Equinix, a data center operator, and Nvidia, an artificial intelligence company, announced on Wednesday that they have partnered to provide chip companies' supercomputer systems to corporate customers.
This collaboration includes the NVIDIA DGX system, NVIDIA network, and NVIDIA AI Enterprise software platform. Equinix installs and operates each customer's private NVIDIA infrastructure, and can represent them in deploying services in major data centers worldwide.
According to the agreement between both parties, Nvidia provided training to Equinix employees on how to build and operate their systems. Enterprise customers will purchase Nvidia systems, but will need to pay Equinix to efficiently build and operate these systems while retaining ownership.
This collaboration will make it easier for enterprises to have artificial intelligence computing systems and better control their data, rather than renting market leading chips from cloud computing providers such as Amazon or Microsoft.
NVIDIA founder and CEO Huang Renxun stated that generative AI is changing every industry. Nowadays, enterprises can have NVIDIA AI supercomputing and software in hundreds of data centers worldwide, combined with operational efficiency managed by Equinix.
Efficient and effective
This service provides high-speed dedicated network access to global network service providers, enabling rapid generation of artificial intelligence information retrieval across enterprise wide area networks. In addition, it also provides private high bandwidth interconnections for cloud and enterprise service providers to facilitate artificial intelligence workloads while meeting data security and compliance requirements.
By using this service, customers can easily access NVIDIA AI Enterprise software to simplify the development and deployment of generative AI applications.
Charles Meyers, President and CEO of Equinix, stated that in order to leverage the enormous potential of generative artificial intelligence, companies need to establish adaptable and scalable hybrid infrastructure in the local market, incorporating artificial intelligence supercomputing into their data. Equinix's new services provide customers with a fast and cost-effective way to run advanced artificial intelligence infrastructure operated and managed by global experts.
Privacy and Security
Due to concerns about privacy and security, many large enterprises have shown interest in having their own artificial intelligence computing systems. However, Nvidia systems differ from traditional data center servers in that they typically use different network cabling and sometimes even liquid cooling.
Jon Lin, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Data Center Services at Equinix, said in an interview, "We want to strengthen customer privacy protection because what we hear from big clients is that they are very worried that others will control their own destiny."