Altra, and Intel Ice Lake chipsets on Equinix Metal. The new components enable Gen3 server configurations, designed for common workloads and available on-demand in minutes.
Expanding locations and expanding customer list
As part of its new series of updates, Equinix also announced the location of its next six global metros. They will be built in 2022 and located respectively in Atlanta, Montreal, Helsinki, Stockholm, Melbourne, and Osaka.
The importance of adding new locations closer to end-users is that it gives customers the performance and connectivity that edge computing promises. Recent customer wins include:
- Cybersecurity company HUMAN Security.
- Super League Gaming, (Nasdaq: SLGG) uses Metal to deliver real-time content and live video streaming to millions of users around the world.
- Blockchain leader Solana Foundation uses Metal to deliver new nodes on-demand to its global users on the Solana blockchain.
Configuring AI workloads with Nvidia
Equinix has also introduced a new line of optimized configurations for specialized workloads, including artificial intelligence (AI) training or inference, or in-memory databases.
In addition, the company confirmed that its recently announced NVIDIA LaunchPad program partnership will focus on deploying the platform within Equnix Metal data centers.
“Enterprises are eager to adopt AI to develop new industry-specific services that can improve healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, retail, and more,” said Manuvir Das, Nvidia head of Enterprise Computing.
“NVIDIA LaunchPad makes it easier than ever for businesses to learn how to develop
and deploy AI on accelerated infrastructure on Equinix Metal, with the option to continue working on Equinix as they move forward into production.”
Equinix has also made steps forward in terms of compatibility, with its bare metal offering now being certified for the Nutanix Cloud Platform.
The move will enable businesses to deploy and run applications on different platforms with improved agility via a single, unified management plane across bare metal, public cloud, and on-premises environments.
“Our customers use Nutanix to simplify their hybrid multi-cloud journey, allowing their workloads to run on the private or public clouds that are best aligned to their needs,” said Thomas Cornely, Equinix SVP of Product Management.
More server images for Metal
Finally, the data center provider announced additional system partners who will certify and provide cloud images for Equinix Metal users to consume, enhancing performance, security, and multi-cloud use cases.
The list includes maintainers or experts of Ubuntu, Debian, FreeBSD, NixOS, Talos, Alpine Linux, Alma Linux, Rocky Linux, and VyOS.
Zac Smith, Managing Director, Equinix Metal
Source: Equinix
“As the world’s largest colocation provider, Equinix delivers foundational infrastructure across clouds and to the edge, interconnecting them all,” explained the company’s Managing Director Zac Smith.
“When customers combine this foundation with Equinix Metal’s on-demand state-of-the-art
silicon and enterprise solutions alongside Equinix’s efforts toward its goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2030, they no longer have to trade peace of mind for power and performance.”
Article Topics
bare metal | blockchain | BMaaS | edge AI | edge infrastructure | Equinix | gaming | Nvidia | Solana
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