PEAK:AIO has a new 2RU 1.5 PB AI Data Server product, using Dell hardware, that ships data at 120 GBps.
PEAK:AIO is an AI-focused UK storage startup that supplies software-defined storage on third-party hardware, which it manages and controls closely to cut latency and increase throughput. Its 2RU servers have been delivering 40 GBps to mid-size GPU clusters, using NFS and NVMe-oF, and can now go three times faster.
The new hardware incorporates Solidigm’s 61.44 TB QLC SSDs and data is pumped across Nvidia’s CX7 Ethernet NICs. PEAK:AIO says specialized fields such as healthcare and research need pretty much the same high-speed GenAI model capabilities as those produced by massive datacenter infrastructure systems. It says its systems are less costly but still very fast and energy-efficient. PEAK says it has a new NVMe software stack that “eliminates legacy Linux bottlenecks” to provide better performance for data-intensive AI apps.
Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Mark Klarzynski stated: ”Our approach addresses both ends of the AI infrastructure spectrum. For smaller, innovative projects, this 2U solution delivers unmatched performance and energy efficiency in a compact form. For large-scale deployments, it becomes the foundation of a new generation of scale-out file systems, purpose-built to meet the energy and performance demands of modern GPUs.”
The CX7 requires a PCIe Gen 5 bus and it maxes out at 50 GBps. We understand that Dell’s PowerEdge R7625 rack server has a 2RU chassis and supports up to eight PCIe gen5 slots. Three single-port CX7s, each using a PCIe gen5 x 16 lane slot, will deliver 120 GBps. The R760 supports up to 24 NVMe SSDs, and filling these slots with the 61.44 TB Solidigm SSDs produces 1.5 PB of raw capacity.
Klarzynski tells us: “Dell Technologies validated Solidigm’s 61TB NVMe drives and NVIDIA’s 400Gb crypto interfaces within the R7625 exclusively for us, outpacing the mainstream 15TB solutions. … This move highlights our scale and global ambitions. Our 2U AI Data Server (1.5PB, 120GB/sec) sets a new industry benchmark for efficiency.”
The AI Data Server can be connected directly to an Nvidia GPU server for small or new-start projects, with a switch being added to hook it up to multiple GPU servers, up to 10 of them. The data servers can be scaled out to support more GPUs.
PEAK says it enjoyed 400 percent growth in 2023 and 2024, much in the USA, and plans to launch a new range of products later this year to complement its new AI Data Server that will, “with Dell Technologies’ backing … disrupt energy, cooling, and density challenges.” It also has an upcoming line-rate cryptographic offload capability integrated with the CX7.
