Data processing unit
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A data processing unit (DPU) is a programmable computer processor that tightly integrates a general-purpose CPU with network interface hardware.[1] Sometimes they are called "IPUs" (for "infrastructure processing unit") or "SmartNICs".[2] They can be used in place of traditional NICs to relieve the main CPU of complex networking responsibilities, which can otherwise introduce significant overhead in cloud computing environments.[1]
The data acceleration engine differentiates itself from a CPU by a larger degree of parallelism (required to process many requests) and from a GPU by a MIMD architecture rather than an SIMD architecture (required as each request needs to make different decisions and follow a different path through the chip).[3][4] DPUs can be either ASIC-based, FPGA-based or SoC-based.[5] DPUs have been increasingly used in data centers and supercomputers since their introduction in the 2010s due to the rise in use of data-centric computing, big data, security, and artificial intelligence/machine learning/deep learning.[6] DPUs are designed to be independent infrastructure endpoints.[7]
See also
- Compute Express Link (CXL)
References
- ^ a b Davie, Bruce (November 24, 2021). "SmartNICs, IPUs, DPUs de-hyped: Why and how cloud giants are offloading work from server CPUs". The Register. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
- ^ Sharwood, Simon (May 23, 2023). "Google Cloud upgrades with next-gen accelerator that embiggens its VMs". The Register. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
Google Cloud has given itself a significant upgrade by introducing its latest Infrastructure Processing Unit – the same kind of kit that others call SmartNICs or Data Processing Units…
- ^ Deierling, Kevin (2020-05-21). "What's a DPU?". The Official NVIDIA Blog. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
- ^ "The renaissance of silicon will create industry giants". TechCrunch. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- ^ Deierling, Kevin (2018-08-30). "Defining SmartNIC: What is a SmartNIC and How to Choose the Best One". Mellanox Technologies Blog. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
- ^ Bhageshpur, Kiran (2016-10-06). "The Emergence Of Data-Centric Computing". The Next Platform. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
- ^ servethehome (2021-05-29). "DPU vs SmartNIC and the STH NIC Continuum Framework". ServeTheHome. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
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