Nvidia unveils next-generation processor developed in Israel

The BlueField-3 DPU was unveiled at the GTU Technology Conference 2021 on Monday and features a central processor equipped for managing ARM-based data centers

CTech 13:4913.04.21
Nvidia unveiled a line of new products at the GTU Technology Conference 2021 on Monday, including the world’s first-ever data-processing unit (DPU) which computes data using an ARM-based data center. Among those technologies unveiled at the conference, which took place in Silicon Valley, California were its BlueField-3 DPU, the company’s next-generation of data center processors developed in Israel, among others.

 

These technologies will make Nvidia a leading-performer of the next-generation of devices, and have been developed all over the world. In Israel, the company has 2,400 employees who are employed at seven development centers, and worked on the BlueField-3 DPU.

 

Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang. Photo: Nvidia Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang. Photo: Nvidia

 

NVIDIA next-generation DPU, the BlueField-3, is capable of delivering powerful software-defined networking with accelerated cybersecurity capabilities for data centers. It is the first such DPU built for and equipped with advanced computing, allowing enterprises to create applications with top-level performance and enhanced data security. BlueField-3 DPU delivers the equivalent data center services of up to 300 CPU cores, freeing up valuable CPU cycles to run business-critical applications. The company’s BlueField-3 DPUs transform traditional infrastructure into “zero-trust” environments, where every data center user is authenticated and verified. This secures enterprises from cloud to core to edge while increasing efficiency and performance.

 

“Modern hyperscale clouds are driving a fundamental new architecture for data centers. A new type of processor, designed to process data center infrastructure software, is needed to offload and accelerate the tremendous compute load of virtualization, networking, storage, security and other cloud-native AI services,” said Jensen Huang, the founder and CEO of Nvidia.

 

The industry’s first 400GbE/NDR DPU, BlueField-3 delivers unmatched networking performance. It features 10x the amount of accelerated computer power of the previous generation, with 16x Arm A78 cores and 4x the acceleration for cryptography. BlueField-3 is also the first DPU to support a fifth-generation PCIe and offer time-synchronized data center acceleration. It provides real-time network visibility, detection, and response to cyberthreats and monitors NVIDIA Morpheus, which is the company’s AI-enabled, cloud-native cybersecurity platform.

 

BlueField-3 takes advantage of NVIDIA DOCA, the data-center-on-a-chip architecture that

gives developers a complete, open software platform for building software-defined,

hardware-accelerated networking, storage, security and management applications running on

BlueField DPUs. This allows applications which use BlueField DPU to monitor thousands of DPUs across the data center as well as through libraries.

 

Currently, Nvidia integrates its processors into leading server manufacturers, such as Dell Technologies, Inspur, Lenovo and Supermicro. Cloud service providers across the world are also using BlueField DPUs to accelerate workloads, including Baidu, JD.com and UCloud.

 

Some of the company’s technologies also launched at the conference include the Nvidia Grace, a central processing Arm-based processor that will deliver 10x the performance of today's fastest servers and named after Grace Hopper, a computer programming pioneer and US Navy rear admiral. Others include the Nvidia Drive Atlan, an autonomous vehicle platform that will power the next-generation of autonomous vehicles; Jarvis Interactive Conversational AI, an interactive customer-service platform which understands languages; and Nvidia Omniverse Enterprise, the first platform that enables teams to design in 3D simultaneously and work together in real-time.